For All The Wrong Reasons…

After some serious thought, you want to go into business for yourself – that’s a huge step. Even people with experience, financial backing, and a business plan the size of an encyclopedia claim that it’s still very difficult. Not to deter you from your dream, but have you sat down and discovered why you honestly want to start your own business?

It’s a known fact that 8 out of 10 start-up businesses fail within the first two years of operation. The reason that they failed could be a combination of many things, but are you ready to risk significant amounts of time and money in a half-hearted attempt? If your reasons are similar to what’s listed below, you might want to re-think your decision.

Sucky Job / Superfluous Complex
You have a seething hatred for your current job. Everything about it ticks you off – from the co-workers to the customers, the assignments, and let’s not even mention the boss. You can never perform well because you’re assigned unfavorable tasks and others are either messing up or not meeting your expectations. If you had your own company, you’d be set.

You might be set for failure. Running a company means being responsible for everything, not just the duties you like. And you’ll quickly find out that customers and sales don’t necessarily follow expectations – no matter how perfect you think you did things. You’ll probably feel better with just new employment.

Crazy Cash Flow / Personal-Business Partner
You’ve got dollar signs for eyes and a business partner that’s either a family member, significant other, or childhood friend. Owning a business does not guarantee instant wealth. It may happen, but visit your neighborhood “ma & pa” shop and ask how often.

Your business/buddy may have the greatest venture idea ever. But if you both have never worked together, or have a history of working poorly with each other, you probably should decline. A failed business relationship often preludes to a failing personal relationship – is it worth the risk?

Rockstar Mentality / Loan Fisherman
All the entrepreneurs and business moguls that you admire, or hate, are constantly the hottest buzz in the media. You see yourself as a witty, charismatic person; if only you had your own company, you could become the next media sensation. Or your fail-safe plan is to get a loan to support you while building your business.

Let’s entertain the fact your small business is successful. It still takes years of being in operation and hard-work before you become a blimp on any media radar – including social media. Even if you had an amazing marketing team, the point would be to market the brand – not the person behind it. And banks are extremely hesitant to hand out loans to a refutable business; let’s leave it at that.

More Free Time / True Calling
By owning your own business, there’s a misconception that you’ll have more free time to do whatever you want. That could be true – if you have employees working for you – but as a start-up, everything will be your responsibility. And yes, you can still regulate how many hours you would actually work. But you should also understand that less hours means less revenue.

It’s not all about the money though. For you, it’s the deep sense of fulfillment doing what you do. This was made for you – turning it into a profitable business is just a bonus. But you don’t know how to run or market a business. Besides, you can’t be bothered with that while working on heartfelt projects. What about the filing obligations that come with owning a business? You’ll quickly find yourself doing less of what you love and more of what is required.

These are just a few examples from a multitude of bad reasons to start a business. As mentioned before, the intention isn’t to scare you from doing what you want. The goal is to reinforce that whatever your reason is, it’s worth the constant disruption, income reduction, and stress. Because when your reason is strong, your business is strong, and the industry becomes strong. When the industry becomes strong, we all can win.

And speaking of filing obligations, don’t forget about the business returns required by the IRS. If you need more time to e-file, you can receive a 6-month business tax extension with ExpressExtension.com. All you need is your business name, address, and tax-ID or EIN to have your extension form transmitted in minutes.

The deadline for business extensions is March 15, but you can complete your extension form today and only pay when you’re ready to transmit. Our live team of e-filing experts from Rock Hill, South Carolina are ready to help when needed. Contact us at (803) 514-5155, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. You can also get in touch with us 24/7 at [email protected].