We’ve all heard alarming statistics about how many businesses fail in their first few years. Since starting my own practice, I’ve gained a much greater appreciation for why building a successful business is so difficult.
I started my working life as a checkout assistant at Tesco while studying at university. After a couple of stints at other companies, I joined PwC, where I trained as a Chartered Accountant. I then spent several years working in different finance roles before eventually finding myself where I am today: building my own accountancy practice.
Finding a good job can be difficult. Building a business from the ground up is something else entirely.
When I decided to use my professional experience and people skills to support small businesses, I initially thought mainly about the technical side of being an accountant.
I quickly discovered that I also needed to become a networker, salesperson, marketer, brand developer, content creator and everything else that comes with trying to build something from nothing.
Building a business is hard. And at times, lonely.
Your mind gets flooded with questions:
What the heck have I done?
What was I thinking?
It’s not too late to find a job.
But two thoughts keep coming back to me.
The first is from Jim Rohn:
“Don’t ask for security, ask for adventure. Better to live 30 years full of adventure than a 100 years safe in the corner.”
The second came from Ashley Leeds, a gentleman I had the pleasure of meeting at Accountex recently. He was wearing a T-shirt with four simple words:
A simple counter to the doubts that can rob us of pursuing what might be possible.
And so I keep pushing forward, through the fear and uncertainty, to see whether something I once imagined as a possibility can become a reality.
The experience has given me a profound respect for business owners. Men and women who have built companies through periods of doubt, tight cash flow, competition, economic uncertainty and countless other challenges.
If you’re one of them, I tip my hat to you.
And I hope you have a good accountant in your corner, helping you understand the numbers and protect what you’ve created through blood, sweat and tears.
Your business deserves to thrive.
Your Growth Partner,
Nyasha K. Midzi CA