Starting a business isn’t for everyone and it’s especially not for the faint of heart. A couple of statistics that jump out is that 2 out of 10 businesses fail in the first year and 5 out of 10 businesses will fail within the first five years. So establishing and maintaining one’s business is actually harder than when they had started it, based on the available statistics, and these percentages could be worse. That wouldn’t be a stretch.
This is why business education is important and having a strong network of resources and a team that you can refer to at times when things are not going according to plan.
Take the recent Covid pandemic for example, which had businesses everywhere scrambling and trying to stay afloat. Whether it was their financial needs drowning them, or systemic and/or procedural needs, saying that it is, or was, rough times would be an understatement.
Marisa Cotton, of Your Star Power Solutions, is one of those resources that business owners turned to. She’s assisted more than 200 businesses during the pandemic by helping them properly establish or correct their business setup and operations. She provided them with the fundamentals they need to propel their business and profits to the next level, in the areas of business formation and set-up, structuring business finances and taxes, and business strategy.
“One thing about me is that I don’t just do something for you,” Cotton explains. “I will explain to you what I’m doing along the way. Because at the end of the day, this is your business, and you are the one who will have to be responsible and accountable for it.”
“It’s one thing to talk about starting or building up your business, but what are you doing about it?”
Marisa also adds this when referring to the various “get an LLC” memes that are often parroted on social media. “An LLC is not for everyone. Know your lane and your needs.”
“People like to talk a lot about the marketing and branding of their business, but you’re missing the positioning and foundational structure of your business. Who builds a house starting with the windows?”
Wise words indeed. To put this more simply, we can’t talk about it. We have to be about it.
The Urban Twist launched a Black-Owned Business initiative called WeLoveBlack.Biz and from time to time we highlight and feature Black-Owned Businesses through our YourTwistPR imprint. This article is a part of that series.
