Starting a new business can be an exciting endeavor, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. The most exhilarating feeling is being able to overcome all your fears.

Therefore, as an entrepreneur, it is important to know every aspect of the business and be prepared with a lot of stumbles, crossroads, and sleepless nights.

1. Limited Financial Resources: Many new businesses struggle with limited financial resources, especially during the initial stages. It can be challenging to secure funding, manage cash flow, and cover startup costs. Finding ways to effectively manage finances and secure necessary funding is crucial. First and foremost, an aspiring entrepreneur should ensure that he has enough funds to start the business. The funds needed is not just for the initial inventory. It should also be taken into consideration the amount to pay for the lease of the store space, furniture, change in the interior, utilities, compliance to government taxes, etc.

2. Market Competition: New businesses often face stiff competition from established players in the market. Gaining market share and building a customer base can be challenging when competing with businesses that already have a strong presence. Developing a unique value proposition and effective marketing strategies can help overcome this challenge.

When my brother-in-law decided to put up a pharmacy, we had to check out existing pharmacies nearby to determine the costs of medicines that they sell. The percentage that we imposed on each item was carefully thought about since there are other things to consider. Despite the space being owned by the family, still, there are other aspects in the business that needed to be well-thought-out.

3. Finding the Right Talent: Hiring and retaining skilled employees is a common challenge for new businesses. Attracting top talent can be difficult when competing against larger companies with more resources. Building a strong company culture, offering competitive compensation packages, and providing opportunities for growth and development can help attract and retain talented individuals.

Be vigilant in choosing people who will work for you. Each individual should be aware of his responsibilities and possesses the skills required. But most importantly, choose someone who can be trusted and is willing to help grow the business. As they say, your standards should not only be based on what you see written on the resume, but more about the character of the individual.

4. Building Brand Awareness: Creating brand awareness and establishing a strong brand presence in a crowded market can be a significant challenge for new businesses. It takes time and effort to build brand recognition and credibility. Implementing effective marketing and branding strategies, including digital marketing, social media presence, and targeted advertising, can help overcome this challenge.

Create a brand that will continuously be patronized by people as these satisfied customers will be your walking advertisement. The right branding does not only refer to the quality of product and service, but most importantly the positive experience that each customer will have. Branding is more than choosing the right logo and color. It is equally important that products and services reflect the culture of the business.

5. Adapting to Market Changes: Markets are dynamic, and new businesses must be adaptable to changing market conditions and consumer preferences. Being able to pivot and adjust strategies based on market feedback and trends is essential for long-term success.

I have worked as a Marketing Consultant for several years. A business suffers due to different circumstances. Change is inevitable, hence, these businesses needed to keep up with their competitors by either introducing new products or enhancing customer experience.

While these challenges may seem daunting, they can also present opportunities for growth and learning. With proper planning, perseverance, and a proactive mindset, new businesses can overcome these challenges and thrive in the long run.
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If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts on the column, feel free to send an email to jca.bblueprint@gmail.com. Looking forward to connecting with you!

The injustice is very glaring but nothing much could be done by workers. They remain beggars at the low end of the bargaining table. Given the doomsday scenario of losing jobs and everything due to closure of the businesses where they work, the poor worker would bend to agree to the option that will sustain his daily subsistence even at so low a wage.

The setup is always for workers to sacrifice so the business may thrive for them to have a source for a living. Workers are always called to sacrifice so that both business and their jobs will survive. They are made to understand that pressing for higher pay even if just and equitable is a wrong option to perdition. Without opportunities for employment, workers will always accept the sad reality of being underpaid just so they may live.

But reality appears differently than that portrayed by business and employers. Against the claim of being pushed to the brink of collapse if wage increases are forced, employers display a lifestyle of wealth and luxury. They get even richer by the day while workers sink deeper into the irreversible pit of indebtedness.

And their advanced wages are considered debts from their employers that earn interest. They pay the cost of money that is supposed to be theirs in the first place. Delayed salaries and wages do not earn interest for the poor workers. It is always the employers who rake in the profit of the toil of the poor working man.

Nonetheless, workers deserve a pat for obtaining a pittance of an increase in their daily wages. They have somehow gained something before the wage board. Their submissive stance to the offer of employers is a heroic act that ought to be recognized. Their humble position to accept the wage increase that is pegged keeps businesses growing and going. They have the option to reject the amount and press for their demand but to do so would break the peace in the workplaces.

When else would workers obtain the just wages they deserve nobody could tell. But while workers are bound to receive the pittance granted, its realization remains a big question. Many times such increases had been followed in the breach than in the compliance. And workers in the fourth estate are left wondering if there is pittance too.
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THE gospel reading of the Mass on Tuesday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time (Mk 9,30-37) reminds us that true wisdom, given our wounded human condition here on earth, can only be found in the cross of Christ.

“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise,” Christ told his bewildered disciples as it does to all of us now. But the fact is that it is through Christ’s suffering and death that our redemption is achieved. His resurrection, his victory over all our sins and death itself, is achieved through the cross. This is how we have to see the value and the wisdom of the cross.

We need to understand, guided by our Christian faith, that if we want to be truly wise, we need to look at Christ’s cross, understand its significance, and start to be consistent with it.
This is the kind of wisdom every believer and follower of Christ should have. It’s not enough to have the wisdom of this world, no matter how practical that may be, nor the wisdom of the flesh, no matter how mind-blowing, much less the wisdom of words, no matter how clever.

The wisdom of the cross is first of all a gift of the Holy Spirit to us before it becomes a virtue in us. Since it’s a gift, we have to pray for it constantly and be as receptive to it as we can be. Since it’s a gift that needs to be a virtue, we have to cultivate and develop it also.

The wisdom of the cross is the most perfect gift, embodying all the other spiritual gifts, since it makes charity complete and perfect by infusing light and love into our soul.

With it we are able to discern God and the divine things in everything that we see and do. It gives us the appetite to relate everything to God, linking us to God through the things of this world.

It goes beyond understanding and knowledge which enable us to know divine and natural things in themselves and in their mutual relations, but without relating them to God, their ultimate cause.

These gifts and virtues do not automatically lead us to love, since they fall short of bringing us to God who is love, as St. John said so succinctly. It’s wisdom that does that. Wisdom makes us into contemplative souls, seeing and loving God in everything.

With this definition of wisdom, it can be said that it’s hardly seen around, since that reference to God is scarcely done in the things we do. We think, reason out, speak, act and behave often by ourselves, without God.

But it can reside deep in our hearts, not visible to our senses and our worldly ways. As the Book of Wisdom says: “In each generation wisdom passes into holy souls, she makes them friends of God and prophets.” (7,27)

In cultivating and developing wisdom as a virtue in us, we need to struggle against things like laziness, disorder, unhealthy attachments, pride and all forms of sin. In fact, everything can be a frontline in this struggle.

Thus, this wisdom has to be the wisdom of the cross, which is the wisdom of Christ, since Christ showed the ultimate saving truth and love, and shares these things with us up to now, by dying on the cross.