The Entrepreneur‘s Roadmap to Success: For Building a Successful Business

By Randy Steele

Randy Steele has decades of experience and great business acumen. An aspiring entrepreneur will find this handbook of great value and comfort. It will suggest roads to travel and the pitfalls to avoid. It will provide cautious encouragement of the rewards and sacrifices required of a successful business owner.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781942451334

Book preview

Notes

INTRODUCTION

Since my start as a businessman almost 40 years ago, I have watched so many things change. In the past, our marketplace was the town where we hung our shingle. And maybe if we were lucky, we could also help other customers or clients in towns that were not too far away.

Today, thanks to technology, our world is much smaller, so much so that we view our marketplace as the entire world. Even though we may take care of and/or service customers and clients in a smaller geographic area, we regularly buy goods and services globally. Technology, the internet, shipping methods, travel, and more have changed the way we think and how we do business.

That makes creating a perfect business blueprint, detailed with all the right features, moves, options, and ideas, a complete impossibility. It’s not going to happen! There is no way to get every single setting just right to meet every single niche need and opportunity out there.

So take the pressure off yourself to be perfect before you launch, or to be perfect within 12 months, or to do everything perfectly as you grow your business.

Things grow and change, and part of being in business is learning to flow and adapt. It makes you better, and it also opens up new opportunities that may not have existed just a few short weeks ago!

With that said, we must build a plan that can be modified as we learn from our own experiences, from the experiences of others, and from the ever-changing world around us.

I need to warn you that being in business for yourself is not for sissies! However, it will be the most fulfilling job you will ever have, and if done correctly you can either build a legacy that can be passed on to future generations or a business that will have value and attract other entrepreneurs.

One great thing about the business world is that you don’t have to make your decision today. You can decide as you go if the legacy route (for your future family) or the entrepreneur route (for other businesspeople who want to buy you out) is better for you. There is no pressure to make that decision right now. You have the time to make up your mind which way is best for you.

The purpose of this book is not to identify each and every situation that you will encounter in your business. There is no way anyone can do that. But there are enough similar principles that should help you analyze your own business and will help you make the best possible choices.

My hope is that this book will give you some down to earth insights on how to set up and build a successful business or practice that will be of value to you as an entrepreneur. If you are already in business, there are plenty of ideas and techniques that will be helpful along the way.

The opinions I have are mine, but I share them with you based on years of experience in the business world. To be sure, there are many ways you can set up and run a successful business. I am confident, however, that if you follow the guidelines that I outline in these pages, you will be successful!

I’m not bragging or trying to deceive you in any way. I’m telling you the truth. I’ve been there and done that, and in these pages I’m putting it all on the table for you to study and benefit from. It’s yours, if you want it.

Enjoy!

—Randy R. Steele

CHAPTER ONE

YOUR INITIAL CHALLENGE

Business requires clear thinking, but having a clear head to consider a business idea or opportunity is often a lot more difficult than it seems. This is the direct result of the many factors that naturally influence our decision making.

Careful evaluation requires honesty — complete unashamed honesty. Do we view owning our own business as a way to escape our own little world? Are we making decisions based on fear? Or desire for comfort? Or out of greed? Or out of