Four Lessons to Learn Before Starting a Second Business

The easiest way to approach a job is to simply follow the rules and give the credit to the employer. You can let them find your work and then pass it on to others. This will allow you to live a simple lifestyle, focusing only on your daily tasks and not worrying about other things. You will experience minimal stress, minimal responsibility, and little chance of failure. There is so much to love. While there are many instances in which professionals have unique business ideas, it is not uncommon for entrepreneurs to desire more once they’ve established their first businesses. While it is possible to pursue more, it can also be dangerous. It all comes down to how you handle it. In this post, we will go over four lessons you should learn before you launch a second business.

Maybe you don’t want your destiny to be set for you. You might need to put your faith in yourself, your passion, and your drive. We need people like these people. Entrepreneurs are willing to take risks to create businesses that can keep many people employed. They thrive when they face and overcome challenges.

1. To mitigate risk, it is important to plan in advance

If you are extremely lucky, you may be able to manage without an optimized plan while you try to start your business. But that luck will not last forever. If you double down on it, you will be setting yourself up to fail. In such a situation, it is smart to be thankful for your past fortune and to make the best of what fortune may bring you in the future.

• What would you like your second business to look like?
• Which type of business model would you choose?
• Which boxes should you tick?
• What research should you conduct?
• What will it do for your business?
• Are there any risks of competition or overlap?

There are many resources available to help you with what you need. The Bplans template is a great choice if you are looking for a template that will work for small businesses. If your focus is on eCommerce,

Shopify’s Learn with Shopify video guide is a great resource (see above), with lots of useful tips.

Planning now is more important than ever. Your second business venture will not be as risky as your first. And since your first business could suffer (potentially losing its attention and resources) it will also have knock-on effects.

2. For scaling and expansion, outsourcing is crucial

The ease of working remotely, intuitive productivity tools, and easy automation have made solopreneurs a lot more popular in recent years. Many small businesses can be run independently. Dropshipping is one example. But there are many other options, such as consulting, graphic design services, and software development services.

Even though there are some drawbacks, there is much to be gained from doing everything yourself. You can keep all the profits, avoid the hassle of dealing with HR, be able to focus on your work, and save time recruiting. It’s foolish to try to be a solopreneur when you have to start a second business.

Outsourcing is crucial. While you don’t have to hire full-time workers, you should identify the tasks you aren’t best equipped to handle and find reliable freelancers to help you lighten your load. This will greatly improve the quality of work for these tasks and will allow you to focus on your role as a leader and figurehead.

3. Every business that you own is at risk of burnout

It is not something to take lightly. It’s not about feeling tired and needing to rest for a few days. It is about working too hard and building up stress that you lose the will to continue your normal work hours. Although it’s not usually permanent, it is possible to become so exhausted that you cannot go back.

Not only is outsourcing your core tasks a great way to avoid burnout, but it’s not the only part. Accepting your limitations is also important. Although it’s difficult to accept that you aren’t invulnerable while running your first business, that feeling will not last.

You might believe that you won’t lose your passion for what you do. Although we can indeed survive extremely difficult situations if we are driven by passion, it won’t keep us going in perpetuity. You’ll eventually experience a disconnect between your personality and your professional situation and it will be difficult to deal with.

Your second business can cause burnout. This will impact everything you do. Your role is to set the bar for others. What will the world look like when you have exhausted all your energy and are no longer in your job? You can pace yourself, take some time for relaxation, and set realistic goals that don’t force you to work long hours. You’ll feel better in the end.

4. It is not guaranteed to fail

Imagine a newbie gambler going to a casino to play some roulette. You can now imagine one of two scenarios: They win big their first time playing roulette, or they lose everything. The former scenario gives them the impression that they are destined for success and they bet all they have on their next spin. They are left disappointed when things don’t work out their way.

In this case, the initial loss reminds them it’s a game of chance. They can continue to play knowing that they are taking a risk and that any loss after they win is not as bad. They are also more likely to quit when they have more money than they start with and to stop trying to win even more.

This is important when launching a second company. An entrepreneur can have a great first business, but it’s not very common. When that happens, entrepreneurs can believe they are destined for greatness. This attitude can cause them to become flippant about the organization of their second company.

Treat a second business as if it were your first

The truth is that no matter how successful you are now, what your past achievements, knowledge, connections, or what you have achieved, you cannot guarantee your success in the future. Instead of investing all your profits and savings in your second business, you should treat it as such: Set aside money for a reasonable budget, show that it can be successful, then invest more.

After you have done a great job in one business, it might be a natural step to start a second. But you should not jump into it until you’ve read the lessons learned. Make sure you are fully prepared before you take the plunge. This will prevent you from becoming a disaster.

Disclaimer. The opinions and views expressed in this article are the authors Judge Napolitano.