How can I make my Balloon Business Successful and Fail-Proof? - Part 1

Launching a business can be one of the most exciting and challenging things you will ever do. So why would any of us start our balloon businesses, and if we had hindsight what would we do differently?

There are many reason why someone might choose to start running a balloon business:

• It is a natural extension to a business that you already run.
• It's a hot trend on social media and you want a slice of the action.
• You want to be your own boss and balloons are the right fit! 
• You can work from home and fit a balloon business around your family life.
• And probably about 101 other reasons...

Something that I always say to anyone starting out in the balloon industry is: "It is fantastic if you are a creative person, but don't forget that you have to be able to run a business too!" 

The reason I started my balloon business over 30 years ago was because I wanted to find a business that I could run from home, that could fit around my young family and work with a product that was non-perishable (not food or flowers which have a very limited shelf life.) I had never run a business before, but I was creative and felt confident that running a business would not be that difficult 😉

I did not have big aspirations when I started, it seemed that every new design and technique was a huge challenge and posed a massive learning curve - complete trial and error, which was actually not such a bad way to learn!  Training opportunities were sparse and social media was nonexistent! My balloon business grew slowly and organically over those first four years. The biggest problem that I experienced during that period was that I was not familiar with the "business side" of being a business owner, and knew very little about pricing, which was a complete guessing game for a number of years!  I also found working on my own and from home very lonely! Not having anyone to share my bad or good experiences with or being able to talk through a problem or creative challenge! I could have easily thrown in the towel after 4 years. I had made very little money and was floundering badly. For me, the QBN program was my life & business saver, and from the moment I embarked in the program, my businesses moved forward and started to become profitable and more successful! 

As a training instructor, I have met hundreds of people who have started balloon businesses just like I did. Some survive and go on to grow successful businesses, while others fall away by the wayside after only a few short years.

It is reported that roughly 20% of small businesses fail within the first year, and roughly 50% fail within the first five years! (https://fortunly.com/articles/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail/)

So how can we make our balloon businesses successful and fail-proof? To answer this we need to know why so many small businesses fail:

• Lack of knowledge on how to run a business
• Running out of money
• Lack of adequate marketing and publicity
• Lack of research and market knowledge

In Part 2 of this post which you can find by clicking HERE, we will look at in greater detail:

1.  How to run a business?
2.  Funding and Finance
3.  Marketing and Publicity
4.  Research and Market Knowledge.

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler