As I talk with more and more entrepreneurs, I’m amazed at how so many of them describe running into similar problems.
I’m not talking about the industry specific problems, but all the other growing pains of taking your business concept to market in the first 18 months or so. I know that I personally found these problems frustrating when I was getting started and I see that same frustration in new entrepreneurs I talk with.
One concept that kept nagging at me, was the idea that I was going in the wrong direction or always re-inventing the wheel with projects. I learned a lot from my mistakes and would encourage others to not be afraid to make their own, but by communicating with other entrepreneurs you can avoid some common pitfalls.

One suggestion that helped me with start-up problems in the beginning, was setting up a FREE meeting with the Small Business Association’s SCORE group. SCORE is the Service Corps Of Retired Executives and has chapters located in most major cities. You can set up a meeting to discuss problems or plans for expansion, regardless of what stage you are currently at with your company.
You have to get past the fact that this person may not be an ‘expert’ in your particular industry, but rather is a expert in ‘business’. They cane talk with you about the business concepts you should be focusing on to fix this problem and give you suggestions of resources to use. These advisor’s have a proven track record that they have been successful in an entrepreneurial endeavor and can be a great way to start planning how to tackle a current problem.

website: SCORE

I’ve asked a few entrepreneurs to contribute to this blog in the coming months and hope they have the time to share a few stories or concepts.
My hope is that people would either gleam some insight into a common problem they might be currently facing or perhaps just take comfort in the fact that others are running into ’speed bumps’ - but that they keep trying.