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Being an entrepreneur is not easy.
There is always room to learn, because starting a business is one thing, being successful is another. Whether you are just starting to think about starting a business, or you have already started a business or a side hustle, it is important to ask yourself some basic questions.
These can include general questions in the planning phase, but also more detailed, detail-oriented questions. What will your business look like? How would it work? How could you grow it? In any case, you will find that you are much better equipped to move forward and build a profitable and successful business if you are well prepared.
Do you have a business idea that can be implemented immediately? The most important work you have to do for every entrepreneur is the planning and strategy phase.
So let's look at the key questions that entrepreneurs face when they want to create the framework for a successful business. By the way, I also consider doctors who run their own practice to be entrepreneurs.
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Basic questions for entrepreneurs
There are some pretty staggering and scary statistics. Depending on where you look, about 20% of businesses fail in the first year and about half fail in the first five years. And that doesn't mean that the businesses that make it are profitable; they survive.
But you can help yourself build a thriving business by doing a little legwork in the planning stages. I know this from experience, as I've been fortunate enough to run several successful businesses, including Curbside Real Estate, Passive Income MD, Ascent Equity Group, and others.
So what are the key questions that will help you succeed? Let's go through them.
What is my Why? What problem am I solving?
I put this question first because it is perhaps the most important. Understanding your purpose and motivation drives long-term commitment. Knowing your why helps a company succeed. Research shows that purpose-driven companies are more likely to attract loyal customers and employees.
Why is long-term commitment important? In the beginning, it can be hard to keep going. And there will inevitably be difficult times when you have to keep going when things get tough. When you hit an obstacle, it can be hard to maintain the enthusiastic energy you had in the idea phase. It's a lot of fun to create something, but then it's, shall we say, less fun to overcome challenges.
Maybe there are problems with employees. Maybe no one is buying your product. You have to rely on your why – your purpose, your mission and the problem you're solving – to motivate yourself to get through the tough times.
How do I measure success beyond profit?
Success is more than just financial goals. What does success mean to you in this business? What are your goals? And are your growth goals too conservative or too aggressive?
If your business delivers meals to children in need, success might mean measuring (and increasing) the number of meals delivered—a measurable way to show you're making an impact on the community. Measuring success this way also helps you keep your “why” in mind.
Or perhaps success can be measured by service area. Maybe your company's product or service is only available in your town, but your measure of success includes expanding its reach to the county, state, or nation.
What is my risk tolerance and risk mitigation strategy?
All business involves risk and every decision made involves risk. There are many ways to assess risk. And whether you know it or not, you assess risk on a regular basis.
When you decide to get in your car and drive off, the only thing separating you from potential disaster is a little yellow line painted on the ground. You trust that not only you will stay on the right side of that line, but the other person will too.
What are the biggest risks to you, your business, and the market it operates in? If you can anticipate some of these things, creating contingency plans becomes much easier and more natural. For example, AI is said to pose a risk to several industries – programmers, designers, writers, etc. If AI poses a risk to one part of your business, do you have a contingency plan to mitigate that? These are the things you need to consider and plan for.
How do I build and develop a team?
For many entrepreneurs, especially in the beginning, they are the company – the only employee. It starts with a lot of hustle and perseverance, and then the company expands. And if you want to scale it, you have to leverage the work and expertise of others.
Research shows that diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams by 35%. Where will you find these people? How will you manage your employees? As an entrepreneur, you need to evolve beyond the role of business owner to become a manager, so ask yourself now if that's what you want to do.
How will I market my business?
Who are your competitors and what can you learn from them? What does the market look like? You may find a “red ocean” market where there are too many similar companies fighting for a small customer base. This will make your life difficult. Knowing this type of information will help you launch your product or service.
Remember, you don't have to be the best in your market. Pepsi, for example, does quite well. But you need to have a large enough market share to keep your business afloat.
Do I have the right resources and relationships?
Put an asterisk next to that – it's incredibly important. When I mean relationships, I mean mentors, community coaches and advisors. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that I can't do things alone. It would take too much time.
But how can you shorten this learning phase? The importance of belonging to likeminded communities cannot be stressed enough. Here at Passive Income MD, I recommend the Leverage and Growth Accelerator Community. Groups like these will help you build your network and support your growth.
What is my exit plan?
When we became doctors, we probably expected to just become doctors and do that for as long as possible. That's fair. But when you run a business, it's a little different. With a business, it's good to have the end in mind. How long do you want to run this business? Is its purpose to generate cash flow for a certain period of time? Do you want to grow it and sell it as quickly as possible?
Always have an exit plan. This includes tracking the variables that might contribute to when and how you need to implement an exit strategy. Knowing the end before you start will help you determine the direction and decisions you will make now and in the early stages.
Where do you start?
The questions we just covered are big picture questions. But big and great journeys start with small steps. Start today and use smaller scale questions to realize what you want to achieve with a business or as an entrepreneur.
I can't stress enough how important it is to find answers to entrepreneurial questions on a daily basis. You've probably heard that almost all successful entrepreneurs have daily routines that they stick to, and that undoubtedly includes thinking about how to shape their business into success.
What does that routine look like for you? Maybe you start each morning with a run and a smoothie or, like me, a cold bath before setting some daily goals. Whatever it is, incorporate these daily questions into your routine to qualify your actions through brainstorming:
- What do I want to achieve today?
- What are my motivations for the day?
- What legacy do I want to leave behind?
- How can I make today better than yesterday?
- What could hold me back today?
- What can I learn from today?
- What have I achieved today?
- Are my goals different than this morning?
Think of this list as a sort of “choose your own adventure.” You won’t like all of them, but mixing them up every now and then will keep your commitment fresh.
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Set yourself up for success
Remember, the best thing you can do as an entrepreneur is to plan and educate yourself as much as possible. This will save you the energy, money, and hassle that comes with making the wrong decision. Will you make the wrong decisions? Sure. But mitigate them by putting your best foot forward. Take small steps first before making the big moves. Taking just the few hours to go through these questions will save you countless hours on the backend.
This type of success-based entrepreneurship is within reach here at Passive Income MD. We offer insight and advice from an entire community of physician entrepreneurs who have built or are building their own businesses. I already mentioned the Leverage and Growth Accelerator Community, but that also includes the Leverage and Growth Accelerator Summit, a really great and inspiring event dedicated to sharing experiences, insights, and growth.
We also offer another in-person event for like-minded physicians and entrepreneurs. Join us in September at PIMDCON 2024. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join hundreds of physicians like you who are interested in real estate investing and their entrepreneurial dreams.
We are here to help you pursue your entrepreneurial goals as you build a successful and thriving business. Thank you for joining us today and stay tuned on your journey! You can do this! We will support you along the way and hope to see you again soon.
Peter Kim, MD, is the founder of Passive Income MD, the creator of the Passive Real Estate Academy, and provides weekly training through his Monday podcast, the Passive Income MD Podcast. Join our community in the Passive Income Doc Facebook group.
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Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
