Making the big jump from a regular employee to a my-own-boss small business owner is gratifying. You've finally overpowered your biggest fear of taking risks, you've freed yourself of the usual 9-to-5 work hour, and you're finally making your dreams come true, slowly but surely.
But another thing we need to remember about being an entrepreneur is that it is as fulfilling as challenging. With the prediction that within five years, half of all businesses will fail, and only thirty percent of them will make it for ten years, many small business owners like yourself face three challenges or business hurdles common among several startups of different niches and industries: funding, knowledge, and fear of failure.
Funding
Funding and managing one's finances is - and will always be - a newbie's number one challenge from the day they decided to walk away from their desk job. Whether you started the business as a means of gaining financial independence, wanting to be your own boss, or realizing your dream of turning your passion into a full-time career, all startups need good funding and financing for it to be established and to maintain sustainable growth, regardless of its nature.
Elliot's partner was his whole world, but after Allan's death, his ghost haunts Elliot's dreams. Everyone tells Elliot to move on, but he isn't sure he can.
*****
It's been a year since the love of Elliot's life, Allan, passed away. Everyone thinks he should have recovered after that much time, but Allan still haunts Elliot every night. He struggles to maintain relationships with his family, and despite a coworkers interest he can't summon up the courage to date. Elliot is living for the past, because to live for the present means he'll have to live with a hole in his heart. But the question Elliot has to face chases him through his monotonous days: is mourning Allan with everything he has truly living?
[[word count: 40,000-50,000 words]]