#223 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask Themselves Before Starting a Business

Hey everyone, have you thought of a business idea? Something came in your head and you're like, I should start a business. I bet you it's happened to everyone. But before you go ahead and start a business, you should ask yourself some very important questions. We're going to talk about that today on today's episode, so stay tuned. Welcome to the Passive Income MD Podcast, where we talk about creating your ideal life through multiple streams of income. If you enjoy hearing about this stuff, make sure to hit subscribe. Now, let's get on with the show. Hey everyone, hope you've had another great week. Being an entrepreneur isn't easy. It's all about starting a business, creating a business, owning a business. If you own a practice, I consider you an entrepreneur as well. Now, starting a business is one thing, now being successful is another. You've probably heard all those statistics about businesses and how many of them fail in the first year, within the first five years. It's pretty staggering when you see those numbers. Depending on where you look, it's about 20% of those businesses already fail within the first year. And I would say you're lucky if you're in the half that even are standing after five years. Now, that doesn't mean they're profitable, but they're just surviving. Now, I've been fortunate to start a few businesses on my own. I started a real estate brokerage. Obviously pimd, and Passive Income MD is an educational platform where we educate and connect people. That's another business by itself. And Ascent Equity Group is just a real estate private equity company. I've also been involved in the creation and starting of several other businesses, either as a founder or as an early startup advisor. And I've learned a ton from it. It's not easy. You probably know that yourself. And it's just like anything, if you do some good planning up front, if you ask yourselves the right questions up front, it's gonna make sure you set yourself up for success. It might even help you figure out whether it's worth doing or not. So I now go through a process, whether it's for myself, whether I'm advising people, whether I'm coaching people on starting their own businesses. I make sure to ask these fundamental questions and maybe you need to ask them yourself, whether you're early in your entrepreneurial or whether you've already started a business. And maybe you're having some challenges. Number one, this is the big one. What is my why? And this is me, myself asking, what problem am I solving? It's really important to understand Your purpose and motivation, because that will keep you going when times get tough again, it's easier to start something. It's hard to follow through. In the beginning, you have a ton of energy and it's so fun to create. But then maybe your business hits a snag, profitability drops. The maybe there's some issues with employees. Maybe nobody's buying your product.

At that point, you're going to have.

To really rely on that whole why for why you're doing this. What is the purpose of you creating that business? What is the primary motivation? And what are you trying to fix or solve? What is your mission? If I ask it, if I ask a business owner this question and they don't have a clear answer, meaning they can't answer it in one or two questions, usually that means that they're going to meet some really big challenges ahead. So make sure you ask yourself that question first. Number two, beyond profits, which are absolutely important. And of course that's one of the major outcomes of a business. You have to have profit for it to grow. How else are you going to measure success? It's good to have some sort of goals for your success that encompass more than just financial gains. So what does success from this business mean to you? What are your goals? Is there some sort of purpose or fulfillment? Are you making a difference? Are you scratching an entrepreneurial itch? Are you changing the lifestyle for yourself or your family? Again, get really clear on what success means beyond just profit. Number three, what is your risk tolerance and mitigation strategy? All business comes with risk. Any decision comes with risk, whether you know it or not. You're assessing risk on a daily basis. Whether you decide to get in your car and drive. You realize you get inside a moving vehicle and the only thing oftentimes separating you from potential disaster is a little yellow line that's painted on the ground. You're trusting that not only will you stay in the right lane, but the other person will as well. There's a fair amount of risk there, whether you drive a car, whether you cross the street, whether you start a business. And without risk, there isn't reward. But it's so much better if you can identify it on the front end. What are the major risk points for yourself, your business, the market? And how can you mitigate that? Meaning that can you create contingency plans? Can you foresee a lot of that and figure out how to strategize to deal with some of those risks? For example, in today's world, a big risk might be that AI comes along and destroys or takes over your business. We see that happening all over the place, from coders to designers to writers. Whatever business that you're creating, it might be good right now. But does technology pose a risk for you? And then how can you mitigate that? Number four, how are you going to build and nurture a team? What's that team look like? Well, you have to build a business. Big employee base. Where are you going to find those employees? Both in the country and maybe outside by outsourcing? Is that something you even want to manage? You want to manage a team? Do you want to create a business that's light on manpower or woman power? I think for a lot of entrepreneurs, early on, they are the business, they're the employee, they're the N of 1. And that's fine because you get through with hustle and grit. But if you want that business to grow or scale, you need to leverage. You need to find other people who can help you grow. But that means your business changes. That means you no longer are just the hustle. You also have to figure out how to manage. Is this something you even want to do? And how are you going to do that? It's good to at least think through that so you're not surprised when it comes time to build that team. Hey, what's up everyone?

Just want to ask you a quick question. Are you ready to take your medical career beyond the traditional boundaries of medicine and amplify your impact?

Well, I want to tell you about.

The Leverage and growth Accelerator community. Just so you know, we created this exclusive community just for physicians like you who want to expand their identities without giving up their doctor identities. It's an add on, it's not a replacement. When we hosted our first Leverage Growth.

Summit, I know many of you have.

Been part of that. We realized that so many doctors were inspired by the what and why of entrepreneurship, but needed help with the how and when. And that's why we created this community called Leverage and Growth Accelerator to help doctors learn how to start, grow or scale a thriving business and connect with like minded individuals who also want to make a positive contribution to the world. Within this community, you can experience a life of greater fulfillment. It's really a powerful antidote to burnout.

Where you can leverage your medical degree.

For new opportunities and take command of your time and schedule so you can invest in your family's future while enjoying today. In the Leverage and Growth Accelerator, you're going to have access to educational materials. You can have insights from expert speakers, small group Coaching and most importantly, you're going to have community support to help you realize your untapped potential in 20, 24 and beyond. And we're so confident in the transformative power of this members only community that we're offering the first 30 days for free. If you're interested, I want you to take advantage of this. This window of opportunity is not going to last forever. So go now to lgacommunity.com again that's lgacommunity.com if you're ready to take your medical career to the next level, make a profound impact in the world and do it together with other like minded people. It's time to join us.

We can't wait to see you inside. Next, let's talk about marketing. How are you going to market your business? Who are your competitors today? What can you learn from them? What does the marketplace look like? Is it crowded? Some people call that the red ocean where there's a ton of blood in the market. I mean, there's so many people fighting over the same customers. Is there potentially a market that's wide open for you when not as many people are in, but you can succeed. Now what I've learned is you don't always need to be the best in your market. Pepsi does pretty well too. But let's make sure there's space in that market for you as well. This next one I've learned is so important. Do you have the right resources available to you and the right community and relationships to help this thing grow? When I mean relationships, I'm talking about mentors, community, coaches, advisors. I've learned that you can do it on your own, which takes so much time. But can you shorten the learning period? Can you learn from others mentors? Can you utilize resources to help grow stronger, better? Are there communities that you can join like our Leveraging Growth accelerator to help you grow your business and build your network to support your growth? And then this last one, what is your exit plan? I think we all became doctors. We expected to just become a physician and we're gonna do it as long as we possibly can. When it comes to business though, it's good to think about the end in mind. How long do you wanna run this business? Is this a business that you're gonna continue to operate for cash flow for the time being? Is it a business where you wanna grow it as quickly as possible? Scale profitability is secondary, but you wanna years to private equity. It's really important for you to understand what the end looks like because then that's going to help you build that business and figure out the direction for it as you go. Now I've started some businesses that didn't do so well. I had a ticket resale company with a few friends recently that just did not get off the ground. I had other businesses involved with real estate that just never took hold that I couldn't put the time and energy and effort into. And I found out it's because I didn't ask myself these fundamental questions, the ones that you just went through. And if I had done that, it would have saved me a lot of time, energy and money. Now don't get me wrong, you don't have to have it all figured out before you start. And you know, I always say just go for it. Make it happen. Small steps first before you have big steps. But it just takes a few hours to get through these questions, put them on paper, make sure you're clear on them before you get started, and that will save you so much down the line. Now I'm a big fan of entrepreneurship for physicians. I think we're naturally born entrepreneurs no matter what people say about us and our business skills. We know how to plan, design, grow things, build things, whether people give us credit for it or not. I've seen so many physicians be successful. You've seen it all through our Leverage and Growth Summit and different platforms that we have. My good friend Dr. Pranay Parikh says that the world would be a better place if there were more physician led businesses and I'm a big fan of that. So my goal is to support you along the entrepreneurial journey, wherever you're at, and and help more physicians grow successful, thriving businesses. Part of the way we do that is through our Leverage and Growth Accelerator, that community for low cost where you just join in with other physicians who are part of this journey and you can share your experience and learn from each other and we help each other grow in a significant way. If you're interested in meeting other people who might be just as crazy as you are, who have these ideas, who are trying to grow big ideas and make things happen, make sure to join us at the Physician Real Estate and Entrepreneurship Conference this fall in Dallas, Texas, September 26th through 28th. Tickets are almost sold out. Pimdcon.com I hope to see you there. Until next time, keep building those big ideas. We're here to support you. Excited to see what happens from here for you. Have an awesome week. Let's talk again soon. Take care. Bye. Enjoy the show. Let me know by dropping a review in the podcast app you're listening to us in. And if you haven't already, make sure to hit subscribe. Join thousands of physicians who are also on this journey to creating their ideal lives multiple streams of income. Learn more at our website, passiveincomemd.com thanks again for allowing me to be a part of your journey. See you next time.