Holding Your Ground and Looking for Customers

My business has been up since April 2014. Until today, we made multiple bids for hotel projects and have also received some import/ export queries. So far, our success rate is zero.

If I tell you that I am not nervous and desperate, I would be lying to you. Every month, the cash burning rate is around 1000 MYR/ 300 USD. The longer time I have no business, the bigger hole that myself and other business partners would be in.

For those who aspires owning a business and wanted to quit the current job. It is vital to plan ahead.

1. Keep your job until your side business starts to make money.
2. Save up! Forget about the movies, or eating out. Before you spent the next dollar, think whether it can contribute to your business funds or savings.
3. Calculate your personal monthly expenditure and the business's. From the calculation, you would know how much your business needs to make in order to sustain yourself and itself. 
4. Be careful of cost! I am lucky that my business partner own the property, thus we do not have pay the rental now. Due to our small operations, the services that we use are either the cheapest or free. For example, we are only using Google Drive's free 5GB storage for our work. 
5. Plan to call or bid for business on a regular basis. There are not many hotel projects out there in the market. The partners make sure to have weekly discussions on who and where to look for customers.

The above five points are just my personal experience. The business journey ahead remains uncertain and precarious. This is what being a business person is all about. For the person who is thinking of starting or struggling with the business, I hope this blog inspires you and tell you that you are not alone.

Good luck in getting the first customer.