Many people have failed at creating a small business, but they learn from their mistakes and try again. My first attempt to create a counseling business failed. I could have stopped there and taken a different path, but I didn’t. The tips below helped me start again and be successful. They are: flexibility, problem solving, seeking advice, perseverance, learning from your mistakes, and balancing risks with opportunities.

Businesses are complex and have many “moving parts.” Flexibility allows one to change course or tactics when your original ideas don’t fit the reality of your particular situation. I originally thought that I could charge clients on a sliding fee scale that went as low as $1.00, so that everyone that needed them could get services. Well, that was naïve. To determine the bottom line of what you can charge per item or unit depends on the ratio of your total expenses and how many items you can realistically sell per unit of time. One hundred $1 clients per month would not pay my rent. However, 100 clients that ranged from $5 to $50 could pay the rent, but not a salary. As it turns out, I found that $35 is about as low as you can go per client in the counseling business and thrive.

Running a business presents many problems to solve. A problem solving mindset is needed to confront roadblocks on a regular basis. You can react to problems as if they will keep you from your goals or you can approach each one as a puzzle to be solved, a challenge to be overcome. My first attempt at a private practice was a failure because I used a traditional model of a private practice. When I tried again, I wrote a proposal and received a grant to give me a financial base for paying expenses. What I learned from that was that a mix of revenue streams would best support my business. That has continued to be true to this day.

Running a business requires multiple kinds of expertise. Seeking advice from those with a specific expertise means that you do not have to be an expert in every area. I am an excellent therapist, but my knowledge about running the financial end of my business is not my strong suit. A small business cannot afford to hire a full time business expert, but the US Small Business Administration has offices in most areas. You can make an appointment with them to gain information you need for your small business for free. They also have financial resources for which you can apply.

At one point the growth of my business outstripped my financial resources. I stayed up late every night worrying about how I was going to pay my bills. Because perseverance runs in my bloodstream, I don’t know how to let go of something I only know pursuing and it has served me well. I scoured every possible source of income from credit cards to cashing in other investments for money I needed to stay afloat until revenue caught up with expansion expenses.

You will make mistakes in learning to run your small business. That is actually not a problem. Examine your mistakes. What went wrong? How could you do it better? Learn from your mistakes to improve your business. Along the way, I hired employees that were “not a good fit” with me or my business. I spent months trying to help them come up to my standards. Then I read a management book that suggested that some employees were not capable of meeting your standards and should be managed out of your organization. Once I determined which employees could not meet my standards and managed them out, my business was more successful.

Seventy percent of new businesses fail. Every day a business presents opportunities for success and risk for failure. Most entrepreneurs can tolerate more risk than most people, but a smart business owner will balance the calculated risk with the best opportunities for success. Once I created a successful model for a combined public mental health clinic, private practice and grant supported programs in one location, I recreated the model in a second and then a third location with large opportunities for success. My business grew from 1 site to 4 in measured steps over 12 years.