Learn how others have overcome the challenges facing entrepreneurs
"Each of my businesses has resulted in a trade sale. An unfortunate problem with a lot of internet companies is that..." Ross Cooney
"It was still pretty hard going though because CRM, the product that we were selling, was fairly new at that time...." Derek Curtis
"The business had really started to grow; I hadn’t expected it to be quite as successful as quickly as it was and I was..." Nickie Gott
"As a single mum it’s been hard to maintain a business- like persona when I’ve got a son at home whom I want to be there..." Ann Oliver
"Lack of finance has also been a challenge throughout. I’ve found that little business improvements can make the world..." William Ingram
"I’m really keen to bring on young talent, and that’s something that I find really important. We do a lot of work..." Kari Owers
"The business provides a full safety management system; tailored to the needs of the client. Large companies have..." Terry Barnett
"The idea to go into party supplies came from personal experience as when I got married I struggled to find favour boxes..." Sue Harris
"Our biggest initial challenge was getting people to visit the websites but we soon learned that generic domain names..." Les Calvert
"I brought in a hairdresser as I had quite a few brides coming to get their nails done and I wanted to provide the full..." Naomi Johnson
"I began straight away by using a business plan template, and gradually building one up from scratch by myself. Soon..." Ceyhan Mihcioglu
"We pay more than the university pays, so I could go out tomorrow and probably recruit lots of people, but they wouldn’t..." Angela Brown
"The biggest challenge we faced in setting up the business was that it was so bloomin’ expensive to get started! Some..." Louise Allcroft
"After a lot of hard work and persistence I eventually managed to get the product finished working closely with Food..." Geoffrey Johns
"Getting the right people with a passion for what they do can be tricky. You can have the best CV in the world but..." Louise Allcroft
"Getting the right people can be hard. Teaching is all about learning; you’ve got to get someone who wants to learn and..." John Elliott
"Admittedly turning our idea into a reality was harder than we had anticipated. We managed to acquire some start up..." Rona Askew
"The biggest challenge in business is identifying what customers value, and what they don’t. It’s more difficult than..." John Elliott
"Owning your own business if rife with challenges that you have to overcome. The main obstacle I’ve had is being..." Terry Barnett
"I knew that I wanted to have a business in the education sector as I’d worked in it before, but I didn’t have any idea..." Jonathan Wells
"There seems to be a new challenge every day, some of course bigger than others. I think the biggest challenge was..." Jonathan Grubin
"When I started the company it was just to provide PR services for predominantly North East businesses and..." Kari Owers
"I’ve found that you need to stay in touch with the global market because it’s very dynamic. You’ve got different..." Roy Stanley
"Obviously money has been a huge obstacle as I hadn’t worked for three years beforehand and my confidence was a little..." Ann Oliver
"You’ve got to be big enough to hire people who know more about certain aspects of business than you do. That can be..." Sir Tom Hunter
"If you get into a situation where you’ve got some bad sales figures coming in, it’s important to be objective. After..." John Hays
"Prior to gaining funding from the Arts Council Cultural Business Venture to help me set up ‘vien ici’, I hand crafted..." Vien le Wood
"To get our name out as quickly as possible, we sponsored a few events hosted by the CIPD which is the professional body..." Mark Ions
"I’d been thinking of ways to be able to open my own practice for years, but in today’s climate, with big hitters in the..." Kaye Winship
"An opportunity came to take on Milligans bakery who we did an asset transaction with at the end of 2006, and we had the..." Greg Phillips
"When you’re on a downward spiral it’s amazing how many people try to take control. So I was more determined to get back..." Lynn Gate
"We’ve been working on getting ISO17025 accreditation in place for paternity testing which is really going to help the..." Louise Allcroft
"Regalo means gift in Spanish. Initially it was going to be a gift buying service but I realised I would miss out on a..." Clare Rutherford
"We looked at getting more funding from banks, but as soon as they saw we were an online business, they wanted nothing..." Sarah Taylor
"We attend regular seminars at Northumbria University with lawyers, accountants and industry professionals. They taught..." Sarah Taylor
"We sold meal kits online through our website and that’s how the business ran for the first six months. The problem was..." Pete Hunt
"When I first sat down and thought about the goals I wanted to achieve, on paper I’d said that I wanted fifty artists in..." Carol Metcalfe
"My more recent experience has been to do with raising money through institutions on the London market, either through..." Roy Stanley
"We’d just managed to get a massive loan to expand the business but the day after the money went into our bank account..." Alistair McLean
"Through sheer determination, I researched and wrote the ‘vien ici’ business plan myself, and my father gave me a lot of..." Vien le Wood
"In the beginning, with the management buyout, I was buying a contract to supply a large chain of pharmacies. When that..." Fiona Cruickshank
"Inter Nannies ran for a year and a half until our partnership broke up amicably. It had worked well at the start; I..." Angela Brown
"We faced a number of barriers we had to overcome in getting the business off the ground, and it was mainly just keeping..." Alan Timothy
"Taking a step back in the business has definitely been a challenge. Before, if there was a decision to be made, even..." Greg Phillips
"The biggest challenges I’ve faced have been getting new business, encouraging new patients, and competing against the..." Kaye Winship
"We’ve had difficulties finding venues and finding the right staff, but your reputation brings staff to you and retains..." Trudy Hindmarsh
"The main hurdle that I faced was not what to do, but how to do it. My original dream involved a delicatessen / café..." Nicole Race
"Obviously starting up a new business presented its challenges. I didn’t have any family background in business. My..." Satish Shewhorak
"I’d left school at sixteen so I didn’t have a clue what a balance sheet, a spreadsheet, a P&L was. Its quite daunting..." Simon Pearson
"When we grow in the future, I think one of the hardest challenges we’ll have to face will be ensuring that the ethos..." Antonia Clifford
"I made a risky decision to invest every penny Rocket Science has generated for the past two years, into i-snapshot...." Alan Timothy
"It was a real shock to go from student straight to employer. I don’t think I’ve quite got my head around that fact..." Chris Quickfall
"I was sat in the Sunderland office when I got a phone call from a friend of mine from school. He had a travel agency..." John Hays
"I knew that the biggest challenges businesses face involve human resources and change management. When I visited..." Sheila Stokes-White
"Everyone kept coming up to us in the early days and asked us who did our PR. We were thinking, are we supposed to have..." Carol Metcalfe
"One of the biggest challenges I faced was getting the name of the business, Exclusive Human Resources, into the market...." Mark Ions
"In my previous jobs I’d always had administrative support and could call on all the services that you associate with a..." Sheila Stokes-White
"We encourage everybody in the business to look at client relationships as a long term thing. I think people do..." Kari Owers
"If I can’t create the right culture at work, everything will come to a standstill in some way, shape or form. There’s..." Fiona Cruickshank
"Christian and I both agree that, as well as delivering a service for clients, understanding PR and being good at it..." Antonia Clifford
"The business cannot be beholden on me, though trying to find good quality management for small businesses I believe is..." Alan Timothy
"I knew that I was about to feel the force of a huge, national competition, and that took a lot to get my head round and..." Mark Ions
"I needed to work on areas where I was weak. For me, that was marketing, PR and communications. I had to learn that..." Sheila Stokes-White
"The hardest challenge we had to face was managing growth. In the early days, profit wasn’t that important. It was all..." Pete Hunt
"I ignore CVs. Obviously I need to check to see if they’ve got to a certain standard, but it’s all about attitude. A..." Jamie Greenwood
"On paper we were doing very well and receiving many benefits of having a considerable turnover. But because we’d grown..." Jamie Greenwood
"We found our members of staff fairly fortuitously. The first, Kirsty, was actually made redundant from her previous..." Christian Cerisola
"I think making my own decisions has been my biggest challenge. Part of the reason why we set the company up was so we..." Antonia Clifford
"The i-snapshot team, which is my new exciting project, currently has six employees. It needs to expand to sixty in..." Alan Timothy
"In terms of technological knowledge, as an architect, I had a lot. As an internet entrepreneur, I had none whatsoever...." Sarah Taylor
"A lot of people ask me how I value intellectual property. It’s our most important asset; the only item of stock that..." Ross Cooney
"I’d never studied anything to do with business, finance, negotiation, marketing, personnel , contracts, etc; or..." Chris Quickfall
"In the first couple of years we didn’t grow as fast as my business plan had intended. It was interfered by an event..." James Robson
"In our industry competitors do have quite strong relationships with their customers so it’s quite hard to go and knock..." Paul Bell
"When I opened in December I had a few really good weeks where everyone was out buying Christmas presents then I hit the..." Fiona Houghton
"The main challenge I’ve faced is simply organising the sheer amount of activity that goes along with starting and..." Anne Larvin
"The big guys, the national travel agencies, embarked on a really big expansion. They opened in Seaham and smallish..." John Hays
"Soon enough, the suppliers in the south started to compete with our business in the north. In the early days we were..." Derek Curtis
"I’ve had four businesses before Rozmic, but I always wanted Rozmic to be a lot bigger than my other companies and it’s..." Ross Cooney
"Taking on staff has been a big challenge, mostly on a personal level. Your first and primary responsibility is that..." Ross Cooney
"Before I started out I had to face some stiff challenges. I’ve never been confident about speaking to new people and..." Tom Bivens
"I’m studying for a marketing management degree at Newcastle University which has really helped me with my business. I..." Matt Scott
"Juggling studying for my degree whilst running a business was a huge challenge. I overcame this by working extremely..." Rosie Willett
"Until recently there was definitely a sense of ‘them’ and ‘us’ between the office staff and the homeworkers. A staff..." Phil Cronin
"The hardest part has probably been maintaining the belief in what I know is a useful and worthwhile service because of..." Ann Oliver
"One of the biggest challenges in business is making sure you have the right team around you. I used to do all the..." Alistair McLean
"It was difficult getting started. Even a small bouncy castle can cost up to £1,500 and I had to use all the money I’d..." Leanne Hodgson
"I know I’ll face challenges along the way; I think with starting to work towards my actual long term goal of my own..." Michelle Taylor
"Business is about people and we employ 850 of them, so obviously it’s quite hard to keep that amount of people happy...." John Hays
"We’re in the process of acquiring a development opportunity behind our current premises, that’s our next phase...." Lynn Gate
"…formulated the idea and took the company where I wanted to take it My background is in science and research and I’d..." Louise Allcroft
"Our primary driver was to have creative freedom. It wasn’t necessarily the financial drive to become rich. We wanted..." Satish Shewhorak
"When we started, our biggest competitor, the one who was turning over £5.5m, came after us quite aggressively, more..." Chris Quickfall
"I have a business partner, Brian. Some people say you shouldn’t go into business with other people, but for us it’s..." Fiona Cruickshank
"I started the Tanfield Group as a sub contract engineering company. I quickly realised that the future for sub..." Roy Stanley
"I’ve got a great team around me. With lecturers, unless you give them the freedom to create and to be responsible as..." Angela Brown
"I guess one of the worst experiences that you can ever have in life is going home to your wife and saying, “We might..." Roy Stanley
"The biggest challenge for us by far has been recruitment. We need bums on seat to get the output, so I used to think..." Fiona Cruickshank
"I needed to recognise when the new business began to build up. At the beginning we were reliant on a small number of..." Jamie Greenwood
"In terms of finding contacts, I find the best way to create relationships is to do it face to face, not with the..." Chris Quickfall
"My main challenge is my location. I’m upstairs in Eldon Garden so I get very little passing trade, which is bad for the..." Fiona Houghton
"The biggest barrier I faced was leaving my family business which was an emotional time. It made starting a new..." Peter Nixon
"Quite soon after we started we got a big contract form Middlesbrough Council. At that time it was just me and my..." Paul Bell
"We take all new employees on a lengthy induction course. As important in learning all the new technical skills is..." Simon Pearson
"I promote the classes in the local press and I changed the business name to Washington Dance Academy in January as I’m..." Susan Pluse
"One of the hardest things is trying to understand how much someone will pay for the products and services you provide...." Jonathan Wells
"My biggest challenge thus far has been supporting the business financially. However, I have only myself to blame..." Ceyhan Mihcioglu
"Cash flow will obviously be a consistent concern. Initially I’ll be working from home and within other organisations..." Sean Gerrie
"I decided to do a course in company direction (with the Institute of Directors) and when I got there, there were some..." Louise Allcroft
"I think my biggest challenges so far has been to understand the buyer’s perspective, often big name supermarket chains..." Geoffrey Johns
"Bearing in mind I had no idea how the technology worked, it was quite a challenge to create animated books that would..." Anne Curtis
"One of the biggest challenges has always been to keep believing even when bad news has just been received. I read and..." Peter Nixon
"The biggest challenge so far for us has been in the creating of the ‘instant Cassava balls’- currently this product..." Gavin Blowman
"We used other people’s money. I borrowed £5000 from my dad, £5000 from the bank, but then suppliers gradually give you..." Sir Tom Hunter
"I did a leaflet drop around our estate which was quite new and people were looking for beauticians and hair dressers. I..." Naomi Johnson
"Although I’ve maintained a certain level of involvement within Health and Safety, the direction of the business has..." Nancy Haughey
"I feel that there is a gap in the market for my product: a 50’s inspired, beautiful range of +DD lingerie for the..." Michelle Taylor
"Not only did we want to promote our own brand, we also wanted to promote networking and creativity among other people...." Satish Shewhorak
"I went from being a twenty seven year old employee to the twenty seven year old boss. I was in charge of people twice..." Jamie Greenwood
"The salon has only been open for three weeks and in that time I’ve learnt an incredible amount. When you’re running..." Karen Forster
"Age has been a stumbling block, but I’ve come to realise that if someone won’t work with me because I’m sixteen, it’s..." Jonathan Grubin
"One day I was walking with my daughter through a local playground. It was pretty run down and she said to me, ‘Mum..." Nickie Gott
"Although the business has only been going for three weeks I have loved every bit of it and I’m learning all the time. I..." Lindsay Hogg
"In the beginning I looked at other scientific companies around and they were usually spin outs from universities. They..." Louise Allcroft
"The travel agency was based in Seaham where there was no competition. When we applied for a licence the inspector came..." John Hays
"Investment into my business has been my main challenge, along with needing to have the confidence which will ensure..." Nancy Haughey
"It was still a pretty difficult time though in those early days. It was basically a case of trying to find as much..." Derek Curtis
"When I started out, I didn’t have a bottomless pit of money by any means; my family and I risked everything to do this...." Mark Ions
"There were definitely challenges in going from a small business where you know everyone, you know their kids, you knew..." Greg Phillips
"I worked very closely with a web development company who did a fantastic job of designing the website. It needed to be..." Mark Ions
"The trouble is, my business is a small business but it competes with big business: schools and colleges. I’ve got to..." Angela Brown
"The personal challenge I faced was just the fact that I was a girl in my 20s and all the people I was dealing with were..." Louise Allcroft
"Capacity is a major ongoing challenge; there really aren’t enough hours in the day! Particularly when starting out..." Sean Gerrie
"The biggest issue I have, and one that I’m getting advice on at the moment, is delegation. It doesn’t come naturally..." Kari Owers
"I started to set up the company whilst I was still at uni, but when I graduated I had to take a job to support myself...." Chris Quickfall
"I’ve had experience with venture capitalists, and those experiences have been good. Putting Tanfield together..." Roy Stanley
"Rozmic is a high cash burn business, so the risks involved are very very high. In order to cover those risks we’ve..." Ross Cooney
"We’ve got 329 home workers. It’s a great business model because it allows people to have flexibility and take their..." John Hays
"For the first company the advertising was based around Sunday broadsheet newspapers. But then we realised that there..." Alistair McLean
