Twitter Fest Friday

Welcome to the Halloween edition of Twitter Fest Friday! Today I asked three questions to the Twitter Followers all with a general theme of "challenge". Since an overwhelming number of people list owning their own business as a life dream I was curious to know what holds them back, what challenges must be faced in order to achieve that dream, and how we go about assessing our weaknesses and fixing them. There was no surprise that money topped the list of challenges faced when starting a small business, and I'll think you'll see from the replies we all struggle with the same issues when starting out.

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Friday October 31, 2008

For the biz owners in the group...what was your biggest obstacle to starting a business? or For would be business owners...what's holding you back?

taless: getting my home-based business going has been challenging. Booking events is easy, booking home parties has been a challengehttp://www.learningfelt.com/

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Jetsettriplethreateventshellyrio_daniella_normal

brooklynblondie: Marketing my company and funding my efforts!!!!

http://myspace.com/pinkdiamondmanagement

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GRIPCOMMPR:income uncertainty vs. family breadwinning obligations http://www.gripcommpr.com

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Betani: Re: starting business -- Courage. It was hard to swallow my fear and set up shop

.http://betanisbureau.blogspot.com/

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dallisonlee: The biggest obstacle was funding...followed by finding the right clients.http://www.dallisonlee.com/

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makingthenews: Finance. Had to pay for website and equipment but with 3 kids (now 4) I had no savings so had to dig deep. A £1k grant helped.http://www.makingthenews.co.uk/

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WayneLiew: Funds.

- WayneLiew:Come think about it seriously, perhaps time and my current studies. I despise attending classes. LOL http://www.affboom.com/
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WhenIGroUpCoach: Money! Lots and lots of it. Stupid NYC and not wanting to live in a closet. http://whenigrowupcoach.com/

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Commercial_headshot_cropped_small_normal

life_enthusiast:Biggest obstacle in starting biz was convincing Hubby that it was a worthwhile

endeavor. http://www.kristenbeireis.com/

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ChrisFerdinandi: If you consider my blog a business (and I do), for me its just finding the time to develop it while keeping my day job. http://managerssandbox.com/

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DesireeW: Finding the financial means to get the word out and get the necessary equipment to get going.

DesireeW: FEAR! http://yourvoa.webs.com/

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MarkRiffey: Obstacle: Inertia. Get off your duff and just do something.

MarkRiffey: Not just complacent, but scared of that 1st step. Perry Marshall says "Lean into the fear" aka starting down a hill on skis http://www.rescuemarketing.com/blog/

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designtwit: MY biggest obstacle to starting my business? Answer: myself. Layoff during last recession in '99 made me. Thanks recession. http://www.fusionframes.com/

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giazzpet: I've been with Market America 4 + yrs, and we've decided to just be sales reps Pt 1

giazzpet: @smallbizbee Pt2, now we are learning about getting into our own business by doing drop shipping, and I'm learning everyday about marketing
- giazzpet: @smallbizbee Pt3 however, I also want to launch a big idea (w/partner from South Africa) and need $$ to do so, so we still have FT jobs http://www.giazzworld.blogspot.com/
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RussellWhite: my biggest obstacle to starting my business was ME. Once I got my head and insecurities out of the way, I was home free. http://www.pinnaclesolutions.org/

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James Wallace: that question baffles me SBB. At one point it was developing a complex web application that met the requirements of the vision. Like minds coming together is another rare occurance(sp?). Execution phase...time to market...continual improvements to keep ahead of the curve...(will be back with more). Thanks for the brain excercise though!!

http://www.TownhomeGuide.com

http://www.SouthSearch.com

http://www.ImVivo.com

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Tom McFeeley: Getting over the fear of the unknown and realizing my success was directly tied to me, my drive, my confidence and that my services provide real and necessary value http://tommymac71.blogspot.com/

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lawschoolexpert: biggest obstacle - convincing my husband ; ) http://lawschoolexpert.blogspot.com/

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What don't you know, and how will you learn it?

tumblemoose: I don't know what's up with my firefox. I've got NFI what to do about it http://www.tumblemoose.com/

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caddyinfo: How will social media sites improve the integration and access of late adopters, low-tech-ers? Learn: analytics, anecdotal, ???

caddyinfo: Each SM tries to be easy. But how does one who struggles to use any sm juggle 6? (I do) Will 1 SM be a gate keeper to my cust? http://www.caddyinfo.com/

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KyleSC: I don't know shopping carts well. Will learn by trial subscriptions http://www.virtualadminksc.com/

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eclewis: didn't know about marketing, am trying to learn by going to networking events, trying new things online, and asking people ?s http://www.eclewis.com/