22 Reasons to Start a Business in 2013
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. CREDIT: User-entrepreneur innovation image via Shutterstock |
Thinking about starting a business this year? Well, the time has never been better. If you’ve already got a great business idea, and you’re ready to take the next step, all you need is the inspiration to get moving. BusinessNewsDaily asked 21 entrepreneurs to tell you why now is a great time to start a business :
I am optimistic for business owners and entrepreneurs heading into 2013. With the uncertainty of the 2012 presidential election now behind us, entrepreneurs and budding business people can move ahead with their plans knowing the direction in which the country is headed and who is at the helm. – Paula Balzer, CEO, TBA Global
If you have a business idea and are currently debating whether to start a new business or take the safe route, it is important to factor one major component into your decision: regret.
Almost everyone I know, personally, has a story about how he [or] she had this great idea and never had the guts to move forward with it, and now someone else is doing it. Just go for it. Make mistakes, learn along the way. It’s important. – Joe Kalfa, CEO and Founder, Deeyoon
Availability of capital, political climate, competitive landscape and other macro-business trends are all crucial factors to consider when launching a startup. However, the most important thing to focus on is the people you hire, and 2013 will bring optimal conditions. While highly skilled, hard-to-fill positions can still be challenging, the vast majority of other positions can be filled far more easily. With slower-paced job growth comes a larger population of job seekers, furnishing new business owners with an ideal advantage. Our organization has nearly doubled its size over the last 12 months. That has as much to do with the growing demand for our services as it does with the ease with which we have been able to scale the size of our staff. We have benefited greatly from these recent recruiting-market conditions.
Entrepreneurs launching a business in 2013 can expect a generally higher-quality candidate pool, more candidates to choose from, candidates that have more reasonable salary and job expectations and, overall, better retention with their new hires. A company’s biggest asset and key to success is its employees, and the next 12 months will give employers better access to the best pipeline of talent. – Beth Gilfeather, CEO and Founder, Seven Step Recruiting
2013 is a terrific year to launch a business as the economy continues to recover from the devastating recession of 2008. We have a shortage of startups from the last five years as venture capitalists sat on the sidelines. Certain seismic shifts have unlocked opportunities to create software that will replace premise-based software over the next decade, and with the venture funding available and technology needed to solve problems businesses will be facing in the future, it has perhaps never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. – Flip Filipowski, CEO and Founder, SilkRoad
There's never been a better time to create something from nothing. Entrepreneur's today can impact the lives of millions of people and bring about change on a scale that was impossible until recently. There are many reasons why 2013 is an amazing time to start up your business. The barriers to [be] face[d] have decreased dramatically. Ten years ago, to start a business you needed to invest heavily in Infrastructure. Servers, data centers and networking costs were significant. Today, all you need is an Internet connection, and your infrastructure resides in the cloud. Culture change is another big factor. We are in a new era where developers and founders can achieve rock star status. We have access to information other generations just didn't have. Open source software, forums, search engines and online content provide a wealth of information at your fingertips. We are creating a dream-big culture that rewards those willing to take risks. Funding and access to capital [have] also become more accessible. Today VC's, angel investors , institutional investors, incubators and state- and federally funded programs work together to find and fund the best and brightest ideas. 2013 is the year to make your own destiny and start something amazing. – Mark Lucas, CEO, mySudo
With the cloud, [and] mobile and security technologies disrupting the industry, there’s also a new need to manage them. The funds that IT used to invest in older technologies [have been] freed up and will go to newer technologies. If you’re thinking about launching an enterprise startup, now’s the right time. It’s prime time for startups to come in and displace slower-moving, big firms. It’s a huge opportunity for startups to pitch established players in the enterprise on new solutions. – Domingo Guerra, President and Co-Founder, Appthority
Anytime is a good time to start a business if you have a great idea you are excited and passionate about, and there is a need for it in the market. Monitor the economic landscape extremely closely, as uncertainty may cause some entrepreneurs to hold back, giving you more room to get started. At the moment, it’s such an explosive time with major technology change, (Internet, mobile) that the opportunity for disruption is high. Remember, successful disruption equals great company success. – Niraj Shah, CEO and Co-Founder, Wayfair.com
Do you like calling attention to yourself? It is one more reason why you should not put off starting that business idea that seemed part of your distant future. The government and media are unified in the belief that great new businesses are critical to the nation’s recovery, and are willing to showcase innovative founders and their ideas in any number of ways. While seemingly great for your ego (and scrapbook), that kind of attention serves to invite investors and consumers to know and understand your business, potentially propelling it at a faster clip than might have been possible otherwise. Timing is critical: first to "market" with great ideas will be the ones best positioned to take advantage and break through the mold. – Hope W. Neiman, CMO, EMN8
The truth is, there is no “right” time to start your own business. Whether it’s 2013 or 2030, the reasons for starting your own business will be the same. And it’s “not the economy, stupid.” It’s you. Start a company if you want to create. Become an entrepreneur if you want to build a product, a team and a culture. Take the big plunge if you want to have greater control over your own destiny, but are fully aware that the outcome of your endeavor will in some part, perhaps even largely, be outside of your control. And start that journey today if you already know in your heart that it’s the only path that will truly make you fulfill your greatest potential." – Shahram Seyedin-Noor, CEO and Co-Founder, GraphDive
I believe if you’re solving a real problem, it is always a good time to start a business. It doesn’t matter if we are in a recession or if the economy is booming, if your value proposition is compelling, there will be opportunities to find the right backers to finance your idea. – Leo Rocco, CEO and Founder, GoPago
In 2013, all you need to start a business is you. Next year more than ever, there will be available support systems to help any entrepreneur jumpstart their business. From startup accelerators to crowdfunding , and freelance marketplaces to pay-as-you-go customer service, there is a way to fill any gap in a business plan in 2013. Don't know how to code? Not a problem, you can learn for free or bypass coding entirely. Does search-engine marketing have you baffled? There's a community of experts available at the click of a mouse. The support system available to you in 2013 is unrivaled, which makes it a great year to take the plunge. – Dan Roberts, General Manager and Co-Founder, Foodini
It is rare for all key ingredients of a startup — capital, talent, low cost and market readiness — to come together simultaneously. Startups aren’t easy, but timing plays an important role in their success. With record-high unemployment, fast-paced technology innovation and more venture money [that is] chasing ideas, there couldn’t be a better time to start a business. I truly believe it is a great time for entrepreneurs to follow their dreams. – Rohit Vashisht, CEO and Co-Founder, Sverve
There are millions of reasons for not starting a business in the New Year: money, resources, time; uncertainty and fear of failure typically rank high. Surprisingly, for those fortunate enough to take the plunge, physics and momentum begin to work in your favor. An object in motion is hard to stop. The compounding progress of simple actions begin to take effect: new ideas emerge; new relationships develop. The net result is often a far cry from the initial model, plan or prototype but there is nothing quite like setting your own course. Starting a business is never easy - in any economy – but the richness of the experience and potential reward far outweigh the initial insecurity. The ability to do things differently and in many cases a lot better is reason alone to throw your hat in the ring. – Todd Greenfield, Founder, America’s Farmstand
Thanks to the continued maturation of the Internet, opportunities for finding a niche and starting a successful business are more abundant than ever. That’s true regardless of economic circumstance. An online business can be launched on a shoestring budget. Simply by leveraging the resources made available by the Web, innovators can reach out to target demographics and turn significant profits. All it takes are an idea and a well thought-out strategy for execution! – Cliff Stein, CEO, ReputationChanger.com
Starting a business in 2013 is a phenomenal idea! Business owners are masters of their own time. For all the time and effort that goes into a business, the benefits are reaped directly by the owner of the business. In 2013, many people will be turning their hobbies into businesses, and many will turn that new or novel idea into an entrepreneurial start-up. Rates on loans are low. Web-based start-up costs are low, and entrepreneurship is up when the economy is tight. Leverage social media for your marketing, and get the word out about your new business. 2013 is the year to make it happen. – Deborah Sweeney, CEO, MyCorporation
I can’t imagine a better time, in the past or the foreseeable future, to start a business than right now. The reason is simple: we’re smack-dab in the middle of what I’m sure we’ll eventually term the “golden age of crowdfunding.” Sites like Kickstarter (where I successfully launched the Capture Camera Clip System last year) are growing in popularity by leaps and bounds. There are 10 times the number of projects and members on Kickstarter now than there were a year ago. And throughout this massive growth, the dynamics of crowdfunding have stayed consistent. It’s not getting overrun by faceless corporations, demanding big-wig investors, heavy government regulations or other forces that have traditionally barricaded average Joes from following through with the entrepreneurial process. — Peter Dering, Founder, Peak Design
There is something unique that we each have to offer the world, and starting a business is one of the best ways to implement that unique contribution. It is an opportunity to take a dream or vision and make it real. The sense of creative freedom from starting and running your own business is unlike any other, an unparalleled life experience. Through the businesses we create, we
can make a significant impact on people's lives and the world we live in. Starting a business is personally rewarding, socially inspiring and, despite the risks, exhilarating. – David Hehman, CEO, GreenStack
Entrepreneurs are no different from everyone else, except that they had the will and confidence to take the leap. I know tons of people at big companies who have dramatically stronger business minds than me and other entrepreneurs I’ve met, but most of them don’t have the nerve to hang their own shingle and give it a shot. And the sad part of that is this: despite all of their strengths and skills, they may never really test their limits, because in a large corporation your destiny is controlled by more than your own performance. There’s gamesmanship, politics, and inside baseball. And all of [those things] can cap a person’s career well before they’ve realized their true potential. And for this reason, 2013, like every year, is a great year to start a company. Once you’ve taken the leap, there’s no looking back, but you have to take that first step! – Rich Enos, Co-Founder, StudyPoint, YourAppAdviser, PrepNow and TheWritingFaculty.com
If you had an idea, even in the recent past, that you still want to try, start on it now to get ready for 2013. Don't worry about political uncertainty affecting business. It's a problem, but Ayn Rand was correct in that creators will keep creating in some form or other no matter what. Aren't you going to find a way to progress anyway? So start now, because everything takes time to develop. For most ventures, the point where you actually need to invest significant sums or take on risk and responsibility is somewhere down the line. There's a lot of preliminary, free, but time-consuming work to be done before you get there. The process of earnestly and fully pursuing your venture is the only way to get the information and experience necessary to know if you really want to commit yourself at the last step or not. You can't do anything halfway. No one is going to come by and make it work for you. Get started as if you were really going to put everything into it, and by the time you get to the point of no return, only then will you have the information to know if you should really commit or not. That process takes time, so start it now. If you end up going all the way, you'll be that [much] farther ahead and closer to your goals. If you decide there are insurmountable hurdles or unacceptable risk to you, the process itself is always valuable and you'll know that much more. Stop hesitating and start now. – David Moritz, CEO, Society Awards
Next year is the perfect time to start your own company. Here are a few reasons why you should get off the couch, or stay on the couch, open your computer and get working in 2013:
- Access to capital and cheap testing: You probably don’t need to raise several million dollars to get your company up and running. According to a panel of VCs in Cambridge, it’s easier than ever to raise seed rounds to test out your ideas. Extra bonus: It’s cheaper than ever to test out your business idea.
- Access to people: There are a ton of talented people looking for the right opportunities who can join your team, and also tons of mentors who are looking to help you, and your new company, succeed. Traditional incubator and accelerator programs and co-working spaces are popping up around the country (world, even) to help you get your startup off the ground.
- Location doesn’t matter: You don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to start a business in 2013. Other cities are jockeying to become the next hotbed of startups and they will help you out! – Danny Levi, Co-Founder and General Manager, GetAFive
Starting a business is a great idea. It's an opportunity for you to grow and keep relevant. Of course, it helps if you've got a great idea and funding. So many women today are still locked in the shackles of what society has decided is their safe role. Be bold, jump in. There is so much more out there. You owe it to yourself to fly. There are many women's organizations, like "Count Me In," which can help you take that first step. Go for it! You can do it! – Adie Horowitz, founder, Licenders
An entrepreneur should not start a business to solve the challenges of today, but rather to solve the challenges of tomorrow. Now is the perfect time to start a business if you want to be successful in a few years. Within these next five years, we'll see another 2.7 billion people connect with one another through online networks, most of them in the Eastern Hemisphere. Leverage this opportunity by starting a business in 2013. – Henrik Dillman, CEO, Mancx
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