Many people who intend to start a business are held back by various fears. They fear they will not be able to sustain themselves; they fear thinking about finding sources of income every day; they fear that if they promise too much at the start, they will not be able to fulfill their expectations as time goes on.
The same goes when the business has already started. They want to add human resources but are afraid that their income will not cover all the monthly salary and operational needs.
However, entrepreneurship can be started with a simple thought: cover the most essential needs. If becoming a freelance entrepreneur or starting one’s own business, then the need is to earn a minimum income equivalent to the income when still working. For example, my monthly budget is IDR five million, so the initial target and plan are directed towards:
- How to earn IDR five million for this month needs
- How to earn more than IDR five million so that there is a reserve for next month and the following months
If, for example, I earn IDR seven million this month, it means that I have savings of IDR two million for next month. If I earn IDR six million next month, it means that I have a reserve of IDR three million, consisting of IDR two million in the first month and IDR one million in the second month. Even though I have a reserve, it does not mean I am decreasing my target. My budget is still IDR five million, and all revenue is more than the target reserved for the emergency fund.
The above may seem trivial, and we should be able to understand it by ourselves, but in many cases, many people fail at entrepreneurship because they neglect the simple things above. Many also have problems in the middle of the way because they do not think about a similar idea.
This kind of thinking model is actually very minimalistic because the assumption is that there is no capital at all, and the income relies only on their skills and abilities. It would actually be easier if there were an initial capital, for example, IDR fifteen million. With capital, there is a reserve for living expenses for three months while still in the initial stages of the business and trying to earn a stable income. It would be much better if the reserve is not for one or two months but for one to two years in the future.
As an analogy, it will take a long time to harvest if we plant hard trees like teak or fruit plants. The same goes for getting a large project with the possibility of high income; it takes a long time to complete the work, especially if there are delays in the work process. It is the same as starting a business; getting a stable income takes a long time. Therefore, it is important to prepare a reserve to cover living expenses during the early stages of the business.
Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay