Developing a business is not easy work, particularly if it is to be successful. Careful planning is an essential part of the process, but there are some things you just cannot predict or plan for. Including the following considerations in the brainstorming phase of business development can make dealing with potential setbacks easier to manage.

Entering into a partnership

It is always great having a business partner; to bounce ideas off, to lessen the workload, someone who supports you and understands the struggles of starting a new business because they are in it with you. But entering into a partnership can be hazardous when the pair of you do not see eye to eye. Who is going to have the end say in a dispute? How are you going to navigate through differences of opinions if neither party is willing to budge and you both have equal ownership? Unless you have a realistic plan already established for dealing with differences of opinions in a partnership, the business could seriously suffer.

Refusing to adjust

When starting a business, you have to be passionate. If you are not, how do you expect potential customers to be? You should be visualising your business as a success from the very start. But you also need to be logical, critical and acknowledge when a venture just is not going to be fruitful. Successful business owners are always evaluating how to make the business successful, and sometimes that means parting with your original vision and creating new goals.

Emergency cash

When starting a new business – for most people – cashflow is tight. But one expense you should not be frugal with is emergency back-up funds. You can plan for everything to go wrong, but there will always be something you have not considered. Put some money aside at the start to save yourself the financial stress later.