Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ron Trucks, CEO of bsnsAtlas, located in St. Louis, MO, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are an online course provider that offers small business owners and students easy-to-understand courses on the basics of business and bookkeeping.
Tell us about yourself
After having spent quite a bit of time in the hospitality industry, both big and small operations, I realized how overwhelming it is to learn and understand the basics of business in a language that makes sense. Over 25 years ago, I started supporting small business owners to help them wrap their heads around everything that was coming at them from every direction. Along with that, I began teaching community college over 15 years ago to continue that goal.
My favorite way of explaining what I do is... Business owners are usually very good at what they actually do, they just need some help figuring out the business side of their businesses. Chefs may be great in the kitchen, but they struggle to figure out how to process payroll. Bodybuilders may run a great gym, but they are unsure of how to put an inventory system together. We help them accomplish that side of their ventures.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
The feedback we receive from our students when they make comments like, "I've studied bookkeeping several times in school, but it never made sense. Now I understand what the instructors were actually saying."
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Realizing that you're almost always "on" when it comes to work, especially as a business that offers learning opportunities that students can take at their own pace and on their own schedule. When they reach out with questions or for help, it's really difficult to think, "I'll let that wait until tomorrow morning when I'm at my desk working." It may be 10 pm, but that student is taking the time to work on the materials right then. I want to be able to help them when they're reaching out, so they don't set it aside and not come back to it later.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Understand what you do well and what you need help with. The least effective manager is the one that thinks they can do it all or is too scared to admit they do not know or understand something.
- Understand there are great advantages to running a business (doing what you like, working your schedule, being responsible for your own actions), but that is also balanced with some big responsibilities.
- Don't plan on your business supporting you financially for at least a year. If it does, great. But there are many business owners who invest their money into a project and expect it to be financially successful enough from the day they open their doors that it will be covering its own expenses and generating enough money for the owner to start paying themselves (or at least start paying back the investment.) It rarely works out that way.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.bsnsatlas.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bsnsatlas/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ron_Trucks
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsnsatlas.com/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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