The History Of Business And The Reason Why Starting Your Own Business Is Never Free - Part 2
In our last post, we explored the history of entrepreneurship. If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, you can do so here! In this post, we'll continue where we left off, as well as cover the theme of starting your own business by exploring the associated costs.
Migration and Entrepreneurship in Spain and Post-Colonial Latin America
Around this time, Spain and its former colonies in North, Central, and South America were also undergoing changes that would fuel the growth of entrepreneurship.
In Spain, there were constant migrations from the countryside to the cities that were experiencing high growth as a consequence of industrialization and change. Even with constant internal conflicts, people flooded into cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, and Seville as factories were created and Spain industrialized.
Famous Latin American and Spanish businessmen such as: Carlos Slim, Joseph Safra, Iris Fontbona, German Larrea and Isaac Muga. They found success by growing their businesses through innovation and by providing solutions to problems or by providing something that customers wanted.
Nothing is free or There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch'
"There's no such thing as a free lunch" is an expression that describes the cost of decision making and consumption. The expression conveys the idea that things that seem free always have some cost paid for by someone, or that nothing in life is really free.
In this case, free lunch refers to a situation where there is no cost incurred by the person receiving the goods or services being provided. However, economists point out that even if something is truly free, there is an opportunity cost to not taking something.
Understanding this concept is critical when choosing to open and run your own business because everything has a price.
Offers like a free trial, or a free sample are a cost that a business will sometimes be willing to pay to help promote its product or service, in the hope that the customer will find it suitable enough to want to buy or use it.
Shopify's Trial Period and How to Make the Most of it to be Set Up For Success
Shopify provides an amazing platform for our merchants to create their own online stores and promote their brand, products, and services with an online domain that they permanently own.
Similar to the relationship between a commercial property manager at a mall. For example, and a tenant. Shopify will take care of the online infrastructure to ensure your success, however, each and every merchant on our platform is responsible for building and running their business to make it successful. This includes taking care of the costs to set up and start the business.
Business models like Dropshipping, and Print On Demand, require you to purchase items to fulfill your orders before you can see any profit, and that's before accounting taxes and overhead.
The offer of a trial period is intended for you to experiment if the infrastructure and features that Shopify offers make sense for your business and needs. Also, this is not a guarantee that you will make instant profits or that your business will be immediately successful.
The truth of the matter is that you need money to make money. However, there are steps you can take to make sure your business ideas are realistic, affordable, and achievable so that you can truly become the independent entrepreneur you always wanted to be.
In order to make proper use of the trial period, here are some things we recommend you do before signing up for Shopify.
- Create a business plan and organize your ideas so that you can put your thoughts on paper and see how you are going to turn your plans into reality .
- Familiarize yourself with the costs of starting a business on Shopify; we have an excellent article that summarizes them .
- If you're considering Dropshipping or Print-on-Demand, make sure you understand these business models and familiarize yourself with the up-front costs of the items you'll need to purchase to fulfill customer orders. A great resource is our Ultimate Guide to Dropshipshipping.
- Think of a marketing plan and consider using some of our tips on how to promote your store for free
- Use Shopify resources, like Youtube and our blog, for business or marketing advice.
- Familiarize yourself with the tax laws of your country and what your responsibilities are so that you are not caught unawares in the future.
Today, entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of economies around the world. The global economy, combined with modern infrastructure and communications, has ushered in a new era of competition in the world of entrepreneurship. You are no longer competing with businessmen from your tribe, town, village, or city – you are competing with businessmen from all over the world.
