Fortunately for John Brunow, the Vienna businessman had mentors who helped him as his business, bikes@vienna, llc., grew.
So, when several members of the Vienna Rotary Club, of which he is a part, wanted to establish a group called The Century Club to advise new and emerging business owners, Brunow supported the idea.
"You start with a business plan, but you've got to adapt the plan ... You become so immersed in the day-to-day, that sometimes you miss opportunities," said Brunow, who has owned his bicycle shop for almost six years now. "The Century Club is valuable in helping people enhance their knowledge base."
Begun last month by local businesspeople, The Century Club aims to help new and struggling businesses find their footing through free consultations. The purpose of the club, members said, is not to solicit new businesses, but to advise new business owners on navigating the ins and outs of small business. Besides financing, business owners also have to consider hiring procedures, employee benefits and marketing their product.
"The requirements are the same no matter what size the business is. They think that just because they're small, they're not going to have to do all those things," said Matthew A. Brennan, III, an attorney also involved in The Century Club.
George Chaplin, another Century Club member agreed, "There are many other things to business besides having a good product."
WHEN A NEW business owner starts growing his or her business, the owner has to be aware of how much money he or she needs, members said. The owner also needs to learn how to screen potential employees and keep them accountable.
"People are so focused on going into a new business that they don't think about the potential liabilities," said Woody Bentley, a securities consultant. "They don't understand the big picture that surrounds them."
In order to help those business owners, Century Club members hope to serve as a sounding board for business owners as they modify their business plans. Chaplin starts the process by meeting with a small business owner to discuss the owner's product and business plan. Once the business owner has a sufficient plan, he or she presents the plan in front of Brennan and other Century Club members.
The members then give feedback on how the business owner can improve the plan.
"Having to educate business owners on some of the issues is constantly a challenge," said William M. Adkins, who works in insurance. "For me, it's educating the guy who's in it for the first time and helping him find viable solutions."
The idea of starting the consulting club came from Chaplin, who had been involved with a similar group with George Mason University and several information technology companies. Chaplin brought the idea before Vienna Rotary members, who embraced it.
Although Chaplin has just started meeting with one business owner, club members hope to work with more business owners once word of the program spreads. The group also intends to partner with the Vienna-Tysons Chamber of Commerce to work with business owners in the areas of Vienna, Fairfax, Falls Church and McLean.
"What we have is people from a lot of different disciplines who would see a lot of different things," Brennan said.