This week we share a few more challenges that Cinzia Piccini conquered as she forged her way to success as an entrepreneur.

Financially, the only working capital Cinzia had to work with was the package she had received. After about 6 months, Cinzia and her sister, Michela, approached the banks for a small overdraft facility to tide them over from one month and the next. The banks refused, so they had to make do with only the turnover that they were making.  This proved very challenging from month-to-month because in business every month is different. Some months have higher expenses, and some months there is less income.

Dealing with staff issues was the most challenging aspect for Cinzia. In the corporate world there was always the support of a human resources department, and defined work ethics and procedures that you followed when dealing with staff matters; in her business, there is no such support. 

Cinzia also missed other support structures in the early days of owning her own business. In her management role, she had a known budget to work with and the support and infrastructure of the different departments, for example: costing, accounting, sales representatives and finance department. In her own business, she had to manage every aspect on her own.

Entrepreneurs do everything in their businesses, especially in the start-up phases; they are the “go to” person for everything from IT to HR and when things go wrong, they usually go wrong in all areas at the same time - staff, customers, suppliers and finances. Initially it was difficult to deal with everything at once and Cinzia sought the help of an accountant for their salary payments, VAT returns, UIF payments, etc., while she brought herself up to speed with the multitude of different legislative requirements, industry requirements and Labour laws. As time went by, she settled into her many roles.

To be continued...

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