Running multiple businesses.

You don’t have to be a millionaire or a media magnate to consider running more than one business, although a large budget would probably make it easier!

It is certainly possible to run multiple businesses successfully, but it requires organization and discipline.

Choosing to run multiple businesses has some advantages over running a single business:

• It diversifies your income sources which can offer greater financial security
• You will have a greater variety of tasks
• It can even out cash flow for you especially if you have seasonal fluctuations in one business
• Each business can help promote the other. This can be particularly valuable if one business has high website traffic for instance.
• Your business skills and learning can be used more than once.

Of course, there are also disadvantages to running multiple businesses

• You may face “conflict” between promoting one business or another. For example, at a networking event you may need to choose which business to represent.
• Your administrative tasks increase with multiple sets of accounts, websites, tracking and so forth
• It can divide your focus and finances so neither gets sufficient attention
• You need to deal with practical issues such as which business to name when you answer the phone
• You may have multiple industries to stay abreast of
• You will have more competitions to monitor

It will depend upon the business themselves, your time constraints, your personal needs (e.g. do you prefer variety of work or less admin?) as to whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

If you are considering running more than one business, the following points may help your decision:

• One very seasonal business reduces the workload and stress for much of the year
• Businesses that compliment each other allow easier cross promotion and development
• Having a manager for at least one business gives you diversity and opportunity without the increased workload and juggling of running multiple businesses yourself.
• It is generally easier to focus on starting only one business at a time. Once it is established, you can consider starting another.

Credit to Tash Hughes.