How Long Does it Take to Establish a Small Business?

How long it takes to establish a small business is something every business owner would like to know. Sometimes, small businesses don't hang around long enough to answer the question. I own a small business that has been open for three years and, as it happens, I am still looking for an answer.

The Conventional Wisdom
Conventional wisdom varies as to how long it takes for a small business to get established. Some say that if you make it through the first two years, you can make it forever. You've weathered the storm. Others say the fate of a small business won't be secured for five years and it will be that long, half a decade, before you can feel secure in the life of your business.

These factors add up to a great deal of uncertainty in starting up a business. How long will it take your small business to generate and grow a solid customer base? How many years will it take for the business to pay you a living wage and let you take a few days off?

These are two different questions that may explain some of the difference in the conventional wisdom on how long it takes to establish a small business.

Breaking Even
Establishing a solid customer base might take a couple of years, depending on the circumstances of your small business. No matter how big of an advertising campaign you run for your business, it will take time to move enough people through the doors to establish a clientele.

People who like your ads are still people and people are slow. My business ran one newspaper ad for a month and had people coming in two and three months later in response to that ad. Even when advertising works, it takes time.

The hope for a small business is that while you patiently build up a customer base, you can break even and pay the bills. This might take two years.

From Breaking Even to "Becoming Established"
Before our opening day I wondered how long it would take to establish my small business. In my mind, becoming an established small business means more than just paying the rent or the mortgage on the business. Being established means being certain that you can keep the doors of your business open indefinitely.

In my case, after we reached the break even point, I expected that the business would grow exponentially. Somehow the distance between breaking even and being established seemed very small.

I was wrong.

I now believe it really will take five years before my small business is established and thriving.