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Starting your own small business
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Are You Ready To Start Your Own Business?
Have you been thinking about starting a new business, or taking over an existing one? Are you wondering if you're ready to give up the security of having a "job" and a steady paycheck?
Starting your own business, or buying an existing business can be a daunting task that requires a lot of hard work, effort and time. On the other hand, being a business owner brings a level of excitement, challenge (and risk) that you just don't find as an employee.
If you have a burning desire to be your own boss, and want to be the one who decides how successful you are, based on your own efforts, and the thought of financial independence makes you tingle, then keep reading to see if you're ready to go it alone.
One of the things I always tell my clients is that before you burn your bridges, take a good, hard look at exactly what owning your own business is going to cost you in terms of the time, money and the effort required to plan, build and grow it. Make sure that you're willing to pay the price.
Also, don't believe everything you read! In spite of those claims made by certain business opportunity companies, self-proclaimed "gurus" or other businesses, if you could really make $100,000 within 90 days, don't you think everyone would be doing it? The reality is that as a business owner you might not have enough left over at the end of the month to write yourself a paycheck for several months -- or even longer. You need to be sure that if that is the case, you've got some way to pay your own bills and keep your head above water. Have a backup plan.
One way to do that is by starting your business on the side, keeping your current job as your financial security. This is often the wisest course of action -- it can help to ensure that your standard of living doesn't go down, and keep some of the pressure off of your shoulders as well during the critical start-up stage of your business.
Another option, of course, is living on your personal savings. However, if you decide to go that route, make sure it's enough to cover the costs of developing your business (marketing, advertising, purchasing supplies, paying the monthly business costs) along with providing for your personal needs.
If your business is still in the planning stages, and you're don't expect to start your business for one to three years, look into opening an Individual Development Account (IDA) to help you fund your small business start-up costs.
You also need to realistically assess how much time it's going to take you to get your business started. (Here's where it really help to be passionate about your business -- because it
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makes it easier to spend the many hours that will be required if you love what you're doing). But, chances are you also have other obligations; (family, job, social etc.) so you need to take the time you'll be spending getting the business going into account and find a balance you can live with.
After money and time, you need to look at the amount of effort it's going to take to grow your business to the point that it becomes profitable. Know what your "break even point" is. It's better to figure out your "break even point" when you're still in the planning stages. This will help you to know how much you need to charge for your products or services in order to reach that point quickly.
Make sure that your chosen business can support the income you want to be making, and that your target clients will pay for your products and services. Don't be surprised if -- while you're still getting your business off the ground -- following your marketing strategy, doing free or low-cost jobs, searching for clients or customers, you may not be making enough to break even, let alone bring home a salary. This can make your effort seem out of balance to the return on your investment. (But if you're prepared for it, you'll be able to stay motivated and determined, and you'll get beyond that point sooner).
One of the most important traits of successful entrepreneurs is of persistence! If you come to the point when you are working your hardest and doing everything your business requires but still not seeing monetary results, you may hit a psychological wall. This is where truly entrepreneurial individuals see an obstacle to overcome as opposed to a dead-end to their hard work. Passion for their work and the strong desire to work for themselves overcomes any perceived barriers and moves them to keep going and ultimately becoming very successful.
By persevering you will certainly see the fine fruits of your labors and prove to yourself and others that the benefits of self-employment far outweigh the mediocre status quo of the typical worker's daily grind.
You can take a free assessment to find out how ready you are by going to http://www.microenterprisesuccess.com and clicking on entrepreneur assessement.
About the Author
Cheryl Antier is the President and CEO of Dream Weaver Enterprises, a business and fundraising consulting company that helps small business owners by them consistently find the funding, training or technical assistance they need to "weave their dreams into reality." If you're looking for start-up funding for your small business, please visit: http://www.microenterprisesuccess.com
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