DECIDING WHETHER TO START A BUSINESS

Setting up your own business can be very rewarding, but there are pressures involved. Its not enough just to have a good viable idea, you also need to have the right skills and temperament to make the opportunity succeed. Starting your own business is also a risky thing to do, so you need to be aware of what problems to look out for as early as possible. This will help you decide if you are willing and able to take those risk, and will also help you apply strategies that will reduce them.

Before you go any further, its important to find out as much as you can about what sort of person you are. Be honest and objective, and discuss the project with friends, colleagues and relatives. Think about how you have dealt with the past challenges, as an indication of your response to difficult new situations. This action will help you decide whether starting a business is the right thing for you to do.

Making it Happen

Assess your Abilities and Resources
Starting your own business is a risky thing to do, so you get to grips with the various risks as early as possible. This will help you decide if you are willing and able to make those risk. It will also help you apply strategies that will reduce the risk.

You need to ask yourself several questions:
a. Do you have the financial resources and can you afford to risk them?
b. Do you have sufficient experience and technical skills to perform the core functions of your new business?
c. Are you familiar enough with the market to be able to asses its needs and adapt to each changes?
d. Do you have the tenacity and discipline to see through hard times will cash will be short and demands will be heavy?

While you might not be able to answer this questions completely, it is really important to find out as much as you can about what sort of person you are and to do that you might be honest and objective. Think about how you have dealt with the past challenges, as an indication of your response to difficult new situations.

Look at your Objectives
Why do you want to start your own business? There are many good reasons but there is often the danger of having unrealistic expectations. Here are some reasons that people often give, and some notes of caution:
a. Independence
b. Greater job satisfaction
c. Achievement and success
d. More money

Assess your skills
Assessing your skills is a useful process as it will help you identify areas in which you need training. These will contribute towards your changes of being successful in business. There are many sources of training avialable in small business, in the local colleges and in universities. The internet is also one of the great source of business informations.

Be pre pared for the pressures
The pressures of being self-employed are inescapable. You may have to work long hours and there will be times when things get on top of you. You may well get into dept in order to finance the enterprise. You will need to maintain your faith in your business, often in the face of other peoples doubt.
There will be some days that you feel depressed, lonely and isolated. If you employ people you will need to be positive and show leadership at all times. There will be some days that you will need to tough and prepared to discipline difficult employess, or make difficult demands on your suppliers. You also need to be polite and helpful even when an awkward customer is giving you a hard time.
Also, you must be sure that your family can accommodate the risks that self-employment can bring, especially in terms of lower income in the initial stages and maybe even the implications of the business failing. Take time to talk to all members of your family who might be affected by your choice to be your own boss.