Assess Your Abilities and Resources

Because starting your own business is a risky thing to do, it is important to come to grips early on about the potential risks you face.  By facing those risks head-on, you can make an informed decision about whether or not you are willing to accept those risks.  It also gets you thinking about ways you can reduce that risk.

Here are some important questions you can ask yourself:

• Do you have the financial resources you need?
• Can you afford to put your financial resources at risk?  Can you afford not to?
• Do you have enough experience and skills necessary to go into business?  If not, do you have access to the experience and skills of others?
• Do you know enough about your market to assess its needs and be able to sense and adapt to its needs?
• Do you have the tenacity that entrepreneurship requires?
• Do you have the discipline you will need to be accountable to yourself about your own performance?

The truth is, being your own boss is not easy.  Although there are tremendous benefits to being in business for yourself, there are a lot of pressures, demands, and responsibilities tied to it.  Successful entrepreneurs know that you can’t make this decision for the money alone.  You have to carefully weigh the pros and cons that starting your own business will have on every aspect of your life.

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