Copyright
© Nancy Wurtzel
Owning
a home used to be the ?American Dream.? However, this
long-standing goal that so many aspired to, and ultimately reached, has
been replaced with a new goal -- becoming a business owner.
At first glance it sounds perfect: Leave the
corporate world
behind and become an entrepreneur. No more commuting, office politics,
difficult co-workers and demanding supervisors. You?ll be your own boss
and reap all the financial rewards. It will be a brand-new lifestyle
with incredible opportunities and much less stress.
Others
have achieved the new ?American Dream.? Look at the
young kids who started Apple on a shoestring in the late 1970s. Don?t
forget the two engineers who launched a little company called Hewlett
Packard out of a small backyard garage. Mrs. Fields took a cookie
recipe -- of all things -- and built it into a national model that is
taught in many business schools.
Why not you? Yes, you could have the next
great
business idea,
but that alone might not be enough. Ask yourself, do you have the right
stuff to launch and run a successful business? Here are five questions
to consider before making the big leap from a steady paycheck to
business owner.
1.
Are
you a self-starter?
With no one looking over your shoulder, it?s
easy to
procrastinate. You must have the discipline that is needed to plan, set
goals and stay focused.
Since many small businesses
initially start out as home-based
to keep overhead low, working from home brings additional distractions.
Can you resist the temptation to eat cookies and watch reruns of ?Law
and Order? when you should be making marketing calls?
2.
What are your expectations?
If your goal is to work fewer hours and feel
less
stress, then think again.
The U.S. Small Business
Administration estimates that business
ownership requires a tremendous commitment, with 12-hour workdays,
often seven days a week. Needless to say, this can be a strain on
family life. If you think it might be too much, then consider a job
change instead or a new career with an established company rather than
launching your own business.
3.
What are your financial
goals?
In the short-term your income will probably
be
lower, and it
could stay this way for a long time. Additionally, no one pays for
vacations, health care plan, profit sharing or stock options. You must
set up your own retirement plan as well.
The U.S.
Small Business Administration offers some sobering
statistics. It reports that half of the small businesses started will
fail within the first year. Furthermore, by the fifth year 95 percent
will have ceased operations. While the reasons for failure vary, one of
the most common is a lack of adequate financing. To beat the odds, meet
with an independent accountant to honestly discuss your finances and
expectations. The good news is that if your business takes off you will
reap the financial benefits.
4.
Are
you a ?water-cooler
person? at heart?
When you become a business owner, your days
of
taking a long
lunch or chatting with the guys around the water cooler are over. Can
you make the transition from ?worker bee? to boss? It can be lonely.
On
your own, you?ll be making countless decisions every day --
from the mundane to the critical. And, you alone must shoulder the
daily ups and downs that come with running a business. However, it can
also have tremendous rewards in that you are building something from
scratch. So, if you believe you can weather the isolation and roll with
the punches, you might be a good candidate for owning your own
business.
5.
Can
you create an organized
environment?
Where you work is certainly important.
You?ll need
an acceptable
work space and the right office tools in order to be creative and
successful. Even more important, however, is how you work.
For
example, you can have an incredible sales presentation
with the latest technology that will wow clients, but if you?re
constantly late for meetings and lose important documents, you?ll
probably also lose business. Ask yourself if you can flourish in an
environment where creativity and operational systems are equally
important? Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking the company
will simply ?run itself? if they just come up with great ideas and
business leads. They pay scant attention to the details of building a
business. Too often this is a recipe for failure.
To
be a success, you must combine your fantastic ideas and business tools
with solid planning and organization.
Success for
any new business is never guaranteed. There are too
many variables, and many factors will be totally out of your control.
But you can avoid making a costly mistake by asking yourself, honestly
-- before you take the plunge: Do I have what it takes to run a
business? The answer should tell you if the new ?American Dream? is the
right fit for you.
About The Author
Nancy
Wurtzel, owner, All About Baby
Founded
in 1995, All About Baby at http://www.allbaby.com
specializes in personalized and memorable gifts for children. Ms.
Wurtzel also consults with small businesses seeking to enter the
marketplace.
nancy@allbaby.com
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