THINKING OF STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS?
1. Three Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Start Your Own Business.
Thinking of starting a small business? You’re on the right track. There’s a lot of
Thinking to be done before you start your own business.
Starting a small business is one of those huge, life-altering events. Think of it as
marriage; running a successful small business takes the same depth of
commitment and desire. As in a marriage, you’re going to be living with your
business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Like any relationship, if you want your
small business to be successful, you’re going to have to work at it. And it’s going
to have it’s ups and downs and surprises.
But on the positive side, if you’re the right person with a solid plan, starting your
own business can be the most satisfying, exhilarating experience of your life.
Examine Your Heart
The first step is to examine whether or not starting a small business is right for
you- not your neighbour, friend, co-worker, or whoever else is trying to tell you
that you should start your own business.
The main quality that you have to have to start your own business is a burning
desire to do it.
Running a small business isn’t for the ambivalent or indifferent. You have to
really , really want to be your own boss, transform your dream into reality, or
market your product or service.
Look inside yourself and ask these three basic questions before you start your
own business.
Do you really want to operate independently and be the person making all
the decisions and shouldering all the responsibility?
Are you willing to work hard and make the sacrifices starting a small
business entails?
Do you have the self-confidence and self- discipline that will enable you to
persevere and build your new enterprise into a success?
If you’ve answered “no” to any of them, you’re probably not ready to start your
own business. Overnight success stories are just that…stories. The reality is that
success is won through hard work over time. And you want to start and run a
successful small business, don’t you?
If you answered all three of these basic questions positively, then you’re ready to
think seriously about starting a small business. But not everyone who wants to
start a small business is cut out to actually run a business. Are you enough of an
entrepreneur?
2. Entrepreneurial Qualities.
Are you an entrepreneur? There are certain traits and attributes that make some
people more suited to running a successful small business than others.
In one study where entrepreneurs were given a list of attributes and asked to rate
their importance for success, the seven most highly ranked qualities were
perseverance, the desire and willingness to take the initiative,
competitiveness, self-reliance, a strong need to achieve, self confidence,
and good physical health ( Williams E. Jennings , “A profile of the Entrepreneur”
in Entrepreneurship: A primer for Canadians ).
None of these are particularly surprising ; you’d expect a person who was a
successful entrepreneur to be self-reliant and self confident. The qualities that
the same group of entrepreneurs ranked as least necessary for success may
surprise you, though; a strong desire for money, patience, being well
organised, and having a need for power all ranked at the bottom of the list.
Human Resources Development Canada presents a very similar view of the
qualities needed for entrepreneurial success in their booklet Minding Your Own
Business.
Their “Reality Check for Small Business Owners” emphasizes qualities such as
persistence, self- confidence, and flexibility. For instance, entrepreneurs
“believe that they control their own destiny, they refuse to be at the mercy of
others or of events. As a result, they take the initiative in starting projects and
getting ideas, off the ground.”
All of these sources equate being a successful small business person with being
an entrepreneur. That is, the underlying assumption is that you need to have a
sufficient number of “ entrepreneurial qualities” to run a successful business.
Feeling better about how your personality fits the entrepreneurial profile? Good!
You wouldn’t be reading this article if you weren’t a self- confident, energetic
person who enjoyed challenges. But even if you have every entrepreneurial
quality every study has ever listed, you won’t get anywhere if you’re not equipped
to put all those positive traits into action. What are the abilities you need to
succeed when you start your own business?
To be cont’d.
By Susan Culled from about.com
