One thing many people learn from starting their own business is that you have to be in the right mindset from the very beginning. If you have the drive then all the rest should fall into place. But there are key questions you should be asking yourself before you even think about quitting your day job.
1) Are you the right sort of person to start up a business?
Not every one will have the right temperament to pursue this type of career. It requires dedication and a lot of hard work. Stress is a common occurrence as you ride the highs and lows that your new business brings with it. You need to be able to handle both, in a calm manner. Also, it can be quite lonely in the early stages if you’re working by yourself or even if you start your company with one or two others. You will need to build the business up before you can afford to hire more staff, so be prepared to work in a very small team for a while. If you are coming from a corporate company environment then the change will seem monumental. Make sure that it’s what you really want.
2) What are your reasons for starting your own business?
What do you hope to get out of it? An escape from the corporate world and rat race? A way to make lots of money in the quickest time possible? An easy way of making sure you get lots of time off work to do your own thing? Get a pen and paper and make a list, it will really help you think it through. But whatever your reasons just bear one thing in mind, success doesn’t come without hard work. If you’re looking for the easy life, this isn’t it. Of course, some of the perks above can be obtained once you are on the road to success, it just takes a bit of time. Remember that a business can easily fail as well as succeed and so be prepared for both.
3) Is there really a risk?
All businesses have an element of risk and new ones more so than any other. It’s a common perception unjustly spoken that founders have a gigantic level of risk when starting a business, but I can’t understand why that is. Granted, you have to leave a stable job, with guaranteed income and exchange it for something where the revenue streams may not be up and running - but as long as you have a great idea and real dedication then you should learn quickly. Not only do you get a real life MBA, but also the potential to get high rewards for your time and investment. Ask yourself ‘If it doesn’t work what can I do?’ If you’ve got qualifications and a good level of work experience behind you then you can always go back into another job in your industry. Would you be sad if you looked back on your life and weren’t able to say that you gave it a go?
4) Does your idea offer something unique, will people want it, and can it make money?
This is key. Your idea must be hot! It must satisfy a gap in the market which will address a customer need and be unique enough to succeed in the early stages against potential competition. Think about how are you better, where you think the market is going and how will it get there? Your vision must also have the ability to do what all businesses are created for, make profit. The Internet used to be full of ideas which had no hope of achieving profit, these quickly fell by the wayside. Now you need to be more realistic. Ask yourself ‘will my idea make money?’ and if the answer is yes then it has a good chance of lasting the distance. Get someone experienced involved at an early stage to look over your idea and give you some indication of its potential.
5) Innovate then implement
If one hundred per cent of people have ideas, 30 per cent of these are good enough to succeed as a profitable business, 10 per cent of these ideas are in the hands of those with the motivation and entrepreneurship to take them forward, and 10 per cent of these will actually become a business. That’s a total of 0.3 per cent. On the positive side, remember that if you have a great idea then a lot of people may have had the same one, but very few of them will have the motivation or ability to make it a success.
6) What does your instinct tell you?
This is difficult to put into words. It’s not scientific, it doesn’t have analysis behind it, it is just a feeling. An emotion so strong and overwhelming that you just know your idea will work and no one can demotivate you from implementing it. In fact, you will probably be willing to spend all your free time on it and implement it as quickly as possible. Do you want your idea to work, or do you know it will work?
7) Are you prepared to fail, fail again and then succeed?
There will be lots of time when things do not go your way and you lose heart. Perhaps a competitor has just arrived on the scene with a virtually identical product, a major client did not deliver, one of your key team members leaves, or you’re simply not getting any customers. This is the ‘test’ that all entrepreneur face where hard work and dedication will pay off. Just remember that when you think you’re at the bottom, something will come along and reward you for your persistence, giving you the lucky break you deserve.
Being an entrepreneur is a rewarding choice of career and if you decide that it’s for you then it’s a decision that could change your life. And the best thing about it is that it gets easier as you go along. Good luck!
Great article!
I’m from Brazil and, from here, I do not could dive in my free-lance projects because I do not still have obtained the financial return necessary to keep me.
I work in a company and in the vacant hours I make mine free-lance jobs. It’s too much tiring, but I’m in the fight.
Already I obtained three customers to develop sites and until the new end of the year projects will come.
Although the constant hard work, I have hope of one day to obtain my proper business and to start to work effectively with it.
Best regards!
(I’m sorry for my english… Hehehehe)
Just like the article by Ryan Carson yesterday, the timing for this couldn’t be better. Right now we’re in the situation you provide in #7. The client well is drying up, and we’re trying like hell to weather this storm (how’s that for a mixed metaphor?). #4, though, makes me think it’s time to revisit our unique selling point(s).
Many thanks for writing this!
[…] Ready to Start your Own Business? Philip Wilkinson asks whether you are ready to start your own business: One thing many people learn from starting their own business is that you have to be in the right mindset from the very beginning. If you have the drive then all the rest should fall into place. But there are key questions you should be asking yourself before you even think about quitting your day job. […]
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Great article! You are right, hard work does get rewarded. There are so many things i’ve learnt during the course of my business development and I dare not say that I know it all, however there is one thing I believe that is critical for the success of ANY business…. it’s business planning. Also one more thing, if you have an open mind, more will come to you.
Thanks guys. One thing that does come out of this is that you all appear to be going through or have been through some difficult patches in building or growing your business.
The best thing I find is also to surround yourself with the right type of people who can help push you forward. That’s why lots of entrepreneurs surround themselves with our business creators and often work with co-founders. You have much more in common and to share that having friends still doing the corporate 9-5.
This is a helpful list of questions. Just out of curiousity, where do the percentages in question #5 come from?
It’s a common perception unjustly spoken that founders have a gigantic level of risk when starting a business, but I can’t understand why that is.
I feel the same way. As an entrepreneur you are totally in control of all aspects of your business. There are a million ways that you can fail, but as a business owner you have the power to make the difference. If you’re the type of person who looks at the statistics and says, “most new businesses fail, therefore I will probably fail, ” then you shouldn’t be starting a business.
Building a successful business is not winning the lottery, it’s a combination of ideas, dedication, hard-work, networking, and market conditions. All but one of those are under direct control of the individual, and market condtions tend to take care of themselves in places like the US and Europe.
I have a question… you said that you should ask yourself the question “why am I wanting to do this?”. My answer is “to make more money than I do now…. and have more holiday time”. To me, this seems like a fantasy, and perhaps an unrealistic way to start out on this road. I have a good and stable job at the moment, which pays well, but I want to see the world, and with 25 days off a year that’s not easy.
I would appreciate any constructive comment on this? Thanks in advance. Jim.
Jim,
>>>”My answer is “to make more money than I do now…. and have more holiday time”.”
I can see where you’re coming from but I also think that may be for the wrong reasons. If I was an investor I would run a mile if you said that to me because I know the amount of hard work, dedication, and passion you need to succeed in the early days. You are more likely to get less money and virtually no holiday time at all while you get if off the ground.
A better reason is “I really want to build a business that leaves a legacy behind and makes the most impact it can on a large number of people. I want to have fun yet be challenged, and stop at nothing until I have seen success.”
Sounds to me like you just need a break and either ask your work for a few months off, or leave and travel then look for a new job on your return.
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Excellent article and all valid points.
I am an entrepreneurial spirited person myself and I think a lot of these points apply universally — even when not persuing your own business, but your life as well. Your career… everything.
[…] Check out this article by the CEO of Crowdstorm, Philip Wilkinson […]
Great article.
Regards
Fergus
Great article, Philip.
Making the decision to cut the cord from the safety of the corporate world is a tough one, and it definitely is not for the faint of heart. There are so many things to think about and to plan. Initially you will ask yourself many times “Can I do this?” until eventually, as you get a clear picture of what you envision you and your business doing, you begin to tell yourself “I can do this.”
Being a fellow entrepreneur, I read about all of the statistics regarding the failure rate of new businesses; it’s not easy to make it, that is for sure. However, I made the jump a while back, and my experience has proven that there is nothing more rewarding than working for yourself, doing something that you love with all of your heart. I am determined to make my business a success. I know it won’t happen overnight, but I keep plugging away each day, learning more as I go along, and thankful every baby step of the way.
Sometimes entrepreneurship is discouraging, especially if you’re a one-person or really small shop (as is my case), as it can just seem so lonely, overwhelming, and empty when times are tough. But just as the article describes, those times when you are a little down on your luck, a stroke of magic comes along and picks you right back up. Magic in the form of a well-timed sale, the addition of a new client, or even in the form of something as simple as a change of attitude.
Starting and running your own business is just an amazing experience, in both good times and bad. I never thought I would work as hard as I have since starting my own business, but the beautiful thing about it is that it’s not work - at least it doesn’t seem like it is. It’s nothing like the 9-5 grind at all. This is passion. This is dedication. This is the commitment to make the thing that is all yours a success, and to prove it to the world (and maybe even to youself) at all costs.
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I think one of the best tips is not to think negative and give it your best.
Ready to Start your Own Business?…
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I am in the process of starting an English as a Second Language school in Chelsea, MA (a community where close to 50% of the residents’ first language is not English). I also teach the U.S. Citizenship exam.
While the demographics are nice, I’ve learned it is not a path of gold. For example, most of my adult students don’t have high paying jobs. I charge $10.00 per hour. I need to have a group of students in a class to be profitable. It takes time to break my students of their shyness to get them to participate in a group class. (I charge more for private lessons. It gives me some extra cash flow but it really is to encourage them to be in a group class.)
Alan
Alan - see the last bit of point 4 - “will it make money”? Often an idea may have people who are interested in it but will you make enough of a return to make it worth your while? It has to meet both a marketing and commercial criteria to progres…
Good article. While I do currently run two succesful sites I can say that it wasn’t easy. There were many times where I just wanted to put my hands down and quit. My friend usally pulled me thru, and I took a few days off and came back full strength. I definetly feel that you need a positive team/enviroment around you to be sucessful.
My situation:
I am 21, I am subcontracted creating websites and developing online apps.
Instead of running my work through my business number and personal name, I can see an opportunity to operate through a business name. This will allow me to network through clients and our affiliates and hopefully build some relations through my business name. I will in my spare time juggle seperate projects to build a portfolio and gain a sense of the area I wish to focus on.
When the day comes that my subcontracting finishes, I hope I am in a situation that will allow me to work for myself and support my true love - art.
Thanks for the article, although I dont know where you got all those % from… :)
I guess I could share my experience too… Running your own business is very much different from working for someone. First of all money or capital really does matters. All businesses need capital/money to finance its operation… whether you are starting a online store or a store in your neighbourhood. You need the cash to get you all your items to kick start the project. So start saving up now.
Next once you got all the ground work layed down… you need to have the necessary crews to keep it running. That’s the whole purpose it has to run with out with you…. (sound abit like a song yah?) You are essentially building a system here. And this system gets easier to build with experience aka mistakes or cockups and helps from friends, etc..
Lastly you really need to network… or in Asia, we call this guanxi.. without your business will just dry up by itself. Having said all this negative stuffs, I just want to add that it’s HELL A LOT of FUN… I wish I start my first business at 16.. Haha…
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My goal in life is to be my own Boss. I have worked for a nutritional supplement retail chain for over ten years. I,ve decide it.s time to start my own business.
I’m a recent college graduate and have been working in the corporate world for less than a year. Already I’m questioning what else is out there. Honestly, I’m just in search of something I enjoy doing; something that can challenge me and somewhere I can use my talents. I believe myself to be an intelligent person, but wonder if this is the route I should choose. Thank you for the suggestions and insight in your article - it has created a spark!
Nice to see comments are still coming in :-) Sometimes you can start a business too soon and might benefit from being in your corporate job a little bit longer than a year to get some more experience and really get to the point where you’re fed up with the lifestyle. Also, some people stay in jobs too long and can’t adjust to taking the risk to set out on their own.
Ultimately it is all about the opportunity and if one is there waiting to happen and you feel it is the right time to make the most of it - then go for it 100%!!
hi everyone - i am 29 years old and in the IT sector. My passion has always been to own a restaurant - people dont think i have it in me or that i am not rational. i have always been passionate about this area of my life and feel it is time to do it.
i dont want to give up my job and then feel as if i am stranded.how do i begin? i gues you never really know unless you out yourself out there.
i have been researching a lot and have looked at trends. i know what needs to be done but i guess im more afraid of failing. any tips or anyone been in a similar situation?
maybe it is about making more money than I make right now. but for me i feel as if something is missing and i want to do something that moves me…
how will i know unless i try? 2010 is coming up and i know i am in the ideal location…
i guess people are used to me starting something and never completing it…this time it is different…i know for the first time in my life what i want..
Hi Jes,
What have you done with regards to the restaurant planning so far? Have you done a business plan, have you spoken to other people in the trade (normally they will more than happy to talk to you), spoken to some people about startup funding, enquired into whether anyone could be a business partner to help you out?
There’s a lot you can put into this before you start and also you should make sure you’ve read through the article and honestly answered the questions.
By the sounds of your post too - you may get a bit lonely doing it yourself. My suggestion would be to find one or two people who are also keen on this idea and consider going into business with them.
easy make money…
Good reading! Makes my boring days at work work more pleasurable.. well.. I’m always bleating about something. Have a nice day!…
I am 46 years of age and I would like to start my own Hair Shop and other things that used in the hair.
What can I do? Where can I get the factory’s Web mail? Please help.
great article
I am 27 yrs old my husband and I want to open our own bodyshop/ car garage.
I have 2 questions
where do I start will proper schooling to be able to run my own buisness, in a buisness like manner?
And
Is it a good idea to go into buisness with another couple that can benifit the buisness in a positive manner, it might actually it might even help it be more successful.
sweetlove1318@hotmail.com
I’m just start my own business in China. And now I’m making some hand painted wallpapers and silks like deGournay ( www.degournay.com ). And our product is very reasonable and profitable.I hope I could find some partners in Europe.
Email: houxian23@yahoo.com.cn
msn: houxian23@hotmail.com
Very nice article, this really helped me realized and know what to do in the future to come, hopefully i will have my very own successful company or business in the future, thanks for this article, it did really help me out ;)
My main concern is that you can’t guarantee every page of your website will be included in the SERPs. Considering I’m constantly adding new products to my company’s website, I need to be sure that customers can find them as soon as possible.http://www.seoptimizerz.com
Ace - we’ve been through a lot of this when starting broadbandgenie for letting people compare broadband prices in their area. We’ve been through so many ups and downs that I have lost track but finally things are starting to pay off and we’ve grown the team to 5 people.
Must admit that we’ve learnt more in these last 3 years than a lifetime of working for someone else. Would never go back now.
Thanks for this article it was very informative. I am in the process of starting my own business this was a great read for me.
No problem Sam - I’m glad people are still reading it 18 months later :-)
Hmmm. I see it doesn’t mention haveing to be over 18. I’m 10, and i really wanna start up a grafix (my own invented word) business. I’m getting REALLY good, too. So can someone tell me how to set it up???
Want to start my own business, but my husband is not very encouraging and wants me to get back to my banking job which is what I have just done, but I am not happy. Hoping that some of the proposals that I made while I was away from the job will come through and that I will be able to resign from the job to start my training business. I don’t think I will everb be fullfilled and happy untill I do my own thing, have wanted this all my life. Please reply on what you think, or any word of advice.
Nse,
It’s one of the most common dilemma’s people think about here in the Europe and really stems from our culture and the definition of a “proper job” and what our attitude to risk and failure is. In the US, entrepreneurship and business creation is seen as a valuable career and role in the world and people are encouraged to pursue their dreams and interests and “just do it”. Failure is taught in the universities as a necessary part of this process and a valuable learning experience.
The point is that you shouldn’t let any of these factors put you off doing what you really want to do and if the arguments from your husband are around risk, failure, and doing something “properly” - then you have strong arguments in your defence. After all, as that famous quote in Rambo says: “Live for nothing or die for something!”