Entrepreneurship
Do You Have What It Takes to Become an Entrepreneur?
5th February 2016Not everyone has what it takes to run their own business. Some people are happy being told what to do, picking up their pay check and forgetting about work the moment they clock off at the end of the day. There is nothing wrong with this, but if you yearn to be your own boss, starting a business could be the right move. But do you have what it takes to make things work?
How Risk Averse Are You?
Starting a business is risky. It’s not like taking a job with an employer, where you have benefits, a guaranteed income and employment rights. If you are running a business you are responsible for every little part of that business, with all the risks that go along with such a venture. So if you have sunk everything you own into the business and it all goes horribly wrong, you could lose the lot.
The best way to manage risk is to do your research. Find out everything you can about the business you want to be in and make sure your ideas stand a decent chance of working. If you want to manufacture and sell a product, produce a prototype and market it to see whether it flies. If it does, you could be on to a winner.
How Motivated Are You?
To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be 100% motivated. It isn’t enough to work 9-5, five days a week. Most entrepreneurs put in ridiculous numbers of hours to get their business off the ground. Even mom and pop businesses require you to work long hours until the business is established and you can afford to hire staff to take on some of the workload. So if you aren’t a motivated kind of person, being your own boss probably isn’t the right move for you.
Do You Have the Financial Know-how to Run a Business?
You don’t need to be an accountant to run a business (although a working knowledge of business accounting is certainly very useful), but it helps if you have a fair amount of financial know-how. People who spend without a second thought tend to continue their habits when they start a business, and overspending is not good when you have cash flow to worry about.
Preparation is the Key to Success
You have to pay attention to the details when you start a business. It’s easy to get carried away with the excitement of marketing your products and making sales, but it’s the little things that make a big difference. For example, if you are opening a specialist deli store and you want to sell kosher food, contact a kosher certification agency such as EarthKosher to find out the steps you need to take before you open for business.
Starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur is an exciting step, but it isn’t for everyone, so think very carefully about whether you have what it takes before you invest your hard-earned savings.
Ivan Widjaya is the owner of AsepOnde.com, as well as the founder of several online businesses: PrevisoMedia.com, Noobpreneur.com and Uptourist.com. He runs his business from anywhere, anytime he wants.
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