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10 Questions to find out if you are ready to become an entrepreneur:
· Q1- Are you meant to be an entrepreneur?
· Q2-Are you physically and emotionally ready & able to work hard?
· Q3-Do you have the necessary time and energy?
· Q4-Are you passionate and resilient?
· Q5-Do you have a good idea or an area of expertise that solves an existing problem?
· Q6-What makes you unique in your industry or community?
· Q7-Do you have the skills to manage a small business?
· Q8-Can you assemble the right team to start your small business?
· Q9-Do you have the required skills to start a small business?
· Q10-Can you secure the proper financing?
Here is your HOMEWORK:
- Start making a schedule, try to free up some time, and find out how many hours you can dedicate to your project.
- During that time, start developing your business idea: what will your item or service solve?
- Write down your business skills, add your strengths and weaknesses. Do you know enough of accounting, do you know online marketing, will you be good with employees, are you a technical person? The list will give you the skill gap you will need to fill and the amount of time you will need to dedicate to these tasks.
- Start networking with your community and industry to find work partners to bounce your ideas with, get support, collaboration and study your competition.
- At this point, don’t look at startup cost or set a budget quite yet! You will do this when you complete your business plan. You don’t know if your idea will attract other investors or if you can scale it down. Just look at what financing you can personally bring to the table and make sure you have a 6 to 18 months reserve to live on until your business can show some profit or be prepared to work evenings and weekends until you can afford to leave your day job.
- Find a mentor or business coach that will help guide you through the startup process and help you create and validate your business plan.
And make sure you take your time… business ideas take time to mature.
But despite the high failure rates, the long hours, the high-stress levels, and a host of other problems, entrepreneurs report consistently higher rates of happiness than wage-earning employees. And this is mostly due to a stronger sense of meaning, the ability to unleash their creativity and see the direct impact of their decisions.
Starting a business may not make most people rich, but it makes plenty of people happy.
References:
SBA.gov- Write a Business Plan
From Desire To Mission | Mohammed Al Qahtani | TEDxNUSciTech
