Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

I am thinking about starting my own business, but I’m too scared to quit my job. What should I do? Part 1

The quick answer: Caution is good. Better to err on the side of caution rather than close your eyes and take a flying leap.

The longer answer: Whether you’re thinking about turning your picture-framing hobby into a full-time business; pulling your professional skills out of the corporate world to set up shop on your own; or tackling a mid-life career change that takes you in a totally new direction, going into business for yourself can be the most exciting and terrifying challenge you’ve ever undertaken.

If you’re thinking about taking the entrepreneurial plunge, you’re not alone. Nearly 650,000 new businesses were started in 2006, according to the SBA (www.sba.gov). Of the nearly 27 million businesses in the United States, 99.9 percent are labeled as “small” by the government. That puts you in good company.

The rewards can be great, not the least of which is the money. Affluent people tend to be business owners, enjoying median annual household incomes of $436,000, according to the 2000 book The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley. That’s about ten times higher than the average.
But money isn’t everything. There is also the freedom - the opportunity to take charge of your own destiny and to do so on your own terms. Not dependent on anyone but yourself, you can take full responsibility for your own success or failure, determined to make or break it based on your own efforts, talents and hard work.

Okay, enough of the rah rah cheerleading session. (Besides, I look lousy in a skirt.) On the downside, when you start a business, the risks are great, and there are no guarantees. I mentioned above that about 650,000 new businesses were started in 2006. Well, do not forget that nearly 565,000 businesses closed that same year.

So, the odds are long for those who do not plan and prepare. Between the grueling hours, the financial uncertainty and the daily surprises and frustrations, entrepreneurship can wear you out, run you down, leave you pulling out your hair.

           

Posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 11:39 am and is filed under Boardroom, Entrepreneurial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.