Should I Start a Business?
YOU MAY BE ASKING yourself this very question. However, instead of trying to answer this one broad question, I suggest you ask yourself the following list of twelve more specific questions. The answers will help you to decide whether or not you should start a business. Furthermore, asking these twelve questions will give you more confidence and strength to move ahead.
“Should I Start a Business?” is not the only question you should be asking yourself.
The human mind likes simple binary choices based on the evolution of the basic “fight or flight” syndrome man faced centuries ago. However, considering only one simple question like starting a business or not could lead to a decision you may regret. It should also be noted that part of the answer to the question: “Should I start a business” depends on your business idea. Small business ideas are not created equal and some of them – restaurants for example – have a higher likelihood to fail. Instead, I would suggest that you probe deeper by asking yourself additional questions related to whether or not you should start a business.
Here is a 12-question list:
1 How much cash will I have at risk?
2 How much time will it consume?
3 How much energy will it take?
4 Do I currently have other obligations that will prevent me from giving the business 100 percent?
5 Would there be a much better time for me to start a business other than now?
6 What are my alternatives if I don’t start a business now?
7 What are the chances of success?
8 Am I looking at starting a business from a position of relative strength – feeling good about myself and feeling I am relatively well off – or am I looking at starting a business from a position of relative weakness – recently laid off from a job and being behind on my bills?
9 Can I test-run the business part-time before quitting my job?
10 Should I choose between higher-risk or lower-risk businesses?
11 Suppose my business provides less income than I expected, how long should I stick with it?
12 If the business doesn’t work out, how easily will I be able to pick myself up and move along to the next endeavor?
Weigh the Risk against the Reward
In order to make a decision you need to weigh the risk against the reward. For example, maybe you are fortunate enough to currently have an excellent, highly paid corporate job with terrific fringe benefits and good advancement potential. The key question for you might not be, “Am I going to start a business?” Instead, it might be, “Am I going to start a full-time business that will require me to quit my primary job?”
Starting any business involves significant risks. You need to weight the risks against the potential rewards.
Similarly, let’s say you have worked for many years, saved a lot of money, and you are close to retirement. Now you think you want to start a business. So the key question for you may not be, “Do I want to start a business?” Instead, it may be, “What business do I start?” Your initial investment will have an impact on the businesses you can start. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t start a business on a small budget. It is just that starting new businesses always involves risks. And they are significant, as the failure rate for new businesses is high.
Hard Limits can reduce the Fear of starting a Business
Facing risks makes people fearful. Often, you can reduce the fear and feel better about starting a business if you set some limits. That is firm, hard limits that you write down and put straight into your business plan.
Starting a business is a stressful experience. You need to set specific limits to confine your fear of failure and stress.
For example, a hard limit can be that you will not start any business that interferes with your day job. Another limit may well be not to invest more than $100,000 in your start-up business. You can even decide you will only try a new business for one year, and if you don’t have at least fifty customers and $50,000 in sales after that period, you will shut it down.As you can see, deciding whether you should start a business or not can be complex and requires some exploration and thought. While having limits is a good way to make your experience less stressful, you should also choose an easy business to start with. Especially when you are taking up a business for the very first time.
Not having specific Limits can get you into Trouble
You might be thinking, “Why should I limit how much money or time I invest in my business; I want to think big right off the bat and do everything right and as well as I can.” Well, that’s exactly the kind of thinking that can get you into trouble. If you are anxious about pouring all of your time and money into a business now, imagine how anxious you will become on the days when it looks like the whole show may go south (and almost every business has those days). That’s why, for many people, the best approach is to start small with specific limits. In fact, you might want to first start a business that you see as just a simple test business, to get your feet wet and build your experience. It will be time well spent, I assure you.
Plan ahead
Before you start your business, it is absolutely crucial to have a plan. So, when you start thinking about your business, even in the very early stages, I would encourage you to start creating your business plan. 