Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night.
A quote from Shakespeare might seem like a grandiose start to a guide concerning the mundane matter of whether you should start or buy your own business. But while the bard was talking about a rather more idealistic concept of success, his three routes to greatness apply equally well to the potential entrepreneur.
Many people never really aspire to being their own boss, and are happy in employment – until a certain event makes them consider the possibility of running their own company or being self-employed
The lucky few, of course, may have inherited a successful company – whether it be a pizza delivery business or a software firm – from their parents. However, they’re unlikely to be reading this.
Entrepreneur categories
It’s the other two routes which concern us here – those who end up owning a business through their own decisions and plans on one hand, and those who go it alone as a result of changing circumstances in their careers and lives.
They each pose different problems as a start-up business – and pose a number of different questions regarding your suitability to run a business and the likelihood of your future success.
Of course, the vast majority of people don’t fit comfortably into either category, but fall somewhere in the middle. But its worth looking at each extreme separately as each illustrates different aspects of the process you should go through when deciding whether you can or should pursue your entrepreneurial aspirations.
Remember – four out of five start-up companies fail. But this ratio improves with the amount of preparation owners have made – right up to the point where four out of five owners with prior business experience in the area end up making a success of their enterprise.
Many people never really aspire to being their own boss, and are really quite happy in employment – until a certain event makes them consider the possibility of running their own company or being self-employed. In other words, they could be about to have greatness forced upon them. Preparation for them is even more important.
It could be redundancy, a colleague’s own successes running his own ship, or a change of manager. On the other hand, it could simply be boredom and the desire for new challenges – or serious wealth.
However, when you first applied for your current job, you were screened and interviewed by a manager. Now, on your own, you are the one who has to decide your own suitability for the task ahead.
You need to be completely honest about your own abilities – and your weaknesses.
This is not an easy process for most people, so here’s a list of questions you should ask yourself:
- Are you persistent and determined? Can you set your objectives and follow your chosen business plan until they are achieved, come hell or high water?
- Can you remain positive in periods of adversity? Can you remain sociable and business-like with clients and suppliers when the business is not going as well as it should?
- Can you cope with the hours required? On average new business owners work 60 hours a week. Some, of course, work even more than this – that’s why it’s an average.
- The reverse of this is – can you cope with not having any free time? And having to deal with the priorities of the business at any time, however inconvenient it might be?
- Will your loved ones understand that your business, at least sometimes, has to come first? Will your relationship or marriage survive?
- Can you work on your own for long periods, away from the sociable atmosphere of an office or other workplace?
- Away from hierarchy and rigid work arrangements, can you be self-disciplined? Are you self-reliant, and can you inspire and enthuse yourself?
- You probably feel confident in your abilities in your existing role. But can you go back, mentally, to square one and be prepared to learn as much as possible?
- You may be thinking that running your own business will lead to freedom. But you will be in the grip of your creditors – the bank, usually – until you have repaid any loan. Can you deal with this?
- You may be used to receiving a weekly or monthly pay cheque of a fixed or minimum value. Will you be driven mad if you cannot completely predict your financial fortunes from one day to another?
- All of the above, together, mean only one thing: stress. Well, hopefully two things – stress and money. The money, though, will come later. The stress will have to be dealt with now. Do you thrive or suffer under pressure?
You are either inhuman or lying if you have answered yes to all of the above without any qualms whatsoever. Everyone will have their doubts if they read through the above list.
