8 Questions to ask yourself before you start a business

If you have ever thought about, discussed, or fantasize about quitting your day job and becoming your own boss, you are not alone. What could be better than setting your own hours, reporting to yourself and pursuing your own goals? But starting your own business is not for everyone – it is hard work and many people who try find that they are not cut out for it.

As reported by MSN here, if you are wondering if going to work for yourself might be right for you, see if you can answer “yes” to the following eight questions:

1. Do you have savings? If you’re like most entrepreneurs, it will take a while — potentially months — before money starts coming in.

2. Can you handle financial uncertainty? If you like to know exactly when your next check will arrive and how much it will be for, working for yourself may make you very nervous.

3. Will you enjoy working alone? You probably will not have co-workers, at least in the beginning.

4. Are you comfortable marketing yourself? You might be fantastic at the service you are selling, but if you are not willing to pitch yourself to potential clients, you might not make any money.

5. Are you prepared to do accounting, IT and other functions, or to hire someone to do them for you? Running your own business is not just about the service you are providing; you will also need to take care of all the business elements that your employer previously handled for you, from billing clients to budgeting.

6. Do you have a strong network? Do you have at least a few potential clients lined up, as well as people who will refer you to potential clients? If not, you’ll be starting from scratch trying to find buyers for your work, and that’s hard to do in a competitive marketplace.

7. Are you comfortable asking for money? Whether citing prices to clients without flinching, holding firm when someone asks for a discount or following up on an overdue invoice, you will need to assert yourself in the money arena.

8. Can you direct your own work? With no manager giving you guidance and feedback, you will need to figure out for yourself where your energies should go, what is not worth spending time on and how to course-correct when something is not going well.