Do you really want to be an entrepreneur?

The Advantages and Disadvantages of being your own boss

Dealing with setbacks and failures

Potential financial rewards

Special skills you need

Putting together a team

Raising money

Planning Your New Venture

Reasons to start your own business and reasons not to

The Ultimate Goal: The satisfaction of creating something that can live on after you are gone

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Millions of Americans share the dream of owning their own business, and fortunately many of them get the chance to live out their dream. The motivations for wanting to start a company are as varied as the individuals themselves. Some look at entrepreneurship as a path to great wealth; some crave independence, the desire to be their own boss; others want to build something valuable to pass on to their children. Still others believe they can make a valuable contribution to society through their venture, by developing products or services that make people’s lives easier or better. Whatever the motivation, we are lucky to live in a country that encourages business start-ups.

Many people are unprepared for the challenges of starting and building a business, however. Things seldom turn out as planned. It often takes longer and requires more capital to build a company to the point it has positive cash flow than most would-be entrepreneurs imagine. Marketing cost—in other words the cost of acquiring each new customer—is usually higher than new entrepreneurs imagine.

Entrepreneurship is definitely not a 9-5, 40-hour-a-week job. New entrepreneurs are usually surprised by how long the work weeks can be. This can lead to stress on spouses and family members, who are not used to seeing you gone so much of the time. Family members need to be made aware of what to expect as far as changes in lifestyle, so conflict and resentment do not arise. Ideally, your family will share your excitement about the new enterprise. But they may also be worried about the financial and emotional risk that starting a new business entails.

The big decision is when to quit your “day job” and devote all of your energies to your own company. Although it can be a lot of stress to try to have both careers going at once, this can be a prudent way to go until your business can replace most or all of your current income.

Starting a company can involve financial sacrifice. Your fledgling business’ cash flow may be tight when you first start off, requiring you to save money by cutting back on the family budget. Things your family may have gotten used to like expensive vacations may have to be postponed—sometimes for years—as you need all the funds you need to build your business.

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