Before you plunge into starting a new business for the first time, you need to know yourself. This is because your attributes will determine the success or failure of your venture. That means being absolutely honest with who you are and what makes you tick. When starting your own business using your own money, no one can stand in your way or question your suitability. That is the good things about self-employment. Anyone can do it, provided the proposed business is not technical or requires professional skills or has to be licenced.
On the other hand whenever you are applying for an advertised job, carrying the same or even less responsibility, you may not be the only candidate. You will be competing with other applicants, some better qualified and experienced than you are. So the employer will inevitably choose the best. You may be rejected. Not so if you are the employer and the employee of your proposed business. You do not face any competition and no questions, unless your are borrowing the funds from a lender.
However there is a catch. In your proposed business, you can over-estimate your capability and overlook your weaknesses. It is one thing to start a business, but something else to keep it going and making money. These is where personal qualities become a determining factor.
These are some of the things you need to know about yourself.
Your:
- age
- past experience and qualifications, if any
- values and things matter to you most to you
- family
- finances
- state of health
There is a big difference between working for yourself and working for an employer. These are some of the differences:
- You are your own boss and no one looks over your shoulders, telling you what to do, how to do it and when to do it.
- You work where it suits your circumstances best.
- You earn according to your ability, and not according to a pre-determined, subjective salary scale on which one size fits all employees of the same grade, regardless of their performance.
- If you want to increase your income, in your own business, you can take some positive action to that end, rather than wait for a whole year for your employer’s pay review.
- You can freely hire members of your family, friends or whoever you choose.
- When you retire or decide to dispose of your business, if it is valuable, you can sell it. Alternatively you can hand it over to your family as an inheritance. On the other hand, when you retire from an employer’s organisation or decide to leave, all you get is a ‘thank you’ and a little gift, regardless of how long and faithful your service was. So your business is an investment.
- Working for yourself, there is no limit to what you can do in the business. You learn many things in a very short space of time. On the other hand, what you do in an ordinary employment is limited by your job description.
- In your own business, you can work for as long as you are able and willing to do so.