Most people aspire to quit their job and break into entrepreneurship. They want to do something they love, they want to be their own boss and they want to have an uncapped potential at profits.
But just because everyone dreams about being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean that it’s the right move. Not everyone has what it takes to run their own business, and before you decide to quit your job and take a stab at the American dream, here are four questions you need to ask yourself first.
1. Am I passionate about my business?
Before you quit your day job, you need to make sure that you are truly passionate about the product or service that you’re going to create and provide. As a business owner, you are the only employee that your company will have for a while, which means that you will be in charge of selling the product or service. If you’re not that passionate about it, you’ll have a very hard time trying to get other people to buy it since you will not be enthusiastic about selling it. Make sure that the business you plan on starting is something that you can see yourself doing forever. If not, you may want to keep your day job.
2. Am I able to multitask?
In the beginning, you will be responsible for every aspect of your business, from selling to accounts payable to marketing to accounts receivable to being the CEO and being the receptionist. This means that you need to have the ability to multitask. If you have a hard time doing more than one job at one time, then being an entrepreneur may not be your calling.
Related: 10 key Traits to Distinguish a Great Entrepreneur
3. Am I able to dedicate my life to it?
In the beginning stages of entrepreneurship, and even sometimes after, you will have no time for a social life. If you don’t think that you can dedicate the majority of your time to your business, then you shouldn’t quit your day job. Being an entrepreneur means that you will not be able to work the normal 9-5. You will not be able to attend every family event or social function, and you will most certainly miss out on fun events and activities. If you’re married, this is something you’ll need to discuss with your spouse prior to quitting your job. They need to understand that you may not be there as often as you currently are, and if this will be a problem, then you may want to reconsider entrepreneurship.
4. Can I afford it?
Before you quit your job, you need to be absolutely sure that you can afford to quit. Your business is probably not going to skyrocket overnight, and it’s possible that you will need to use a chunk of your savings to get the company off the ground, or you may need to take out loans. If the business starts slow, you’ll need a way to cover these losses, and if you end up using all of your loan or all of your savings to start the company and it doesn’t take off right away, you may find yourself out of money before the company launches. It’s very important that you thoroughly go through your finances before deciding if entrepreneurship is right for you.
About the Author: Caleb Grant is self employed and part of an entrepreneur association. He enjoys blogging about anything related to business and entrepreneurship in his spare time.
