Starting your own business can be one of the most exciting and rewarding decisions you make in your life. It is not, however, something you want to rush into without really thinking it through. Asking yourself the following five questions will help you to determine whether or not you are ready to undertake such a life changing adventure.
How Will I Support Myself During the Startup?
While you may be ready to sacrifice to ensure your business is a success, you still need to be able to eat and pay your bills. If you are thinking about quitting a job to start your business, you need to know how you will support yourself (and your family) until your business is making enough money to pay you a reasonable salary.
Is There a Sufficient Market for My Business?
One big mistake some would-be entrepreneurs make is assuming that because they think their idea is great, it will translate into actual sales. Asking whether your business has a sufficient market to become successful is extremely important. Look at how many potential customers there are and how many of them will actually be willing to pay for your products or services. Ask others in your industry for thoughts and feedback.
What Skills Are You Lacking?
This is a hard question to ask because people love being self-sufficient. Just because you came up with a great idea for your business, however, does not mean you can do it all on your own. If you aren’t good at marketing or accounting, for example, you will need to look into hiring people to help in these areas. Having an honest evaluation of your skill set and comparing it to the different tasks that need to be done will help you make your business a success.
What Laws Will Impact Your Business?
Some industries are very highly regulated – and just about every business is subject to federal, state, and local law, which can create further complications. Starting to run a business only to find out that the location you are in is not zoned properly, for example, can cause major setbacks. There are a seemingly endless number of laws and regulations you need to be aware of to ensure you don’t run into trouble. Consulting with a Miami business attorney can help ensure your business can start off on the right foot.
What Is My Competition Doing?
Taking some time to really look at how your business’s competition is doing – and how you can improve on that – is very important. This will help you to get started in a more effective way. This, of course, is also something that you should continue to do long after you start your business, so getting this experience now will be very helpful.
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