So you think you want to start your own business?

What is the first step in starting a business, where do you start?  My answer may surprise you, but the first thing to do is determine if you are the right type of person to run their own business.  The motivation most often given by customers for wanting to start their own business is to avoid the pitfalls of working for someone else.  While that certainly is a good reason, it must be realized that owning your own business will have a whole set of challenges of it's own.  Though you will no longer have to work for a "boss" that drives you up a wall, you will be the one to make the hard daily decisions required of a business owner.  Though you won't have to punch a time-clock anymore, you will still have to get up every morning and go to work, keeping appointments and meeting deadlines.

Are you a "get up and go" type? How do you handle stress?  Do you have the ability to make decisions that sometimes have to be made quickly and under stressful conditions? Most importantly in my opinion, do you possess common sense?  You must ask these questions of yourself and use the answers you come up with to decide if you have what it takes to be self-employed.  As cold as it may sound, some people are better suited to being employees.  Others have the necessary skills and motivation to be self-employed.  If the latter describes you, congratulations you have cleared the first and most difficult hurdle