Should I start my own business? Taking the plunge

Have you found yourself mulling over the decision to start your own business? Chances are you have at some point, and you won’t be the only one. However, knowing whether or not it’s the right thing to do is where making the decision becomes awfully difficult.

While there’s no sure fire way of knowing whether or not it’s the “right” thing to do, you can consider if you’re in the right position to pursue working for yourself. Here are a few things you should consider.

Your finances

When starting out for yourself you’ll experience an almost inevitable initial dry spell where sales are likely to be slow and you’ll spend large chunks of your time chasing and acquiring those first few clients. During this period you’re going to need your finances to be in order so you can comfortably afford to make it through the first few months. If you don’t have money in surplus to cater for this initial period to cover your living costs then you’re probably risking far too much in hoping for sales to be booming from day 1.

Working for yourself isn’t something that should be rushed into and if you have a secure income at the moment then take your time to establish the best possible foundations to allow you to succeed when you do eventually take the plunge. This includes saving up money to remove the anxiety of not knowing if you can cover your living costs during the initial stages of your business.

You and your responsibilities

You also need to look at your current responsibilities, for example having a young family. Starting your own business can prove to be incredibly stressful, and while having responsibilities shouldn’t stop you from progressing, you need to be sure that you can handle the pressure without it having a detrimental impact on your personal life.

Knowing whether you can handle the pressure of running your own business is probably one of the biggest things you need to consider and maybe also the hardest to distinguish. If you’ve never worked for yourself then knowing whether or not you’re capable of doing it is something which can be difficult to establish, so you need to be completely honest with yourself.

Starting your own business means there’s a good chance you’ll experience moments where you’ll find yourself alone when you need support the most. If you feel like you’d struggle to make it through the tougher periods alone then ask yourself if you have people around you can rely during those tricky times. A solid support network of friends and family can make a big difference during those down days.

Network of useful contacts?

While you might be starting your own business, the early days will most likely need support from people you know. Having an established network of contacts within the industry or those that can help you generate leads early on can play a major role in helping you get yourself established. The problem with many start-ups is in the fact that they struggle to develop a reputable name which people are willing to do business with. Having contacts which can refer you from the get go allows you to overcome this.

If you don’t have many contacts you can rely on then you should be open to the idea of networking and engaging with other people in order to get yourself and your business known.

Associates who invest in the Opportunity Marketing Franchise are afforded the relief from the many stresses that starting a new business can bring with it. With a brand, marketing collateral and processes already in place, all you’re left to do is pay the relatively small franchise fee and start trading as an Opportunity Marketing associate. If you’re a marketing professional with over 5 years’ worth of experience and wanting to work for yourself then get in touch today to see if this is the right opportunity for you.