Since this is my first column of 2004, I thought we'd spend a few minutes talking about those well-intentioned, though seldom kept promises we call New Year's Resolutions.
In addition to "This year I will lose weight!" and "This year I will stop smoking!" and the ever popular "This year I will stop watching reality TV!" one of the more common resolutions made by many folks this time of year is "This year I will start my own business!"
I call it "The American Dream Resolution," and like most New Year's resolutions it is a proclamation of intent that is often made, but seldom carried out (at least in an effective manner).
Before you jump off the ledge into the entrepreneurial abyss in 2004, here's a little test to help you decide if this truly is a resolution you are qualified to make or if you should just stick to "This year I will lose weight..."
Give yourself 10 points for each "Yes" answer and a big ZERO for each "No."
1. Can you delegate without micromanaging? Running a business requires the performance of dozens of simultaneous tasks and it's foolish to try to handle them all yourself. You must surround yourself with partners and employees whom you can trust to perform these tasks as you would yourself. If you can't dish out responsibility without worrying over the result, add a zero to your score.
2. Are you self motivated and disciplined? If you do not have the wherewithal to bounce out of bed each day without your spouse drenching you with cold water, chances are you don't have the self motivation or discipline required to be an entrepreneur. Business demands that you take action based solely on your own volition. You have to motivate yourself to pick up the phone and make sales calls. You have to motivate yourself to get in the car and visit customers. You have to do a hundred things every day that will not get done unless you make yourself do them.
3. Are you afraid of a little hard work? Starting a business is easy, right? WRONG! If you think working for someone else is hard work, try starting your own business. You will be required to give every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears you can muster. You will have to work long hours and be on call 24/7, at least in the beginning. If the mere thought of hard work makes you tired, congratulations, here's your zero.
4. Are your personal relationships strong enough to withstand starting a business? The first question I ask anyone who tells me they want to start a business is: "What does your spouse think?" When you start a business you may have to spend more time away from the family than you like. The business may also put a strain on you financially. You will have enough obstacles in your way without having to worry if you have the support of your family and those closest to you
5. Can you sell? This is a triple zero question since every business requires customers and in the beginning it will be up to you to get those customers. This means selling yourself and selling your products. Even though customers are the lifeblood of every business, you'd be surprised at how many entrepreneurs HATE this aspect of doing business. Do you cringe at the thought of cold calling i.e., walking into a business and asking to speak to the owner? Can you pick up the phone, call a prospect, and ask for an appointment without breaking into a cold sweat? If you are not comfortable selling, you will have a very hard time in business. Zero, zero, zero.
6. Do you give up easily? One of my favorite sayings about business is: "If it was easy, everybody would do it." Starting a business is hard work and the odds for failure are against you in the first few years. If you want to ride herd on your own business, you must be willing to fall off your horse a few times without giving up. If you can't dust off your pants and climb back on, here's your zero.
7. Can you handle rejection? If your feelings are easily hurt, keep your day job because business is not for you. Many days in business, rejection waits around every corner and you must be able to handle rejection without letting it beat you down. You will experience rejection from customers, business partners, bankers, and investors, just to name a few.
8. Do you interact well with others? Being a business owner means that you will have daily interaction with a variety of folks, from your own employees to vendors to customers to investors. You must have the ability to effectively manage people without offending them; the ability to accept good advice from mentors and politely discount the bad; the ability to overlook mistakes or quietly rectify them; and the one I have trouble with: the ability to tolerate incompetence without losing your cool (but that's fodder for another column).
9. Do you have financial backing? The number one cause of business failure is a lack of money. Before you start your business you should have enough capital to see you through the first year or until the business can sustain itself. A good financial plan will include a number that ends in a few commas and a considerable number of zeroes.
10. Do you have experience in the type of business you plan to start? We've talked about this before. If you can't locate your car's engine you have no business buying a Lube-N-Go franchise. The most successful business owners have prior experience in the industry in which they have set up shop.
BONUS QUESTION. Have you ever started a business before? Prior business ownership is not a prerequisite, but it can't hurt. Many successful entrepreneurs have the skeletons of past businesses hidden in their closet. Business is a lot like marriage: you learn a lot of things on the first one that may come in handy the second time around. You can see why I didn't go into marriage counseling…
Give yourself 10 points for every "Yes" answer and zero points for every "No." If the "Yes" answers outweigh the "No's," you just might have what it takes to back up your New Years resolution to start your own business.
If your answers lean heavily to the "No" side, you might be better off working for someone else.
And that brings about another New Years Resolution that goes something like this: "This year I will get along with my boss…"
Here's to your success.
The "Other" New Year's Resolution - To learn more about this author, visit Tim Knox's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Related Articles |
|
 Why Does My Photo Print So Badly
|
| |
Ever wonder why your photo or graphic looks good on your monitor but blurry, jagged, or the wrong color when printed? Here are the possible reasons.
|
|
Happy New Year!
|
| |
New years’ resolutions are both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes they actually help us make some valuable changes. More often than not though I see them as an obligatory annual event. If you don’t have them (and te...
|
|
Ten Ideas to Help You Keep Your Resolutions Or Goals
|
| |
If you have some resolutions for the New Year or if you set some goals for yourself or your business for the next year, here are some ways to keep yourself on track and focused.
|
|
HOW TO KEEP YOUR RESOLUTIONS AND REACH YOUR GOALS
|
| |
Another year has flown by and here you are at the beginning of another year. This is a time when many people assess their life and make "new year resolutions" or set goals for the New Year. Sometimes they are th...
|
|
Creating a brand identity
|
| |
Do you want a professional company? Discover the advantages of creating a brand identity. Find benefits and different ways a brand can help your company establish itself in the market place - it starts with a logo.....
|
 |
Related Businesses - Evan Elite Authors |
|
Accessible Business Consultants
Dave Turkin, President, of Accessible Business Consultants is a full service business consultant that has over 32 years of experience working with small-medium size businesses. Dave has designed and implemented numerous business and marketing plans, designed internal programs for accounting and operational procedures. He has analyzed businesses and prepared strategic plans setting budgets for growth, expansion and business restructuring.
He currently sits on the Board of Directors of various corporations as an advisor. For many years he has been the Business Coach to many executives offering advice and guidance from old and established companies as well as new companies just getting started.
Dave has the ability to analyze a business quickly and get a strong indication as to the necessary steps to improve operations, productivity and profitability. - Visit Accessible Business Consultants's Website |
|
Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations,
networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business
ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|
Vwodek Wojczynski
Business Coach and Consultant Vwodek Wojczynski (pronounced Voy-chin-ski) brings fun, awareness, accountability and fresh perspectives based on his diverse experiences in life and business.
Born in Poland and educated in Greece and Canada, he is trilingual with 8 years experience in business development with clients in Canada, USA, Switzerland and Poland.
His approach is systematic and process-driven. He fuses the know-how of proven business methods with his commitment that entrepreneurs experience satisfaction and joy based on their values, motivations and strengths. He believes that businesses succeed based on their ability to generate value by providing what’s needed and wanted.
Ultimately, he trains executives and true business owners - people who work less, produce more, own businesses that run automatically after a while and make a difference globally.
His current research focus is the development of intelligent business systems and the application of emerging artificial intelligence technologies in business.
He is also an avid traveler, spoken word performer and visual artist. He resides in Toronto, Canada. - Visit Vwodek Wojczynski's Website |
|
Staging Diva
Debra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
|
Dianne Crampton
Dianne Crampton is an Executive Leadership Coach and Team Building Consultant and creator of the TIGERS team development model. For the past twenty years she has helped leaders and teams achieve goals with high levels of collaboration and teamwork.
Crampton is a published author. Her contribution to Working Together: Diversity As Opportunity was endorsed by Stephen Covey. She has written for trade magazines. Merrill Lynch nominated her business for Inc. Magazine’s regional small business and entrepreneurial awards. Her work with Native Americans was recognized at a United Nations sponsored conference in 1994.
The TIGERS model passed two rigorous validation studies in 1992 and 1994. The TIGERS Survey is able to measure and track team development over time.
Dianne is also the creator and distributor of the TIGERS Team Wheel game. This game helps groups identify behaviors that build collaborative groups and behaviors that cause conflict, morale problems, production failures, and misunderstandings.
For more information, or to subscribe to TigerTracks, a free monthly leadership and team newsletter go to http://www.corevalues.com - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|
The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.
|
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
