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Starting a Business a Brave Move or a NoBrainer

Written by: Russell Black

Article Overview: Starting a business can be a tough move, and not everybody is cut out for it. Russell Black, of Glazers Chartered Accountants in London, suggests a few questions to ask yourself before taking the plunge.

Starting a Business a Brave Move or a NoBrainer

Starting a business can be a tough move. All sorts of questions go through people’s minds, such as ‘Am I mad giving up my secure job?’, ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’, and ‘Will I ever see my family again?’. Others only have a picture in their head of an 80 foot yacht sailing gracefully around the Med in 5 years’ time, with them on board, cocktail in hand. Maybe the first category are pessimists, or maybe they are realists. And the second category might be focused, driven individuals, or just fantasists, who knows?

There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to take the plunge. But first you need to listen to those little voices in your head, as they will give you some idea of whether you are cut out for being a business owner. Some people are and some aren’t … it’s as simple as that. One way of testing this is to ask yourself how good an employee you are, or to put it another way, would you employ you? I’ve found over many years of talking to business clients, that there is probably, or at least possibly, an inverse correlation between how good a business owner you are and how good an employee you would make.

I’ve heard so many successful business owners confess that they are probably unemployable. Why is this? Are they incompetent? Presumably not. Are they lazy? Again, probably not. The reason usually comes down to one thing – attitude. Attitude is that intangible quality that usually differentiates the bosses from the bossed, the employers from the employed, and the risk-takers from the risk-averse. Not only does an entrepreneurial attitude help a business owner to succeed, but it can often make the budding entrepreneur a pain in the neck as someone else’s employee!

Of course, it’s not quite as simplistic as that in real life. There are those who will excel whatever they do, and those who are a complete liability in any circumstances. But it’s useful to ask yourself the question before deciding to start a business… what type of person am I? Does this business idea excite me, or fill me with trepidation? Do I see it as the escape I’m looking for, or will it be more a case of ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’?

Above all else… does it feel right? If the answer is yes, all well and good. If the answer is no, don’t do it. If you don’t know the answer, it may just be because you don’t have that natural instinct that turns would-be entrepreneurs into successful business owners.

Be honest with yourself. It’s all in the attitude.

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