Before You Start
The following quiz was designed to test your startup knowledge. Are you ready to put your knowledge to the test?
Too many wantrapreneur are high on confidence about their business prospects and low on competence. Before you consider doing anything more than dream, you should familiarize yourself with what is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.
We believe to be all that you can be as a business owner, you need to have some kind of mentor to help you to better understand all your options and provide you guidance.
I have also come to discover that many businesses fail because the owners don’t know what they don’t know.
When is the best time to start a business? A lot of it has to do with your age and other age-related factors.
Learn The Importance of Timing and Positioning in Business Success. Avoid Exceeding Market Size and Stay Attuned to Market Dynamics for Small Business Survival.
Vocabulary
Before we begin our discussion, it is helpful to understand the vocabulary of business and the definitions of a few common acronyms.
What is the definition of a side hustle?
A certain baseline knowledge of what entrepreneurship is all about is essential to being a successful business owner. If you are new to entrepreneurship or need a refresher, you will want to explore the following pillar post that provides an extensive array of educational products to help you discover the core principles of entrepreneurship. The following post includes many links to the other resources available on this site and other sites and is quite extensive.
Take it Slow
The transition from being an employee to becoming a business owner can be quite abrupt. It is advisable that you learn to supplement your income while you still have a full-time job or before you take the plunge into business ownership.
In addition, when you go from being an employee to a business owner, the transition can make you feel overwhelmed. The learning curve required to become a business owner can be hectic so I recommend that most people who are new to business ownership start small without going all in on their first attempt.
While it is good advice to dip your toe in the water first by starting a business on a part-time basis or as a side hustle to see if you have what it takes to be a business owner and to verify that there is a market for your product or service, having options when you are ready to scale and make it a full-time effort for you often can make you abandon your effort prematurely.
When you are considering starting a business, it is better to be focusing on offense and less on defense.
With that out of the way, it is essential that you understand there are three ways you can become a business owner. Here is an excerpt from a video lesson from Boot Camp: Steps to Owning your Business, which described the three ways.
Below are two posts that look at the 3 ways with an emphasis on the risk associated with each of the three options.
Now that you know the three ways to become a business owner it is time to choose a path from the following options to explore in more detail:
BEFORE YOU LEAP
Uncommon Things You Should Know Before You Become An Entrepreneur
Before You Leap is a wisdom-packed book that was written for the nascent entrepreneur. It uses stories and personal examples from the author to reveal uncommon things that can make or break your venture before it starts. The book not only gives the entrepreneur the tools for self-reflection but also exposes readers to options for building a full-blown business around their idea.
As a serial entrepreneur and mentor to thousands of small businesses, the author has distilled a lifetime of business wisdom that every new entrepreneur should consider before they start their first business.
Readers will learn:
- How to test their market before committing resources to a solution
- How to reduce their startup risk
- How to discover their niche
- How to predict future demand
- That a good idea is not enough
- How retirement plans and even your employer can fund your startup costs
Before You Leap is a concise and easy-to-read guide packed with solid advice that will help you determine if you have what it takes to be a business owner and if you launch will help you avoid costly mistakes.