Write Decision?

All my working life I had been an employee of a company or medical practice where someone other than myself had to sign off on most new projects and budgets. I was finding it increasingly frustrating to not have the ability to have the final say. I wanted to start my own business.

What kind of business? How much money would I need? What assistance might be available? To find out these and the many other things I would have to research business startups.

According to the United States Small Business Administration:

“Careful planning is fundamental to success. The Small Business Planner includes information and resources that will help you at any stage of the business life-cycle.” [Small Business Administration, Small Business Planner].

When I first started going through the information I was overwhelmed! There were so many topics to worry about, but I felt with proper planning I could meet the challenge.

In an interview with Rick Hendrick, an extremely successful Automobile Dealer [Life of an Internet Entrepreneur ] the following traits he found led to his success:

1. Optimism. Think positive.
2. Faith. Believe in yourself, God and your country.
3. Planning. Know what’s important each day; set your priorities accordingly.
4. Determination. Have the courage to stand alone when taking the big risks in life.
5. Vision. Think big, dream big, keep success in your mind.
6. Attitude. If you think you can’t, you’re right. Winners have positive attitudes.
7. Goals. Set goals. Plan how to achieve them.
8. Perseverance. Try and try again until the goal is achieved. Never give up.
9. Knowledge. Learn to accept your mistakes, but make them only once.
10. Enthusiasm. Choose work you like. Enjoy the challenges.

All of the research that I did indicated that sound business planning was the only path to succeeding in my own business. I contacted SCORE, a resource partner of the Small Business Administration. There, I was assigned a counselor who interviewed me about my interests and why I wanted to be an entrepreneur.

The SCORE counselor took great pains to make sure that I understood many new businesses fail. I would need sufficient funds to get my business going and live on as well. He emphasized that starting a new business was hard work and would consume my time until the business got on a solid foundation.

After our discussion, I concluded that I wanted to undertake the creation of my own business. I relied heavily on SCORE counselors to assist with the creation of a business plan and a budget. As my spouse had a good job we could live on one income for a short while and I could build my business.

With SCORE helping with the Business Plan and financial planning, my great desire to have my own business, my optimism that I could succeed, as well as a vision of how my company would operate, I was confident that I could succeed in the writing field and do something I would really enjoy.

Leaving the safety of the corporate world is a major, life altering decision. An individual needs to insure that it is a lifestyle that he/she can endure. One must make sure there is enough capital to start a business and live on too. They should have a passion for what they choose to do, if they choose to start their own business.

Research and planning are the tools that will help one to decide these and other factors in making a decision to start one’s own business.