The thought may have hit you fairly recently, or you may have had this desire for years, but recently, you’ve been contemplating what life would be like if you were your own boss, calling your own shots and running your own business. But how do you know if you’re ready to make the leap or not? Below, we’ve listed out a few tell tale signs that you may be ready to step out on your own. If you identify with the majority of them, it may be time to start getting your business plan together.
You feel stuck in your current job.
The 9 to 5 grind has officially begun to wear on you. You aren’t happy at your current job, and you aren’t excited about the trajectory your career is on. You’re craving something else from your work life, and even if you don’t end up starting your own business, you should probably pursue a change. Nothing kills your work performance like doing something you simply aren’t excited about.
You have a business idea you can’t get out of your head.
Starting your own business is hard, and the only way you’ll stay motivated to continue building your company is by starting one based on an idea you really care about. Your business idea should be something that you enjoy thinking about, talking about and working on constantly, because if you decided to pursue it, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.
You’ve weighed the risks.
No business venture is without risk. Whether you quit your job and pour all your money into the company or you decided to begin pursuing your dream as a side-business while keeping your day job, you will put yourself at risk of wasting time, losing money, failing or all of the above. Before you launch your start-up evaluate what risks you’ll take on, how you can mitigate some of those risks, and how you’ll be prepared to handle the worst possible scenario.
You’ve built a support system.
Before setting out on your own, reach out to people that can provide you encouragement and council as you hop on the roller coaster than is entrepreneurship. Family, friends, mentors and financial advisors all fulfill necessary roles to keep you mentally, emotionally, physically and financially fit enough to pursue your dreams.
You’re financially stable.
Many businesses take awhile to become profitable, so make sure you have a game plan in place to keep you from getting in over your head financially. This may mean keeping your current job while starting the business, aggressively building up your savings before you quit your current job or pick a few flexible odd jobs as you need them.
