Does the business you want to own require skills and talents you already possess? If you have the necessary skills, do you enjoy exercising them? Think about this for a good long time. The average small business owner spends more time with his venture than with his family. This being so, it makes sense to be at least as careful about choosing your endeavor as you are about picking your mate.
A few of us are sufficiently blessed that we can meet someone on a blind date, settle down a week later, and have it work out wonderfully. However, in relationships, as in business, most of us make better decisions if we approach them with a little more care. Be sure you aren’t so blinded by one part of a small business that you overlook all others. For example, suppose you love music and making musical instruments. Running your own guitar shop sounds like it would be great fun.
Maybe it would be, but if you see yourself contentedly making guitars all day in a cozy little workroom, you’d better think again. Who is going to meet customers, keep the books, answer the phone, and let potential customers know you are in business? If you hate all these activities, you either have to work with someone who can handle them, or do something else. Here’s one last thing to think about when considering how much you like your business idea.
In fact, it’s a danger that threatens almost every potential entrepreneur. Precisely because your business idea is yours, you have an emotional attachment to it. You should. Your belief in your idea will help you wade through all the unavoidable muck and mire that lies between a good idea and a profitable business.
However, your ego involvement can also entail a loss of perspective. I’ve seen people start hopeless endeavors and lose small fortunes because they were so enamored with their “brilliant ideas” that they never examined honestly the negative factors that doomed their ventures from the start.
