Starting a Small Business in Oakland County

Entrepreneur Evaluation

Considerations for a Prospective Business Owner

Those who aspire to start their own business have many motivations and ambitions. It is not like changing jobs because it involves using your life savings and committing your future earnings and lifestyle to the profits of your business. We have proposed a series of tough questions for you. If you can answer "yes" enthusiastically to all of these questions, you are truly an entrepreneur.

Q1:
Do I understand that my proposed business may require skills in finance, marketing, and operations that I must acquire to be successful?

Q2:
Do I understand that transferring my personal skills and experiences to a new business offers a severe challenge to become a manager and business owner?

Q3:
Do I want to invest most of my savings or borrow on my home to start my business?

Q4:
Do I want to earn less for at least the next two years if I am working for someone else now?

Q5:
Do I want to give up the benefits, fringes, and perks I now have?

Q6:
Do I want to work harder and longer than I ever have before?

Q7:
Do I want to wake up each morning and know the business depends on me and whether I feel sick or there is two feet of snow I must go?

Q8:
Do I want to open the business in the morning and turn out the lights at night?

Q9:
Do I want the frustrations of hiring people who don't have the interest in the business I do?

Q10:
Do I understand that to make money, the customer is the person to be served, not me?

Q11:
Do I understand that when there is a business problem it is my job to fix it?

Q12:
Do I understand that when the business needs more money, it is my job to find it?

Q13:
Do I understand that everyone (landlord, employees, bank, utilities, and suppliers) gets paid before I do?