To start-up or not is the question

I am going through posts in social media by young people who had ventured into their own business. These posts had a cautionary tone and the message was that being an entrepreneur is neither glamorous nor a cake walk. I agree with it entirely.

There is a huge preparation to be made before you make the plunge. But don’t develop cold feet in the process. I have ventured into entrepreneurship at an “old age” and let me share my thoughts.

I had an idea that I was passionate about but didn’t know how to move ahead. I talked with people who were in that business and also those in allied business. Since this was new for me and I was not trained for it, I invested in training myself. This took almost a year. All this time I was engaged in a steady job, which enabled me to finance my training. I also began building up a kitty that would allow me to survive and meet my minimal requirements when I would give up my job. I did not have any pending family liabilities or obligations and hence mentally free.

I am into life coaching where word of mouth matters and to begin with I also needed to have a website. I started talking with my contacts who were experts in this domain. I bought books that discussed websites and what to keep in mind when developing one. This gave me clarity as to how I want my website to look like. Thus www.thelifeline.in  was created. For word of mouth, I began with the contacts in my phone book.

Getting business needs patience. Without the pressure of earning immediately, my anxiety levels were low. This enabled me to keep thinking what next I need to do and how best it can be done. There are many more things that need to be thought through viz. How do I chart out my time in a day?  Or who is my target audience?  Or how much should I charge? Or should I work alone or have a business partner? And many more…

Above all, it is a good idea to become self aware. Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? Do you know that some characteristics hold you back? Do you know that the way you interact with people puts them off? Are you aware of the reasons for your procrastination?

Do spend some time in going through such a process. It acts as a confidence builder and will help you take the plunge and move upward. Watch out for my group coaching for wannabe entrepreneurs where I help them assess if they have it in them what it takes to be an entrepreneur.