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Deciding to Start Your Own Business
by Ron Kurtus (updated 8 October 2015)
As a aspiring entrepreneur, there are several factors that influence you in making the decision to start your own business. You should have a desire to be an entrepreneur, get a great idea of some business to start and see its potential.
At that point, you make the decision whether to pursue your idea and start a business.
Questions you may have include:
- What role does desire have in making a decision?
- How do you look at your great idea for a business?
- How is the decision made?
This lesson will answer those questions.
Desire
Many people have the desire to start and run their own business. Statistics show that a majority of college students have a dream of starting their own business.
Bill Gates dropped out of college at Harvard, because he always wanted to run his own business and saw his opportunity partnering with Paul Allen. Their enterprise evolved into Microsoft.
The need for money is also a motivator in trying to start your own business. Often a person is unemployed and looking for some sort of opportunity, so he may try to start a business to make money.
Harriet was out of work, so she started selling used items on eBay as a way to make some money. She essentially was in business for herself.
Great idea
Getting a great idea of a business that seems to have potential is a motivating factor in starting a business.
Area of interest
You usually get the great idea of a business to start from an area of interest or hobby.
But there are also some whose main interest is simply to run a business. These people often get involved in purchasing someone else's business or in getting a franchise business.
See potential
The true idea comes from seeing the potential demand for the product. Sometimes it is seeing others in a similar business. Other times it is from seeing the desire for such a product. Many entrepreneurs will do market research before deciding on starting a business.
Decision time
Combining the desire for starting a business, an idea of a product to sell and the potential demand for such a product can result in the motivation to start.
But also, there is evaluation of the feasibility of such a business, including effort involved, start up costs and risks.
Michael Dell had a part time business selling custom-made computers to fellow college students. He saw the potential in this business and evaluated the requirements, including financing, before he started up Dell Computers.
Motivation plus evaluation results in the decision whether to start the business.
Summary
Several factors influence you in making the decision to start your own business. You need the desire to be an entrepreneur and make money. You need a great idea of some business to start and see its potential. Then, after evaluating the pros and cons, you make the decision whether to pursue your idea and start the business.
Think big; Start small
Resources and references
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Top-rated books on Starting a Business
Top-rated books on being an Entrepreneur
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deciding_to_start_business.htm.
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Deciding to Start Your Own Business