As
a way of earning a living, running your own business has two
distinctive features. The first is that you do not submit
yourself to a selection process; there is not, as there is
with a job as an employee, a sifting carried out of possible
applicants for a vacancy. There is no personnel manager wielding
a battery of psychological tests or cunning interview questions
to test your suitability for the job or the level of skills
you have acquired.
You
are the sole arbiter of your fitness to start and run your
own business. This puts a very heavy responsibility on your
self-knowledge, because without a doubt not everyone is suited
to being an entrepreneur or being self employed. The only
external check, which may be carried out on your fitness to
found a business, occurs if you need to raise money; in this
case, a bank manager or other lender or investor judges you.
But by the time you reach this stage, you may already have
committed time and money to your project.
The
answer to the dilemma of this self-selection process is self-analysis:
know thyself. Additional insight can be provided by the opinion
of colleagues, friends or family. But this can be fraught
with emotional problems. Those you ask for an opinion may
feel under pressure to give a favourable view for fear of
offending. If an unbiased view cannot be expected, do not
seek an opinion at all.
The
second unusual characteristic of starting your own business
to create your own income is that you decide what type of
business it is and what market you will be selling to. While
you can select a salaried job in a firm of a particular size
or selling to a particular market, you are restricted by the
vacancies that are available.
When
it comes to establishing a business, in theory, the world
is your oyster. A well-run business should succeed in any
market. In practice, however, you can make success more likely
by choosing your product and market carefully. (Extract taken
from: Small Business Guide, Sara Williams, Penguin Books,
Scotland 2001)
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