Starting a Business

People who start their own business are the ones who stop talking about their dreams and plans and actually make them happen

Matt Thomas, Starting your own shop

I’ve heard variants of this so many times now that I’m forced to believe there is some truth in it.

Almost every entrepreneur I’ve ever studied has had a somewhat ‘rags to riches’ story and if not ‘rags’ then they were certainly no more than an ‘average joe’.

The only thing that differentiates these success stories from the rest of us (that would like to be successful business people) is they took action. Instead of just pipe dreaming they actually took a small step that led to another step and another, until they found themselves running successful businesses.

When others reverted to the (supposed) safe haven of a job they took a risk and gave it a go.

It’s a powerful idea that anyone with an idea and a bit of passion and a willingness to work hard can make it, an idea that resonated enough with me to give it a go myself. For some of us we find ourselves at a point in life maybe due to a redundancy or becoming a parent where the potential benefits of having a go at something for ourselves is greater than the benefits of finding employment. This may be financial or lifestyle related, however the risk/reward ratio is clearly tipped towards creating a business or going freelance. It’s a rare position to be in, I’d hazard a guess that an opportunity like I’ve discussed only arises perhaps two or three times in one’s life and it’s important to spot the opportunity and capitalise.

Everyone has an opinon on what you should do with your life, but only you know how your unique set of circumstances stack up.

Is now the time to take action on that business idea?