By Debbie Gregory
The COVID-19 pandemic has led many people to ask themselves if “Now is the time to start their business?” This has been driven by factors such as safety, job security, life purpose, future goals, and work-life balance.
Do you dream of creating your own product line? Setting your own hours? Being your own boss? Starting your own business can really help you take control of your life and work, take charge, add flexibility, learn new experiences, connect better with peers, and broaden yourself as a person.
Business owners are not special super humans, they are normal people who have big ideas and work hard to turn those ideas into reality. Every business owner is different but there are a few key traits that they all seem to have in common. To help you decide if starting a business is right for you, below are some good questions to ask yourself before making this huge leap of faith.
1.) Can you make important decisions quickly?
Problems arise all the time in business, and it is very important that the business owner can respond to them quickly, decisively, and with a clear head. You will also need to be able to handle any consequences that may occur after the problem has been resolved.
Being a business owner requires you to have confidence under pressure but not arrogance. You need to be able to be part of the team you build, have confidence in each other’s skills, accept that mistakes do happen, and be able to learn from those mistakes to move forward. If you struggle to make effective decisions quickly, owning a business will be much more challenging for you.
2.) Do you have high energy?
Running a business is a lot of work. You need to be energized, passionate and excited to grow your brand. If you are the type of person who is constantly seeking after-work hobbies, weekend projects, and other activities, you may have the kind of energy to start a new business.
3.) Are you creative?
Creativity is a key aspect of owning a business. As the owner, you will be required to constantly come up with new ideas, whether they are new product ideas, lead generating strategies, marketing thoughts, revenue boosting activities, improving the company culture, and more. If you are usually bursting with new ideas, a business is a outstanding way for you to share those ideas with the rest of the world.
4.) Do you like to solve problems?
A business owner is basically a full-time problem solver. As we touched on in point #1, problems constantly arise in business. These problems should be viewed as opportunities instead of setbacks. As the owner, you cannot afford to be easily discouraged by setbacks or bad news. You need to be able to push forward and continue working hard. So, if you love solving problems and are not easily discouraged, business ownership could be for you.
Regardless of how you have answered these posed above, we hope that you can see that business ownership is not out of your reach if it is something you are interested in. If you are even slightly creative, energetic, and love to solve problems in addition to having a great idea for a business, now is always a wonderful time to get started.
VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association hopes that this mini-series on “Strategic Planning” has been valuable. We work hard to bring you important, positive, helpful, and timely information and are the “go to” online venue for Veteran and Military Business Owners. VAMBOA is a non-profit trade association. We do not charge members any dues or fees and members can also use our seal on their collateral and website. If you are not yet a member, you can register here:
https://vamboa.org/member-registration/
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