It’s a dream that many have, to walk away from their current role into a new life and start a business where you’ve got freedom to develop your ideas and spend your time how you want.
People are starting businesses every day. However, the sad fact is that most of them will close down within the first five years. There are lots of reasons for this, but one of them is that people rushed into opening the business. Sometimes people aren’t ready for the business world but that’s not to say they’ll never be.
If you’re wondering whether you’re ready, here’s a list of some of the common signs you’re ready (or not) to start a business:
Signs you’re ready
1. You’ve been working on this idea for years
The best ideas are ones that have been growing for a while. If you’re spending every waking moment thinking about your business idea, imagining ways to succeed and how to overcome problems in the future, then business is probably a good move for you.
2. You have supportive people
If you’ve surrounded yourself with supportive people who encourage you and plan to help you with your business, you’re in a far better position than someone going completely solo. Having a business partner is really helpful as you can both contribute capital, two heads are better than one and troubles are shared between you.
3. You have experience in the industry
If you’ve worked in the industry before and know it inside and out, this will give you a huge advantage. Not knowing the industry well means you’d end up making a ton of mistakes that will make it difficult to get going.
4. You know you’re meeting a need
A lot of people have great, creative business ideas but the truth is that not all of them are desperately needed by society. All businesses should address a need or desire that many people have. It’s not always about inventing the new crazy kitchen gadget and going on Dragon’s Den. Get that business plan sorted!
Signs you’re not ready
While you’ll know best whether you’re ready or not, there are some common signs that entrepreneurship isn’t quite right for you yet.
1. It’s a new idea
It’s always best to give yourself time for an idea to develop, for you to think about it from lots of different angles. An idea that struck you last week is probably too early to jump into but that’s not to say you can’t start working on it.
2. You struggle with self-motivation
In order to make a business work, you’ll need tons of self-motivation. After all, no one else is going to start your business for you and keep it running. If you struggle with motivation to do simple things, it’s going to be difficult to motivate yourself to sit down and market your business or do your bookkeeping.
3. You’ve done no market research
If you don’t know whether there’s actually a need out there for your products or services, then how do you know your business will work? Before you throw all your money at an idea, make sure that people want it. The needs of the public will make or break your business.
4. You’re not fond of new tech or change
If you turn your nose up at things like social media, blogging and SEO, you’re going to get left behind all the businesses who are ahead of the curve. In order to compete in your industry, it takes a lot more work nowadays because there are so many businesses out there offering tons of choices for their clients.
You need to be on the cutting edge and that may involve looking at new tech to improve your business or products.
5. You think you’ll be rich and free overnight
Building a business that is profitable is difficult enough. Becoming rich is definitely possible but there’s no guarantee. Some people also think that being their own boss means they can spend their time however they want, lying in on a weekday and turning up to the office whenever they feel like it.
The reality is that running a business is hard work and you’ll probably have to put more hours in than your previous job expected to get it up and running.
Find more help and support for your London-based business in our information centre.