If you feel your destiny is to join the ranks of the self-employed, that’s fantastic. You’re going to need a lot more than a desire to live out your destiny and good luck to make a start-up venture successful.  Before you hop onto the entrepreneur train, there are some important things to think about long before you walk away from your 9-5 job and the steady paycheck that comes with it.

Deciding what small business is best for you can be difficult. To find the right fit, start by brainstorming. Evaluating a few key aspects of your life can give your brainstorming some direction and help you get the ball rolling. Start with these seven and work from there:

Plan To Be Successful – What Do You Want?

Why are some small business owners successful while so many others fail miserably? Oftentimes it comes down to a true love and passion for what they do. If you enter into a small business just because you think you can make money at it, chances are you’ll fail. If you don’t have an enthusiasm and commitment to what you’re doing that goes beyond they money you may eventually make doing it, chances are you’re going to be a very unhappy and unsuccessful small business owner.

Strengths – What Are You Good At?

What are you good at? What have you learned throughout your lifetime and your professional career that you can put to use in your own small business? We aren’t always good at recognizing our own strengths and weaknesses. This might be a good time to enlist the help of friends, family and professional acquaintances you have worked with closely in the past. It’s important that you’re honest with yourself about your strengths and find an entrepreneural venture that will marry well with your strong points.

Preferences – What Do You Like To Do?

Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you enjoy it. Let’s face it, just because you’re good at math as a kid doesn’t mean you should grow up to be an accountant. Sometimes what you’re good at doesn’t light your fire and that’s fine. Keep in mind that when you’re starting small business, you will live that small business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week indefinitely. Make sure your business falls in line with both what you’re good at and what you like to do.

Hobbies – What’s Your Passion?

Parlaying a passion into a small business often brings together your strengths and your preferences. Do you enjoy golf? Perhaps opening a golf pro shop is the way to go. Do you have thousands of images you’ve created as your photography hobby over the years? Perhaps a venture involving freelance or portrait photography is your best bet. Even if you can’t translate your hobby into a potential money-maker, stop to think about what you love to do and why you love to do it. That simple step can help you figure out what small business has the most potential for success for you.

Skills – What Can You Do?

Strengths and skills are two very different things. Skills are much more specific and situational. As a small business owner you will have to wear many hats. Do you have basic accounting skills? Can you keep track of your accounts payable and accounts receivable on your own? Do you have any graphic design ability? Do you have any knowledge or understanding of human resources and the recordkeeping required to comply with state and federal requirements?

Previous Experience – What Have You Learned Up To Now?

Translating what you’ve learned throughout your career to this point is often one of the undefined variables that separate the successful from the unsuccessful in the world of small business. Dig deep and figure out what you’ve learned from each of your previous jobs, internships, classes and real world experience that can help make you successful in your own ventures moving forward.

Assess Your Network – Who Can Help You?

Who have you worked with in the past that might be willing to help you or want to work with you now? Who in your network of friends, acquaintances and former co-workers might be potential customers? Who in your network could become a potential vendor? If you can work with people with whom you have an existing relationship of trust it will help to reduce the potential for problems down the road. Take a close look at your current network to determine what advantage you might be able to gain from those people you already have a relationship with.

In the end, small business success often comes down to a combination of great planning, will to succeed, good decision making and a little bit of luck. Do your homework and your chance for success goes up exponentially. Fly by the seat of your pants and you’ll wind up among the whopping majority of small businesses that fail.

In today’s economic climate, amidst layoffs, downsizing and the general tightening of corporate belts in order to maintain bottom line profit margins, more and more people are choosing to see this as an opportunity to follow their dreams of becoming a small business owner.

Don’t Jump The Entrepreneurial Shark On A Whim

Before quitting your day job there are some important things to consider and take care of long before you even think of launching your own entrepreneurial venture. That said, here are 14 things to think about in advance – some of which seem obvious, but are surprisingly overlooked by new small business owners far & wide.

Narrow Down Your Product/Service Offering

Have you ever heard someone say “Over 90% of small businesses fail?” I hear it all the time. And while I believe numbers and statistics can be easily manipulated to say just about anything, that’s still pretty staggering. Much of that failure can likely be attributed to small businesses having too broad a focus from the start. New small businesses tend to try to generate revenue from virtually any source and, as such, often spread themselves far too thin. Make sure your focus from the start is narrow and specialized to match your skills, goals and business model.  A successful entrepreneur doesn’t shift focus.

Decide On A Company Name

Seems pretty obvious, right? Right. What isn’t so obvious is what goes into creating a brand based on your new company name, or the time that goes into researching a potential company name. Consider these factors when choosing a company name:

• Availability – is any other company anywhere in the United States (or you country of origin) using the same or similar company name? If there is another company using a similar name, but in a completely unrelated industry, you may still want consider it. However, at some point – even if the other company is not in competition with you in any way – there could be some branding issues from an Internet marketing standpoint. It is best to be completely unique whenever possible.
• Market Research – knowing your audience is key. Check out some of the most successful companies you will be in competition with. Is there anything that stands out about them? What are their company names? Do they market using their full company name or a DBA? Corporations spend tons of money researching what will appeal to their target demographic. Whenever you can, take advantage of their investment to gain some insight into the psyche of your market without spending a dime.

Where Will Your Business Be Located?

Again, this seems obvious…but you’d be surprised how many small business owners rent retail, industrial or office space without fully considering what they will need out of the space. You want to make these decisions long before they have the potential to impact your business. Is this a home based business? Do you need a retail location? What is the cost for the space you want to occupy? Will you own, rent, lease to buy?

Will You Have A Staff or Are You On Your Own?

How much of this work are you going to be able to handle on your own from the start? Will you need a full-time staff to meet the demand for your products or services? Will part-time help be sufficient? Who will handle the employment paperwork? Payroll? Recordkeeping? Hiring employees certainly does raise the bar on the level of difficulty for a start up, so great consideration should be given to this issue long before you launch.

Corporate Structure Options

There are a lot of corporate structures that address a variety of business needs. Should you opt for an LLC, a sole-proprietorship, S-corporation, C-corporation? Consult an accountant and/or attorney to help determine which corporate structure will work best for your business.

Establish Your Business Entity

Once you’ve decided on a business name and corporate structure, it’s time to file the paperwork. Can you do it yourself? Sure…but you probably shouldn’t go it completely alone. You could hire an attorney to handle it for you, but that can get a little pricey. There are a variety of companies out there that can help you. The Company Corporation and Legal Zoom are two such companies.

Projecting Sales and Expenses

It’s important to know where you are now and have a plan for moving forward. Estimating your monthly expenses and projecting sales on a cash flow statement is an integral part of the planning for any small business venture. More detailed cash flow statements will be created during the development of the business plan, but having an estimate in mind from the start is important.

Additional things to take into consideration:

• Complete a break-even analysis
• Establish a business-specific bank account
• Business communication system – cell phone, e-mail, VoIP, etc.
• Buy basic necessary equipment – computer, manufacturing, etc.
• Start building a list of potential customers
• Find a graphic/web designer & SEO/Internet Marketing
• Consider your future plans – investor control, your ownership percentage, etc.