The first step in starting a business is understanding yourself. You are the one who is making the decisions to go into business and if you succeed or fail, you are the one who has to contend with the consequences, good or bad.
Starting your own business is not to be taken lightly, by any measure, because success boils down to what you are willing to put into the business, both time wise and money wise.
Politicians like to use the phrase, "the buck stops here." But when starting a new business, the opposite is true.
The buck starts here
What is meant by the "the buck starts here" is that it literally starts with you from day one.
Even if you are in a position to hire a manager to run the day to day operations, "it is still up to you to make your business succeed."
So before jumping into the business ownership arena, there are a lot of things that should you should already know about the nature of your business, a lot of things that you should have already thought about, and a lot of questions that you should already have answers to.
Even the saviest of entrepreneurs, whether they own a large business, a small business, a franchise, or a corporation, are always put at risk by the unknown.
The unknown is what you can't see, but, there are many risks that can be seen and eliminated beforehand, if you take the time to do your homework.
-Do the research.
-Don't hesitate to ask questions.
-Read all you can about the prospective business.
-Listen carefully to those who know.
-Take notes.
-Always keep an open mind.
-And never think you know it all.
There are literally hundreds of books, seminars, lectures, self help videos, and media events available offering advice on starting and running a business.
But remember, when you start your business you are going to have to rely on your instincts a lot. So do yourself a favor. Try to learn as much about the business as possible before starting it.