You may have considered starting a business but were unsure whether or not it was the right move for you. Maybe you were concerned that being a business owner might not be the best thing for you? The truth is, it’s not as simple or complex as it may seem! You want to be certain that you have the right stuff before you start, to ensure that you succeed.

Short list of qualifications

• Skills

– You have to know what you are doing. You need to have some expertise or training to be qualified to offer clients and customers the services you will sell.

• Dedication

– How dedicated you are to your success will determine how successful you are! You are the one with the dream and vision of where and what you want your business to become.

• Persistents

– You will likely encounter small failures along the way, but if you are persistent you will be able to work through them and find continued success.

• Hard Working

– Probably the most important one on this list when you are just starting out. You are going to have to work hard. You will need to push yourself harder than you ever have.

• Creative

– Thinking outside the box is so important. There are hundreds of people out there with the same idea as you (most of the time), with creativity you can beat out your competition.

• Focused

– Being a business owner and working from home or feeling that initial thrill of “freedom”, it is easy to become distracted and find that at the end of the day you have done little work.

• Cant be afraid of opposition

– People are going to oppose your ideas and goals. But if you believe in your ideas and your ability to achieve them, then that is all that matters.

• Cant be a quitter

– Quitting is the quickest way to failure. Giving up can not be an option for you. Sometimes an idea is not as good as it you hoped, but don’t quite, move on to the next one.

• Withstand Criticism

– People may point fingers and tell you your stupid for trying to start a business. Those people are not in the same class as you! They do not understand entrepreneurship like you do. The best thing to do, prove them wrong!

• Be willing to change

– You will have to change all kinds of things. The most important thing to change is your thinking. You need to think bigger and farther into the future. You need to think about your success.

• A people person

– As a business owner you are going to deal with a lot of different people. Suppliers, customers, clients, employees, etc… You have to have good people skills if you want to succeed.

• Passionate

– If you are not excited and pumped about your business, chances are, no one else will be either. You need to love what you do! Be so excited to get up and go to work each morning that it is hard to sleep at night. You have to love your product or services, not just for show, but really love it.

• Trustworthy

– Small businesses are finding more success over their much larger competitors because they are more trustworthy. Make yourself available to all of your customers and clients, and over deliver on your promises!

• Teachable

– Probably the second most important requirement on this list. You will learn new things as a business owner, some willingly and some things will be forced on you. Be open and learn your lessons as early as possible. Be willing to accept advice and follow it.

• Committed

– Need to start with commitment. If you are not committed to see your business succeed, you have already given up. Commitment is what will get you through the failures and onto your success.

Always be learning new things! Always stay on-top of your industry. To be seen as the expert you have to be the expert. Tell your clients and customers about your failures and successes. The last thing any small business owner wants to be is just another corporation. You want to be personable, let your customers know they can contact you directly and make them feel important because they are.

Here are the things we’re going to cover this week:

- Introduction to Small Business
- Why You Should Consider Starting a Business
- Who is Qualified to Start a Business
- Business Ideas: The Right Idea is Driven by Passion
- The First Steps: Getting Your Business Started