Are you ready to take the leap into self-employment?

Are you Confident in your Idea?

• Does your market research give you confidence that your idea will work?  e.g. have you piloted your idea and tested it with potential clients?  
• What would you potentially gain if you didn’t give it a try?
• What would you potentially gain if you did give it a try?
• Do you feel excited and comfortable when you are talking about or selling your service or product? 
• Have you written yourself a business plan which details who, how and when you are going to take the business forward?

• Do you have a good support structure in place e.g. a business coach and professional adviser. 
• Have you accessed training to gain knowledge and understanding of how to run a business?  
• Are your family and friends supportive of what you are doing? How important is this to you?  
• Do you need additional skills or team members to make the business happen?  If so, have the got the right team in place or do you need to sort this out?

Are you Financially Prepared?

• Do you know how much your start-up costs will be for the business?  
• Do you have sufficient funds to cover the start-up costs to get the business to the level and quality you require? 
• If not, have you sought out other investors – friends, faBy  mily, business angels, banks etc.

Having gone through the questions above, how confident and prepared do you now feel?  In an ideal world you should feel confident in selling your idea to friends, family, investors, and potential clients and be ready and raring to go! You need to make sure you have the emotional, professional and financial support to hand, so you are ready to stride out in business!

By Heather Wilkinson, Business Coach and Consultant, MD of Striding Out www.stridingout.co.uk