Do you have what it takes to be your own boss?

At times the idea of becoming “independent” sounds like something that interests us and we envision ourselves starting our own business. Dreams of earning better pay as a business person is very stimulating, as well as the idea of building a business with rules to give it that personal touch that makes it a unique enterprise. These things are motivating, but the most important aim of a company should be its role in the community as a provider of quality products and services. It also should be seen as an economic stimulant with the creation of employment for yourself first and subsequently employment for others.

The businesses that acquire better positions in the market are those started by entrepreneurs that have become experts in their own product or service. Whether it’s auto repair, baking cakes, or in the commercial activity of buying and selling products. The owner of each one of these businesses knows the secret of their product or service. In our Hispanic community this is what we have most of, men and women who have done their job for years, and have discovered the love of doing what they do. They have put their personal touch to the product, service, the sales process or maybe even to the customer service to that which they do. That particular activity that makes you dream about a business could be a hobby that you may have practiced for a long time and doing it really brings you joy. It could be a sport, child care, almost any moral activity with conformity to the law can become an enterprise. Once the entrepreneur discovers and develops its technical abilities they must add a second very important factor that sometimes we forget to consider: the administrative abilities. Those are important because we must be able to put the idea of a business into a plan. That plan must include marketing, financial and operational goals. It may seem intimidating but it really isn’t. In one way or another we all have planned to save for a car, to upgrade our home appliances, we have delegated the house work, we have promoted the best of ourselves to landing a job or even to enamor a loved one. All these are administrative abilities that may be learned.
Another determining factor to be successful in business is self-motivation. At the beginning the entrepreneur might run into an array of challenges during the learning, establishment and operation of the business. On top of producing the services or articles that the company sells, almost invariably he will need to play administrative roles. He must at some point become the laborer, assistant, sales manager, buyer and many other duties in the micro enterprise. All these abilities will be learned many times through trial and error. To dream is the first step to start your business. To put it into practice you simply have to have a good plan, the disposition to learn and to admit when you are wrong. Most of all you must have a great time doing all the functions that your business requires of you. The entrepreneur is a mix of a stubborn adventurer, counselor and a moderate optimist of himself and of his own business.