Quit your job and start your own business, are you ready?

Dear Annie:

I've been working on this job for 5 years, I don't like what I'm working on, and my new boss has been driving me crazy for months. He lacks integrity, encourages us to be opportunistic, and damages the interests of our clients, and my team has to be criticized in hindsight for whatever decisions they make.

I've always wanted to start my own business and start a company, and I already have a real idea. The problem is, I read your column, which mentions the low success rate of startups, the companies we've never heard of, I'm obsessed with taking a chance. How can I be sure I'm really ready to start my own business?

--thinking over

Dear Thinking:

You have a very good question, especially considering that this wave of IPOs has created a bunch of overnight entrepreneurs. Your main motivation now seems to be to get out of bad bosses, which is a wake-up call.

"Never start a company to get out of a bad situation," said Ashish Toshniwal, chief executive of Y Media Labs. You need a creative idea that really appeals to you, or it's hard to survive the first two years. ”

Toshniwal empathy for your problem. 6 years ago He was 26 years old and disliked working as an engineer at Dell. He had a friend named Sumit Mehra, a Yahoo engineer who used his spare time to make apps for Facebook, which was fun. When smartphone technology sprang up, the pair resigned and created the Y Media Labs, now developing mobile apps for many companies such as PayPal, EBay, Bank of America, and Symantec. The company has grown from two founders to 141 employees, and Toshniwal hopes to hire another 80 at the end of the year.

"We're really passionate about this new technology, and we've seen an inflection point where the company is about to go into a fast-growing period," he said. "To leave a job without a challenge, or a boss, is never really a motive." ”

For you, too, "you have to have something you really love to get started, and then go back to work and find a way to achieve it," says MJ Gottlieb, a business consultant. "Gottlieb is the author of a book that accidentally destroys a company, and he has managed 6 businesses in the past 23 years, and this book outlines the 55 mistakes he made in this process," he said. He stressed that "don't think you have a good idea of entrepreneurship should resign, only this is not enough." ”

So, what else do you need? You can find answers to the following four questions:

1. Are you sure your ideas will work?

Too many startups haven't done enough research and are not ready to the products and services offered are not what consumers really need, and that is what makes them competitive, Gottlieb says, "especially if you want to attract investors, you need to have a consumer group and make money because no one will invest in an idea." One way to start a business, but not resign, is to use your spare time to do a part-time business until you are sure the company will survive in the marketplace.

2. Are you ready for a few years of penniless?

Toshniwal and Mehra used their savings and credit card loans as funds, without cash risk for the first two years, and established solid customer relationships to improve their mobile applications. Toshniwal said: "We are very frugal, in fact we have suffered financial shock, so nearly give up." "It's not for everyone," if you work for someone else, no matter what the company is, you always get paid. "Don't start a business like that.

3. Are you good at solving problems and overcoming difficulties alone?

When he left Dell, Toshniwal had a misconception that he took the support system of a large business as a matter of course. "As an employee, you can take advantage of the company's resources and generally, you can assume that the manager or someone else will handle the details and solve the problem." But for new businesses, you have to be hands-on, withstand stress, and make grades. "That's why some people who want to be entrepreneurs are always exhausted, and they tend to give up halfway, which is common."

4. Do you mind giving up your personal life?

What would your family think if you had a family? As entrepreneurs, you are always on call, including evenings, weekends and holidays, "Gottlieb said," and I have to miss a lot of birthdays and big family matters, and I haven't had a vacation for 14 years. Not everyone is fit to be an entrepreneur. "Many business owners, including those who have real life and loved ones, say they are married to the company," he said.

If you answer all 4 questions honestly, and the answer is yes, then go for it. But if any question (or more) makes you hesitant, consider a different job, or even stay in the same company, just to get a more reliable boss. Good luck.