If you’re at a career crossroads, you might be exploring some unconventional options for your future. If you’ve worked in a specific industry for a long time, you can easily find yourself at a point where starting your own business seems to be far more tempting than working for someone else. If you know what you’re doing, starting your own business can be one of the best things to ever happen to you. If you’re ill-prepared, it could be one of the biggest headaches you’ll ever experience. Find out if you’re ready and proceed accordingly.

What Do You Know and What Can You Teach Yourself?

If you’ve spent the majority of your life working for other people, you’ve likely never tended to the “behind the scenes” work that keeps a business going. Your employer was handling most of your taxes for you, and they were also responsible for abiding by safety standards and legal regulations that affected your job. When you go solo, these things become your responsibility.

You don’t necessarily need a degree in business to start your own business, but you do need to spend a lot of time learning. Thanks to the internet, many educational resources are free. Spend some time learning, and see how comfortable you are with the information. If you’re nervous, you’ll either need to hire someone else to handle the legal aspects of the business or hold off until you have a better understanding.

Do You Have Access to the Tools and Resources You Need?

Business software isn’t exactly hard to come by. A lot of it is generalized and harder to use. Make sure you can find tools and software that will allow you to run your business as easily as possible. You’re going to have a lot on your plate, and you want to make sure the services and programs you use are tailored to you.

There are specialty tools all over the place. You can get your own social media management suite for a web based business, or plumbing software for your own plumbing business. Always look for tailored versions of the tools you need – things will be much easier that way.

Can You Handle it All On Your Own or With a Small Team?

A business can be one person or thousands of people. If you’re starting out small, you may be the sole employee for a while. Slow growth is okay, as long as you can continue to manage your business and support yourself on a modest scale. Don’t put the cart in front of the horse if you know you’ll need some time to get acclimated. You’ll make a lot of small mistakes at first, and the fewer people who are affected by them, the easier they’ll be to recover from.

Do You Have the Funds Necessary to Become Fully Independent?

Starting a business always involves some risk. You’re going to need a little bit of money to get things off the ground, and if you’re working on a tight budget, you can’t afford to fail. Make sure you’re saved up enough to subsidize your venture, or secure a reasonable loan in order to jumpstart this new chapter in your life.

Starting a business can be exciting, but don’t jump in with both feet unless you have a soft place to fall. The more preliminary research you do, the greater the level of success you’ll see.