Look at me. I'm not who you think I am, and I'm not what I used to be. In fact, when I look in the mirror, it's somebody else I see... what's happened to me?

I used to see someone youthful, in excellent shape, with a friendly smile and a personality that would stop to talk with everyone on the street corner. I used to see the world as positive and conquerable. Today, just three short years later, I see a graying man with stress lines in his face, fifteen pounds of unwanted weight, a moody temperament, and no time to say "hello" to family and friends, let alone the stranger on the street corner. This aging person still sees the world as conquerable, but through more tainted glasses.

Sound melodramatic? It's not. It is Just part of the seldom told story of starting one's own business.

With all the corporate down-sizing, outplacements and early retirements these days, many individuals have given serious consideration to starting a business. The American Dream was to own your own home; today it is to own your own business. No one told me what to really expect when starting my own business. You see, people can't believe it until they experience it for themselves. I, too, am guilty as charged.

I address the agony of entrepreneurship - the part of the success formula that no one ever tells you about. It is the part we usually choose to ignore. I plan, specifically, to describe the commitment required to start a business - the time and energy, the financial dilemmas, the diversity of jobs to perform and the partnership possibilities. Along the way I will include advice from people who have struggled in the trenches of entrepreneurship and survived.

Although I have succeeded in establishing my business, there certainly are things I would do differently. If only I knew then what I know now. If only someone had shared with me ...

It's never nine to five!

It's 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday night. My wife and I have just arrived home from a long day at the office, finishing a major project due the next morning. We go to our answering machine to replay all the messages we have missed. I hear my mother's voice, "Hi! Did you forget about us? It's Sunday night and we would like to talk to you ... just to see if you really are alive!"

Guilt! Immediately we feel terrible because we weren't home to take the call. Now it is too late to call her back, and tomorrow promises to be as crazy as today. It will be impossible to call her. I probably won't have a free minute of time until she's sleeping! This, unfortunately, is a daily occurrence.

Has my mom forgotten how it used to be? She calls, angry that I can't find the time to call her back. Yet, while I was in college, the roles were reversed. Reflecting back, I remember calling and asking my mother, "How are you and dad doing?" Inevitably her reply was, "We're killing ourselves!" They were "killing themselves" while starting a business together. Today they have definitely achieved success. Can all those grueling hours of endless work really be forgotten after one's rewards are reaped?

But for now, I miss my family. I miss my friends. Lately, I find myself wondering where the extra surge of energy is coming from. I am working harder now than I ever thought possible, and then my day just begins. I know I am running on empty. My wife and I have not had a day off in over a year. Not a single week night or weekend has been ours to relax and do with as we please since we began this enterprise!

A common misperception today is that starting your own business automatically means personal and financial independence. Setting your own hours, being your own boss, taking Fridays off to play golf - indeed, it sounds great. Enticing phrases and thoughts like that, however, have set many a mind to dreaming what it would be like owning one's own business. Many of these dreams come true every day. The truth is, it doesn't happen overnight.

Imagine short-circuiting a major part of your life for anywhere from six months to five years or longer. After deciding to take the plunge and start your own business, you begin pouring all the energy and determination you can muster into your new enterprise. You cannot wait to get out there to make it happen. Almost every morning, noon and night is spent thinking about, focusing on and working on your business.

The best analogy I can offer anyone is to think of your life as a VCR movie. When you start your own business, you push the "pause" button on your social life, family, friends and virtually every other aspect of your life except the business. Then, years later, when you do finally return to release the pause button and resume your "life," hopefully everyone is still there with you.

In today's competitive world, such devotion is mandatory. A word of caution however: More often than not, this compelling drive will evolve into an acute sense of fear - even terror - that you and your business will fall if you don't commit enough to it. Actually, fear is a natural and effective motivator.

What so many fail to see is that while all this intensive effort is under way, the personal side of your life can become severely drained. You simply don't have the time or energy for friends and loved ones that you used to have. This, in turn, commonly leads to feelings of guilt and frustration for you and for those closest to you.

First, of course, are the 12- to 16-hour days you must put in every single day - week after week. You may find yourself missing a party, taking a rain-check for those football tickets or passing up the symphony because you need that time to meet with an important customer or need to take inventory that weekend.

Next, it's a son's or daughter's birthday, a sister's anniversary, or a friend's wedding; you scramble for the time to just buy a card, let alone find some quality time to be with them or even give them a call. A real danger sign is telling your spouse you won't be home for Valentine's Day because you are caught in the middle of a project. Soon enough it can wear you down, and you might ask, "Is it all worth it? Why am I doing this?" That is when you go back to your personal inventory and business plan to seek reassurance. This really works!

Our business keeps my wife and me living on the brink of divorce. Yes, we spend those 18-hour days together, but every minute is spent working. We spend this time together not as husband and wife, but as President and Controller. It almost appears to be a no-win situation; if she did not work with me, she would never see me, and our relationship would strain. However, always having her there also strains our relationship.

Joan Calabresa is a spousal consultant with Jannotta, Bray, Beal & Associates, an out placement firm with 11 offices throughout the country. According to Calabresa, feelings of isolation come up frequently when one spouse is not an integral part of the actual business operation. "It's hard not to feel distanced from your spouse when he/she is at the office anywhere up to 18 hours every day." Missing meals and being constantly on the go is common for the person with the new business.

Isolation steps up when the spouse is left to his/her self and is out of the mainstream of the working spouse's life. Calabresa adds, "Usually it is a combination of the spouse being gone all the time and not communicating effectively. Often the entrepreneur will spout 'I am what I do and you don't understand.'"

Children are an issue in themselves. I firmly believe that it would have never worked if my wife and I had children. Duke, our Dalmatian, can confirm that! Calabresa affirms the difficulty of entrepreneurs with children, "'I feel like I am a single parent,' is one of the most common statements I hear from spouses of individuals who have started their own business.'"

The danger of people growing apart is very real. But, says Calabresa, "It is avoidable. Such devastating things don't have to happen if you strive to plan and communicate openly with your spouse. Be up front with your thoughts and worries and let them help you deal with them."

Communication is the key. If those around you know what to expect, if they know how and why your lifestyle will have to change, then they can either help ease your burden, or at least better understand what you are going through. The examples of 16-hour days and missed family events are not purely hypothetical; they are the unadulterated truth.

Jean Thalman, a partner of Tri-Ad Communications (one of the Midwest's fastest growing advertising agencies), echoes those experiences. "It's not 40- or 50-hour work weeks anymore; it's 60-, 70- and 80-hour weeks. It's no longer lunch with friends; it's lunch with clients and contacts or 'on the run' at a fast food drive-through. Even dinners with my family have become a rare treat. I always told myself it would be rough in the beginning, but I don't know if I expected this."

Thalman finds herself constantly thinking more in terms of business connections and putting friends on hold. Any time spent with her husband is considered precious. "I feel guilty when I don't work on Sunday, or take time off when I'm sick."

Christine Wandrey, Thalman's partner at Tri-Ad, couldn't agree more. "The hours were incredible in the beginning. I was frightened; I didn't think I would be able to work as hard as we did. My first year was even tougher because my mother became very sick the week we started. I wanted to help her and I did ... but I came close to pure exhaustion." A typical day for Wandrey would start at 5:30 a.m. at the office and not end at the office until 9 p.m. Then she would leave to take care of her mother.

Wandrey also emphasizes the necessity of spousal support and the importance of having your home in order before you can get your business in order. "If I had to add to all the other pressures and a nagging spouse, I would have never made it. Without support from Steve (my husband) it would have been literally impossible. He cooked and cleaned and never complained. Now, we both reap the benefits."

The time commitment is grueling. Kerry Malland, president of a computer service company, recalls, "I virtually lived at my office. I cleared a table in the back to sleep on at night. Many times it got so late that I couldn't drive home. So I would stay up, go to the club for an hour workout, not catch any sleep, then do it again."

Malland said he wasn't the only small business person burning the midnight oil. "I would call some of the others from our office building at midnight to see if they wanted to share a pizza with me. Domino's Pizza is where we should have had our stock. The pizza delivery guy and I were on a first-name basis."

Be prepared for absolutely no social life. Malland advises, "Initially I thought all of it would pay off. I promised a 24- hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week computer service to businesses. What I failed to see is that I set myself up for frustration because I couldn't even take a night off or leave the city."

According to Peter O'Malley, cofounder of Roadrunner Freight Systems (one of the country's premier long-haul delivery companies), "The shocking part of it all is that people don't realize the tremendous strain of making your own business succeed." Although Roadrunner is a very successful company today, it didn't happen overnight. It took O'Malley six years of grueling work to get where he is now. In that time, he certainly had to make his share of sacrifices. But today he can tell you, without a moment's hesitation, that the time and effort were worth it.

There are always walls to climb and roadblocks in every turn of the business. You just hope that there are more positive experiences which outweigh the walls," O'Malley added. His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is to tell family and friends ahead of time what your new lifestyle is going to be like. Prepare them for what is going to be required in terms of your time and money.

Despite the innumerable hours O'Malley had to spend on the job, he never lost his social life. In fact, as the business itself began to grow, his good clients became good friends. Today O'Malley does take Fridays off to play golf, and he even plays on other weekdays. He must be getting pretty good because he recently hit a hole in one!

Digging deep into the financial well.

It's 7:30 a.m. on a Monday morning. My staff and I are reviewing how we are going to accomplish all the things we need to do this week to balance our 22 existing clients. In that same meeting, I discuss our 12 proposals for new businesses which are currently being reviewed by prospective clients. Two of those proposals are so big that they could easily keep our staff busy for the next five to six months. Part of my strategy is to have everyone realize how overwhelmed we could be within any given moment. The other part is to offer myself a pep talk to the effect that things are really much better than they appear.

The flip side of that same story is that my wife and I need to go to the well one more time. The well I'm referring to is our personal savings account. We spent $25,000 to start the business three years ago and did not draw a salary the first year. Recently we funded an expansion to double the size of our offices. That required an additional $13,000.

I didn't think we would have to go back to our savings again to fund the business. But what else am I to do? Payroll is due, rent must be paid and money is needed for upcoming marketing mailings. Then, in the midst of this struggle, an employee approaches me for a raise! How can I afford not to go forward, with all of the excitement just around the corner in those 12 proposals?

Everyone advises, "Watch your cashflow and keep overhead low." But what exactly does that mean? It means not taking a salary for yourself the first year or two or maybe even more. It means paying your employees before you pay yourself. It means never hiring an additional employee until you can handle it financially. For me, it means my wife still does not get a salary after three years with the company. Although I feel we keep overhead low, it still takes half the month to generate the income required just to cover our basic expenses!

Money wouldn't really be such a concern for us at this point if only some of my clients would pay their bills on time. Cashflow really does influence the way business is done. All my advisors warned me to keep my overhead low, but nobody ever told me I'd be a bank. Nobody ever told me that I would have record sales and have to worry about good people paying their bills on time! Nobody ever told me how frustrating it is to have literally thousands of dollars in receivables. I caution you: Do not fall too deep into the financial well that you can no longer see the light.

Making a financial commitment to your new venture is extremely important to the success of the enterprise. More important though, is the continuous feeding to ensure that it grows and reaches the vision you have for it.

Holiday Inn Hotels MullerthalYou can have a wonderful product, great ideas, be eager and willing ... and run out of money just before becoming successful," states Joseph Domitrz, Dean of the Business School at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. "In fact, one of the best times to buy a business is when the first owner reaches that stage. Then a new person comes in with enough money and new energy to take the business to the next level."

Today there is a new trend to help individuals who want to go into business for themselves, an approach which is financially easier and safer. According to Ken Edwards, president of the Chicago-based company, Your Own Business, "Startups and consulting businesses are easier to get into, but buying an existing business is much safer." Bringing a new, broader vision on board a train that is already moving and filled with customers can make taking the company to a higher level easier to achieve. Financing is also easier because most of the time it is seller-financed. "Even better for the buyer, the seller has a continuing interest to see the business do well," Edwards concludes.

Although I am concerned that my wife and I need to go to the well one more time, we are proud of the fact that all of the business has been funded by our personal savings. We do not owe one red cent to the bank. In the beginning, I went to establish a banking relationship with our family bank, assuming that they would be more than eager to fund our operation or at least help us open a business checking account. I was wrong on all counts. In fact, my personal banker told me he did not want my type of business; they wanted larger accounts. Ironically, now that we have grown, they have come to me. Today, they want my type of business.

We have succeeded through reinvestment. We invest more money for marketing in one month than most companies do in a year. Even more significant, we invest more in one year than some of our clients have in their entire existence! I view it as money making money. It may be essential to your business that you learn how to market yourself. If so, develop a marketing plan and adhere to it. Planning and marketing are crucial.

Planning was the key for Wandrey, of Tri-Ad, and her husband, Steve. "I'm a planner. I wanted no loans, positive cash flow and to make it easy on us at home and work that critical first year," Wandrey states. "I knew I wanted my own business 10 years ago, so I have been putting away money into a special account specifically for our business. I wanted to make sure our personal lives were taken care of. We paid down the mortgage to hardly anything, we saved a considerable amount of money and didn't spend money frivolously for 10 years. I'm proud of what we've accomplished. In two short years we have grown to 19 employees and a tremendous client base. We did this without taking a loan. It was actually easier than I thought it would be, " Wandrey contends.

Financing was much more difficult to obtain for Malland at his computer service company. "I wish I would have had a bank read my business plan in order to give me financing. I was caught in a Catch 22, " Malland contends. "I would go to a bank for a loan and they would ask, 'How much business do you have?' I needed the loan to do the marketing to get the business they required for me to get the loan.

"I was very fortunate. One company sent a lot of business my way. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have survived. In the first year, my employees got paid every month and I got $3,000 in salary the entire year!"

Although financing was difficult, Malland maintained his belief in the need to do marketing. "Marketing is everything. If you don't know where you are, how can you possibly know where you're going or how to get there? Investing in marketing is investing in your future. It simply must be done."

According to Bonnie Schwid, an international forensic document examiner and forgery expert, "Balancing income and expenses was very difficult in the beginning - your typical peaks and valleys." Schwid, who now has offices in both Chicago and Milwaukee, states, "I needed this additional office in Chicago, otherwise I wouldn't have the business I do now."

Moving from document examination as a hobby to a full-time career was difficult for Schwid. "Mentally I had to be prepared. My profession as a dental hygienist was safe and secure. I was venturing out on my own to offer what I wanted to do, and I tried to apply it to what was needed in the marketplace."

Schwid, who learned her particular skill as a hobby at 36 years of age, decided to go into her own business during her late 40s. She now has an accomplished reputation in her field. She is one of a few non-lawyers on the State Bar, a supreme court appointee.

This section on financing would not be complete without noting the impact starting a business has on a family, particularly children. "High school children often become very anxious regarding their college choices when their mother or father decides to start a business. Typically, these children are very nervous because they do not know what the decision will mean to their educational plans," contends Calabresa. High school children, especially, need to be told the potential impact of their parents' decision. Typically, their questions are: Can we afford to keep our lifestyle? Will I be able to go to college? Can we still afford vacations? The questions are endless.

Calabresa tells the story of a young woman whose father recently started his own business. He needed to pull in the reins a bit, but still let her apply at prestigious colleges, knowing very well that his new lifestyle couldn't support those luxuries for his daughter. Calabresa contends that this approach is wrong. Open communication at the child's level regarding these changes and what they will mean to the family is very important to everyone involved. "Family members can operate as a team. They can adapt to almost any circumstance, as long as they know the reasons why."

Calabresa finds another major area of focus is anxiety, usually over money. Finding the capital to finance and sustain a business while continuing to pay the mortgage and the other bills can stretch anyone's budget. Additionally, anxiety can result by risking everything, especially a second mortgage, a 401K plan or everything that was set aside for an individual's retirement.

Not one job ... but six.

It's 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening. I've just returned to the office from a very hectic afternoon with two major prospects and an emergency meeting with an important client. I walk into my office only to unexpectedly find another prospect waiting for me to go over another upcoming project ... I want to scream! I hadn't planned on this surprise visit, but the prospect is very promising.

It's now 7:30 p.m. At last, I've finished. I check to see if anybody else is at the office, and I'm not surprised to find everyone still there. Jan is waiting with my messages. She also has six questions regarding our accounting and billings. Kelly has a proposal waiting for me to review and approve so she can package it for our 6:30 a.m. meeting tomorrow. Michelle is waiting for me to review two articles for another client. She also has a question on our postcard mailing and wants to know when I will have time tomorrow to give her further direction on yet another project!

It's now 8:15 p.m. I try to sit at my desk, but can't. I would rather bomb it! Too late ... Everybody else already has. I see stacks of phone messages, materials to review, expense reports to sign, thank-you letters to write and my time sheet to fill out! I decide I can finish writing this manuscript at home with some peace and quiet, away from it all.

It's now 9 p.m. I'm finally able to start back with this article, but I know my meeting at 6:30 a.m. will come all too soon. I'm so limited! As I begin to write, I think, "This time management course certainly isn't working." Sometimes I really understand how Ronald Reagan felt in his later years as president. If someone didn't point me in the right direction I'm afraid of where I would end up!

I started this business on the premise that I had a very special niche that I knew more about than anybody else: Professional Services Marketing. I had a vision. I knew where I wanted to go and the direction to take in getting there. I want to teach others how to market themselves and share my extensive knowledge to the benefit of others.

What I didn't realize is that I had to do at least six other jobs to get there: manage people, administer the accounting, negotiate leases, work with lawyers, do my own extensive marketing and public relations, and conduct project management exercises. When was I to do all this ... in my sleep? Two of my favorite sayings are: "Working for someone else is much easier than working for yourself," and, "If I only had to do one thing, like marketing my firm, I would be dangerous!"

Malland couldn't agree more. "I wish I would have known all the paperwork involved in hiring people. It was unbelievable! I needed a partner to come in to cover unemployment, FICA, insurance payroll and benefits. I didn't have time to do my own job, let alone the paperwork involved with managing people. I wasn't aware of all the permits involved. I needed permits for signs, for the store, for resale." In business, there are a lot of hidden costs to consider.

Bonnie Schwid also supports this philosophy of wearing an entire wardrobe of hats. She maintains, "The peaks and valleys can kill you! Sometimes you put all the enthusiasm into your skill, but you need expertise in other areas, too. You can get overwhelmed working so hard following a heavy marketing push. You get depressed because you didn't have time to do the work and do marketing. Then your marketing falls off and soon you find yourself struggling to get out of a valley."

Schwid is not alone. Every business experiences peaks and valleys. Part of our mission at Business Development Directives is to help people, especially small businesses, balance such peaks and valleys. In fact, we created a special report, "Balancing the Peaks and Valleys," which we offer free of charge. Part of our growth depends on people experiencing this natural cycle of getting so busy doing their work that they don't have time to do their own marketing. One of our marketing phrases is, "We'll help you do your marketing on a part-time basis so you can concentrate on what you do best."

hôtels DublinWandrey maintains that she would be a model employee if she were back working for someone else. "I admire my former employers much more now since I started my own business. Today I really understand all that they went through on a day-to-day basis, working with impatient employees, experiencing growing pains, putting systems for better organization in place and working with all the different personalities.

Owning my own business has taught me tolerance, patience and versatility. We wear so many hats, learning as we grow; we constantly channel back to what we do best. Most importantly, by wearing so many hats, I really appreciate what everybody does and their own roles in the organization. I would never be anyone's employee again; but if I were, I would be a very good one."

Although versatility is a shared attribute of most entrepreneurs, there are ways to wear d few less hats. One way, according to O'Malley, is to take on a partner. However, O'Malley warns, "Clear roles must be defined so there is not overlap in skills and responsibilities. One partner can look after the finances, human resources and operations of the business, while the other can lead sales and marketing."

Ken Edwards, with his marketing personality, teamed up with Norman Axelrad (former McDonalds' franchise attorney of 20 years), to form a company called "Your Own Business." Says Edwards, "My partner is really sensitive. He doesn't do so well taking rejection, so he concentrates on the details of our business. I, on the other hand, can handle rejection. I don't like it, but I can handle it. I do the marketing and sales, and he stays in the office to manage. What a great combination - he stays in and I go out."

The partners of Your Own Business, Tri-Ad Communications and Roadrunner Freight prove that partnerships do seem to lessen the burden of handling all the balls that must be juggled in a business day. As Wandrey admits, "When I'm down, it's great to have my partner there to pick me up." However, entrepreneur beware! Unless you have a real history and trust of the partner, the picture won't look so rosy!

Remember how in the beginning of this article I mentioned I had changed? My ex-partner is a major factor in that change. Our roles were not clearly defined. We often found ourselves reaching for the same hat, while others remained untouched by either of us.

Divorcing a business partner.

It's 10 a.m. on a Saturday. I hang up after trying to call my ex-partner for the fifteenth time this month. All I need is for her to submit the needed information so we can finish our tax returns that should have been completed two years ago!

Now let's go back a few years, just for a moment ...

It's 10 a.m. on a Saturday in 1990. I am literally exhausted. I spent nearly all of last night finishing some public relations work for a client that must be done by Monday. Just as I slump back into my chair and breathe a sigh of relief, my partner suddenly storms in, talking 90 miles an hour, explaining that she is rushed, going on vacation for the second time this year. She drops a public relations plan into my lap as she says, "I stayed up all night finishing this plan. I wanted to get it done before my vacation." The plan, you guessed it, was for the client for whom I had spent the whole night! We had two different plans for the same client.

We were both the creative types. It did not work for "one of us to stay in while the other was out" as it did for Edwards and Axelrad of Your Own Business. As marketers, we carefully developed a business plan for ourselves. We thought we were prepared, but when it came time to implementing the plan, we spent more time and energy fighting over who would do the distasteful tasks rather than developing our business. O'Malley certainly hit the nail on the head: Clear role definition is the key.

Beside the fact that we liked to wear the same hats, we disagreed on some basic values. To work together with constant disagreement is counterproductive. For example, we had very different philosophies on billing. I believed in value-added services, not charging for every minute of my time, while my partner believed that our time is all that we have to sell." Neither philosophy is wrong, but these are major differences in outlook that must be considered. I could easily write an entire article addressing the guidelines for creating a successful partnership.

I would, however, offer this friendly advice: Get it down on paper. Never enter a partnership without a dissolution agreement. Wandrey, who has a great relationship with her partner, agrees, "Have everything on paper and signed before you open the doors. Detail your contracts, leave nothing to question."

Finally, divorcing a partner need not be viewed as tragic. Today we remain friends and friendly competitors. Since parting ways, my business has more than tripled, and I wish the same for her. My war story does not go unmatched. A business client recently dissolved a partnership and now finds herself enjoying 250 percent growth!

Doing it over again.

It's 9 o'clock; another late night at the office. I have just returned from a meeting with an out-placed executive who has horror stories about an imposing boss, "The most difficult person to work for ..." I stroll around the empty office, looking at the desks of my staff, piled high with projects to complete and finally come to rest in my own office. As I recline in my big leather chair, I pick up a draft of the article you are reading and look at myself in the mirror once again. But this time, I can't help but smile. I am at peace with myself. I would not trade places with anyone.

No one ever said starting a business would be easy. Now I know how hard it really is. I accept risks and hard work as part of the game. What people don't always see is how far reaching these risks and guilty feelings take a person. Granted, as I sit here, I still worry that I am neglecting those closest to me by not giving more of myself to them. But, then I tell myself that I am working to secure my business. Tonight when I go home, I'll be sure to give my wife a kiss and a "Thank you."

Pay especially close attention to the words of advice in this section. You can learn from other people's mistakes so you don't have to "do it all over again" like I did.

Wandrey reflects, "If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it sooner." If you recall, Wandrey saved for 10 years before starting her business. She adds, "I have learned that timing is never perfect. You take calculated risks and just do it. My perspective has changed. I would take any new business now." She emphasizes that there is no cap to the opportunities out there. "There are so many new avenues. It's like a tree that branches out and one part feeds the other and you grow."

Look carefully at the branches. Be sure they agree with your overall plan, your vision for the future. When you become overwhelmed by the options, look to your marketing plan for guidance and keep focused. Thalman, Wandrey's partner, adds, "Keep up with growth and don't look back with regret. Don't let people hold you back."

Malland also offers advice as he considers what he would have done differently, "Location, location, location ... I didn't need an expensive store front, but it was a gift to myself. I wanted a presence. My advice, 'Don't let your ego get in the way of what you cannot afford!' It takes money to make money, so save, save, save - then save some more." Again, Malland reminds us of the importance of marketing, "Learn to do marketing before you do anything else."

Schwid's counsel gives you a glimpse of cruel reality, "Sometimes you have to be a masochist. I get beat up on the witness stand, but I come out with a lot of confidence." Every entrepreneur considers quitting at one time or another. Schwid captures this reality best with this response:"Countless times I have been ready to quit; but then I thought, if I don't do this, someone else just might!" You see, your vision keep you going; you believe in directing your own destiny.

More cautious words come from Edwards, "This is a major life decision. People spend more time looking at options when buying a car, than when starting a business." Edwards also cautions to avoid marketing by gut instinct and to logically consider your options.

Don't be too emotional. It is important to fall in love with the business ... but not blindly."

If I had to do it all over again, before I began my business I would sleep for a year; rob a bank or marry for money; get a master's degree in time management and become a personality expert!

Seriously, I would have waited one more year to give myself more financial strength. I would have started more slowly and without a partner. I would have researched what goes into beginning a business. I would have talked to more people who have their own business. Most importantly, I would have spent quality time with my family and warned them about the little-known stories of starting one's own business.

Looking to the future.

The year is 2027. I turn from the mirror now to look at you, my son. This tale was not meant to bore you with facts, but rather to prepare you. You see, I had 10 years of consulting, I had developed a number of seminars to help people start their own business, I had written over 20 articles, I had interviewed national experts, I had works published nationally and I was a professor, an educator ...

I thought I was prepared to start my own business. I was wrong. Now, it's your turn. As you begin your own business, please heed my words - "It is better to try and fail, than to not try at all." I do not regret having my own business; I regret not knowing then,what I know now. I wish someone would have told me the entrepreneur's story.

Author: William E. Lowell
Source: Small Business Forum, the Journal of the Association of Small Business Development Centers
five star hotel in Marbella Description: A case history of a successful entrepreneur

This article is reprinted from the Small Business Forum, the journal of the Association of Small Business Development Centers, which is published by the University of Wisconsin-Extension Small Business Development Center. For information about subscriptions, reprints or submissions, please write to us at 432 North Lake Street, Room 425, Madison, WI 53706, or call us at (608) 263-7843.