Take This Simple Quiz To Find Out.

1. How self-confident are you?

There’s a famous saying, I think it may have originated from Henry Ford (but don’t quote me on that), which goes,

“Whether you think you can do something or not, you’ll be right either way”.

What it boils down to is that if you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else?

Don’t mistake self-confidence for being loud and outgoing, though. You can be fairly quiet and reserved like me and still be a success if you have an inbuilt belief in your own ability to learn the new skills you’ll require in business.

If you’re someone who’s very unsure of themselves, either by nature or negative experience, don’t think that you this is something you just have to accept.

My own biggest breakthrough was realizing you don’t have to live with the hand life deals you and there’s lots you can do to increase your self-confidence and self-belief.

Once I stopped feeling like a pawn (or to put it harshly, a helpless victim) in the game of life was when I started to succeed.

A great place to start in learning to feel like an entrepreneur is by reading the book  by T. Harv Eker  called “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”.  I got a used copy on Amazon and it’s a great, fun read, yet highly effective in helping you identify the unconscious thoughts that may be holding you back.

2. Are you a sticker or a quitter?

Are you the kind of person who starts something filled with excitement and enthusiasm but soon runs out of steam or do you see things through to the end?

If you’re a quitter by nature, it doesn’t matter what your replies are to any of the other four questions in this quiz because you’re just not suited to being an entrepreneur.

Of course, I know that if you’re reading this quiz the chances are slim to none that you’re honest enough with yourself to say “Yep, I’m a quitter” because we all like to find reasons or justifications for giving up on things.

Just know that your path to becoming an entrepreneur is going to be filled with obstacles and hurdles. So if you’re a quitter by nature, especially if that’s coupled with a lack of self-confidence, you’re going to give up the race at the first hurdle saying to yourself, “See, I knew I couldn’t do this”.

Sometimes though, circumstances can change the habits of a quitter and that’s what happened to me. I wasn’t what you’d call a “hard-core” quitter – I managed to stay with the same man for 18 years and I never go more than a week without going to the gym but I do have a low boredom threshold.

In my case it took the jolt of losing my biggest translating customer and the very real threat of poverty to wipe out my quitter tendencies overnight and make me put my whole heart and soul into this business.

3. How much time do you have?

Don’t underestimate the amount of time it will take to run your business. I would suggest that 20 hours per week is a realistic amount of time, spaced out to suit yourself.

If you don’t have that much time available you can substitute time for money, by paying to outsource the tasks you can’t or don’t want to do yourself.

If you’re already working a job and trying to become an entrepreneur in your spare time this is perfectly possible provided you’re clear that at first you’ll have to make sacrifices.

Many people look at starting their own business as a way of freeing up time and getting away from the long hours spent at a job and the daily commuter grind.

But you need to be aware that things will have to get worse before they get better because you’ll still have the same old daily grind of a job but now you’ll also be faced with running your new business in your spare time.

So self-discipline is another important quality you’ll need.

4. How much money do you have?

How much money you’ll need for start-up costs will depend on the type of business you’re getting into so it’s impossible for me to put a figure here.

Even if you were thinking of joining the business I’m in I still couldn’t give you a hard and fast figure because there are a number of different levels to choose from, ranging from under $1,000 up to $20,000 (even the higher figure is still extremely low in terms of starting a serious, lucrative business).

But as a general rule of thumb, the higher the start-up costs the greater the rewards and it’s unrealistic to have a budget of just a few hundred dollars and expect to make hundreds of thousands in your first year of business.

Also, if at all possible have a second source of income while you are building your new business so that all your eggs aren’t in one basket.

Although it’s quite possible that your new business may start producing income for you in a very short space of time, it’s better not to be reliant on that happening.

If you do, you’ll be putting far too much pressure on yourself. You’ll have enough on your plate learning to become an entrepreneur.  If you can avoid it, you don’t need the extra worry of wondering where the next meal is coming from.

What is your attitude to risk?

Becoming an entrepreneur involves a certain amount of risk. If you’re entering a proven business like mine in which people are already making money then obviously the risk is much less than in a business with no track record, but you need to be aware that in business there are no guarantees.

Having said that, in this day and age, having  job no longer carries with it the same certainties as when I was starting out in the early 70s. Back then it was the norm for people to join a company and stay with that company until they retired and collected a gold watch.

Those days have gone forever and now there’s risk involved whether you’re working for yourself or someone else. So personally, I would rather be in control of the risk and with it, my own destiny.

Just be aware that as an entrepreneur there’s no such thing as “as fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay”. At the outset you’ll be working for nothing, putting days, weeks and even months of work into your business before you see a penny.

If that’s not acceptable to you then you need to rethink your thoughts of being an entrepreneur because it’s not going to suit you.

Personally, as far as risk is concerned my own attitude varies greatly. Just as I’ve been a sticker in some things and a quitter in others (see Question 2), I’ve taken huge risks in my life such as giving up everything to follow my heart and move from my home in England to Germany, yet I’ve been to casinos in Vegas several times and never spent a single penny gambling.

I suppose what that means is that if I view something as being a calculated risk then I’m happy to go for it, but I’m not someone who gets a thrill out of taking risks just for the heck of it.

There are no right or wrong answers to this quiz, I just want to give you some food for thought. so you’re clear in your own mind whether being an entrpreneur is the right way forward for you.

If you think it is and you want to cut down your risks by working with someone like me who’s already made it as an entrepreneur then I’d love to hear from you.