by Lina Martinez

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The idea of being able to start your own business is something that a lot of people find incredibly exciting. And it's hardly surprising why that's the case. After all, when you're stuck in a miserable nine-to-five job, working for someone who doesn't respect you, doing work you don't care about, the idea of being able to escape from that by setting up a business of your very own is probably one of the most exciting things there is. However, far too many people make the mistake of jumping into something like that without really thinking it through. With that in mind, here are just a few of the questions that you need to ask yourself before you set up your own business.

What kind of business is it?

The first and most obvious question to ask when it comes to setting up a business is to figure out what kind of business it is in the first place. There's a good chance that you've got a solid idea of this already but it's still worth thinking about in detail. After all, opening a tax business is going to be very different from setting up an online retail store. You can't just assume that you'll be able to work from the same starting point no matter what kind of business it is that you're setting up.    

Who are your customers?

When you know what your business really is, you need to figure out who is it that actually wants it to exist. Who are the people who will be champing at the bit to get to your business? If you don't know, you need to figure it out, if there isn't really anyone, you may need to go back to the drawing board and rethink the way your business is built entirely. No business can succeed without customers so trying to forge ahead without knowing who yours are going to be is never a good idea.

What are your goals?

What do you want for your business? If the answer is just "to be successful" or "to make money", you need to step back and think more carefully. What is your business's overall goal? What about the goal for the next five years? The next year? The next six months? You need to think about what it is that you actually want your business to achieve in order to give you something to work towards.

Of course, these are only just a few of the questions that you need to be asking yourself. You need to consider whether you have the skills you need or if you are going to have to outsource things. You need to figure out if you're actually in a personal or financial position to undertake something like this. The reality is that before you start any kind of business, you've got to be willing to take the time to really think about whether or not it's something that will succeed or if you're just following a spur of the moment impulse.