Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

Is entrepreneurship your dream? Do you think you have what it takes to start up your own company?

This checklist will help you decide.

Do NOT consider yourself ready if…

1. You plan on starting up after having earned a ‘sufficient’ amount for the initial capital and for all your basic expenses. Simply put, this means you like to play safe, especially when it comes to money. That is a sure-shot sign that start-ups are not for you. The money will never be enough; money goes faster than it comes in. Almost all of the entrepreneurs have been through this rite of passage before, and all of them emerge with a new perspective towards the business as a whole.

2. You expect to end up like Steve Jobs someday. Inspiring as the guy was, entrepreneurs are in for a big disappointment when they realize that they cannot be him. Another truth an entrepreneur must understand is that since they are creating something new, theirs is a path no one has taken and they will never know what to expect during their journey. Risks and uncertainty are an integral part of the life of an entrepreneur, one which needs resilience and flexibility.

3. The reason why you want to be an entrepreneur is that you find your job frustrating. Start-ups are not to be treated as an option. There are other ways of quitting a job you dislike; find another one which suits you better and work hard to deserve it. Entrepreneurship is for those who are ready to take responsibility of all that they do and believe in their ideas. Someone who treats his entrepreneurship as a fall-back option will usually fizzle out once the obstacles start turning up.

4. You cannot stand insecurity, nervousness, uncertainty and fear in your life. These are a constant part of an entrepreneur’s life. The ups and downs in a start-up are exponentially greater than those in a single employee’s life. So you better learn how to swim in the sea of opportunity.

5. If getting married at the right age, building a nice house with lots of money to spend is your dream. As I said before, you will have to risk it all for your startup. If your passion for your ideas is not bigger than marriage, getting a nice house and money, you will find yourself better off working for a company where you are spoon-fed your duties on a daily basis.

6. You are the boss of yourself, and the idea of working under someone is beneath you. Start-ups are not about being the boss at all. This is a common misconception and has led to several companies developing unhealthy environments, and unhappy employees. Learning from your juniors and peers is an essential part of being a good entrepreneur. Respect for every person, consumer or employee or a nobody is a lesson in humility every entrepreneur must know.

Entrepreneurship is about ideas and a rigid set of ideologies is not going to be powerful enough to stand up in the face of struggles. Building a start-up requires the courage to take risks, the strength to endure failures, the willingness to sacrifice all for the sake of your endeavour. You must feel very strongly about what you bring to the world through your startup. If you can think of your startup as your baby, and are ready to care for it and love it all your life, you can be an entrepreneur. No other reason will do.

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