5 signs you're ready to start a business

Starting your own business can be a daunting leap into the unknown, but it can also be enormously liberating and rewarding.

With November 14-20 marking Global Entrepreneurship Week, it's a sobering thought that while over 50% of the world’s population say they'd like to start their own business, less than 5% actually do so.

Here are five signs that you may be ready to take that first giant step into the world of self-employment.

You feel you've outgrown your regular job

Just feeling dissatisfied in your workplace isn't reason enough to quit and go it alone - a better solution may be to move to a different company with a different boss. However, if you consistently feel that you've outgrown your job and that you could do better, work harder and make smarter decisions if you were doing it for yourself, or you feel the need to be doing something completely different, then it might be time to make that jump.

You have a great idea that really inspires you

An incredible money-making idea isn't enough - it has to be a project you feel personally passionate about, enough to work every hour of the day researching and developing it to the stage where it's a viable business product. It has to be a profit generator, but only your passion and inspiration to get it right will make it so.

You value independence more than security

There's a lot to be said for job security, in-work benefits, a guaranteed pension and so on. Being your own boss means you won't have any of those benefits. However, if you're the kind of person that performs best when working for yourself then it may be worth the sacrifice.

You have connections in the industry you want to work in

This may not be essential but it's certainly helpful. Knowing the business and knowing who to go to gives you a route map that your new venture can follow. Not only that, but you’ll have mentors you can turn to for advice.

You frequently think outside the box

A good employee knows how to follow instructions diligently, but a good self-employed businessperson often has to work intuitively, going the extra mile and taking the path less travelled. You'll need to be confident in your own abilities but also open to constantly learning.

We know there are a lot of considerations to make when going it alone. That’s why we’ll make business insurance for your start-up simple. With more than 30 years’ experience in the industry, we’ll be able to find the right cover at the right price. Simply give us a call to find out more.