Small Business Consulting Firms Orangeville ON

With the economy the way it has been for the past 18 months or so, you’ve decided to reevaluate your professional life, so for your New Year’s resolution you’ve made up your mind to take the leap and start your own business in 2010.

Fantastic…now what?

Although there will certainly be dozens more questions that present themselves along the way, in order to take a methodical approach to your new life, consider these five critical questions:

1. What are your skills and do they dovetail with your passion(s)?

Make a realistic assessment of your skill set. Are you going to want to stay within your current field of expertise or break away from what you’ve been doing to follow your passion for tying fly fishing lures or crafting dolls out of pipe cleaners?

Chances are you’ll be more successful, at least from a fulfillment perspective, choosing a career that focuses on what comes naturally to you, but it’s always a good idea to dip your toes in the water and test out your idea first. You’ll have to decide if you’re going to pursue your new career part time or full time. This is not a time to make quick decisions, so research the market for your new endeavor and make an effort to speak to as many people as possible who are working in your intended field. Pick their brains and take copious notes. Absorb it all and then make a practical decision as to whether or not you should continue in that direction.

2. Are you going to market a service or product?

Providing and marketing a service is typically a much less cash intensive way to get into business. With a service you won’t have to think about expensive and time-consuming product research and development, manufacturing costs, inventory holding costs and all that goes with creating a tangible product.

Although the barriers to entry for your competition can be less when providing a service - depending on the type of service you’ll be offering - as long as the skill you’ll be marketing is one that has a high demand, or you’ve found an under-serviced niche to fill, you can test the waters without spending a lot of money at the outset. And this leads into the next point to consider….

3. Are you going to be home-based or have an office or retail location?

Where do you want to locate your business? A service business is much more likely to be operated efficiently out of your own home, where instead of having to commit to a long-term lease and spending additional money on deposits, rent, electric, gas, office furniture and other expenses, as long as you comply with local laws and tax guidelines (check with your accountant or tax advisor!), you may even be able to write off the space in your home that you use exclusively for your home-based business, and in turn qualify to enter StartupNation’s Home-Based 100 Competition in 2010, which I highly recommend.

4. Do you have a small budget or big budget to work with?

What kind of budget do you have for your new pursuit? Will you be personall...