Congratulations! You started a side hustle and love it. And now you’re wondering if you should quit your day job and take this side-gig full time.

Committing 100% to your small business IS a big step. But before you move too far on your business plan, ask yourself this: are YOU personally ready to be a small business owner?

Small Business Ownership Personality and Criteria

Personal factors matter in small business owners — who you are, how you react and persevere, your support network. Remember, with a side hustle, you’re looking at supplemental income, NOT the income that pays your mortgage, car, groceries. Going full-time with business ownership isn’t a move to make lightly. 

While you’ll need money, space, and a solid plan to start your business, it helps if you understand a few specific personal characteristics too. The good part: you can work on building any of these while you continue to plan your business.

• Personality type. How do you react to risk? Are you resilient, resourceful, and able to “roll with it”? While going full-time with your side hustle isn’t the same as skydiving, remember that things can happen (pandemic anyone?) causing even the best idea to falter.
• Commitment. Do you really love your idea? It may be fun to make pies … but 100 pies on the day before Thanksgiving? 
• Support. Do your friends and family think this is a good idea? Will they stay positive even if you stumble or struggle?
• Self-motivation. Are you organized and accountable? Will you get up every day and work on your business and your sales?
• Self-awareness. Do you know where you may need help and where you may need to improve your skills or bring in an outside expert?
• Self-confidence. How comfortable are you with selling and putting yourself out there? Every business faces rejection, usually more than it experiences success.
• Guidance. Do you have people in your life who’ve started businesses, who understand who you’re going through and can help you navigate small business ownership? If not, join a small business peer group. At Entrepreneurs Forever, for example, our peer groups are free to join and dedicated solely to small business owners. Members of our groups share experience and challenges, ask questions, and guide each other to solutions, so facing a difficult hurdle never has to happen alone.

BTW, if you're coming up short on any of the 7 criteria for business owners, don't be dismayed. You can find ways to change any of these. If "risk taking" is a problem, remember you only have to face "no thank yous," not gravity pulling you at 9.8m/sec² from out of the sky. And ensure you attend our free Forever Forward events. Each can help you build specific skills or provide you with action and answers you can put to work. They're a great way to build confidence!