Personal Assessment Checklist

(From Checklists for Starting an Internet Business)

Assess your personality. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs tend to share many of the following traits:
- Desire. How much do you want an online business? You will be investing a great deal of time, effort, and money into a business. What's driving you to do so? Remember… although starting a business is often very difficult, sustaining and building it is also a tremendous amount of work.
- Knowledge. You must have enough knowledge to competently produce, market, and service the products you sell.
- Self-motivation. Are you the type that takes the initiative to get things done? In the beginning, your adrenaline may be flowing from the excitement of getting started… but can you maintain your motivation during the less-exciting periods of business?
- Willingness to learn. This is always important, but particularly so on the Internet where things change all the time. Marketing techniques that work today may not work as well - or at all! - next month. Self-education never stops. There's always an opportunity to learn from others.
- Willingness to sacrifice the time and effort. Are you ready to put forth the required time and effort to build a successful business? It's not going to happen overnight, and it may even take years.
- Confidence. You need to feel confident that you can provide a valuable product or service to your customers - and be able to demonstrate this confidence! If you appear to be unsure of yourself, your prospective customers will also feel unsure of dealing with you.
- Discipline. Will you do what needs to be done, regardless of whether or not you "feel like" doing it?
- Decisiveness and focus. After researching your options, you need to be able to make good decisions without second-guessing yourself constantly or changing your mind. Many people jump from one 'latest and greatest' business opportunity or marketing fad without seeing results. It's important to be able to pick something and stick with it until you can determine its worth. It's better to have ONE profitable business, rather than a whole bunch of unsuccessful ones.
- Flexibility. Business often throws the unexpected your way, and you need to be able to adapt quickly.
- Organization skills. Can you effectively manage your time and resources while ensuring your products and customer service don't suffer?
- Ability to work alone. Feeling "isolated" is very common when working from home.
- Persistance and determination. Not every attempt will result in success. If at first you don't succeed. You need to be able to learn from your mistakes, then pick yourself up and try again.
Assess your willingness to accept risks. There are no guarantees in life, and that includes the success of a business. Factor in the amount of money, time, and effort you're willing to invest into a business - remember, businesses will differ in the amount required.
- Financial.
- Time.
- Effort.
- Relationships. Remember that building a business doesn't just affect you; it also affects those close to you. For example, your family will notice the time you spend away from them while trying to build a business.
What are your personal and business goals? Why do you want an online business?
Know your interests. Ultimately, you want to build a business you love.
Figure out what type of online business you want to run. Out of the huge number of possibilities, select one that works well with your skills and your interests.
Assess your strengths and weaknesses. This will help you decide what tasks you may want to (eventually) outsource. You want to focus on what you're good at.
Assess your skills. Knowing what they are will help you to determine the products or services that will be the basis of your business.
Will your family support your choice of business? There may be certain types of businesses that can cause friction within your family - and your family's support can be a real blessing when you're trying to start a business.

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