First, know thyself

Web Resources

Women Work and Community at www.womenworkandcommunity.org

Maine Small Business Development Centers at www.mainesbdc.org

Wall Street Journal's start-up pages at www.startupjournal.com (click on "interactive quizzes")

The Kauffman Foundation's resource for entrepreneurs at www.entreworld.org

The online service of Entrepreneur Magazine at www.entrepreneur.com

The U.S. Small Business Administration site at http://sba.gov/starting

Deb Valenti worked intensely for five months to open her new business, Freeport Tack Company. When opening day arrived, Valenti had an almost immediate, unexpected realization: "I really enjoyed the exciting process of starting the business and I was good at it, but when I started sitting in the store, I found out that I didn't want to be there," the equestrian said.

Valenti quickly sold Freeport Tack Company to an acquaintance, Lisa Judd, who was looking for a career change and whose husband, Tom Judd, is an equine vet. "It worked out perfectly for everybody," said Valenti, who made a profit on the sale and returned to her equestrian center, Epona Farm, in Freeport.

In this case, the self-employment lesson learned wasn't costly, but it could have been. How can one reduce the potential for a mismatch between their dream and reality?

"Know thyself," says Eloise Vitelli. Vitelli is the director of program and policy development at Women, Work, and Community (WWC), a nonprofit agency that counsels micro-enterprise business start-ups. WWC asks respondents to assess certain characteristics, including flexibility, assertiveness, decision-making abilities, and endurance, as a way to see if they are cut out for a certain field.

"The more aspiring business owners know about their strengths and weaknesses and what they will bring to the enterprise, the more likely their success," says Vitelli.

John Massaua, state director of the Maine Small Business Development Centers (Maine SBDC) and Maine Small Business & Technology Development Centers (Maine SBTDC), agrees with the "know thyself" principle. "Just because you want to be the next Lance Armstrong doesn't mean you have the will to meet all the challenges required," he says.

Maine SBDC/SBTDC uses a survey called BEST, Barriers to Entrepreneur Success Tool, on which respondents rate 31 statements to indicate which has the greatest impact on them. Statements include, "I am afraid of failure," "I am not willing to give up my leisure time," and "I do not like prospecting for new business."

Survey results indicate where potential problems exist. "After all," Massaua says, "the goal up front is to eliminate barriers to success." The survey helps respondents better understand themselves.

Sometimes, survey results profoundly startle a respondent and they decide to abandon or revise their plans. Most often, however, a gradual realization of what is required to overcome barriers to success occurs during start-up planning done with one-on-one business counseling sessions, according to Vitalli.

The Wall Street Journal's Startup Journal web site features a 26-question quiz to "test your entrepreneurial potential." Questions asked include whether you or your parents or grandparents are immigrants (entrepreneurs are often children or grandchildren of immigrants, according to the site) and whether you have ever been fired from a job. (Being fired can be a sign that you are ready to follow your own leadership.) Instant test results appear on a bar graph with six ratings from "hired hand" to "successful entrepreneur."

The Kauffman Foundation has a web site especially designed for entrepreneurs that links to other tests. One link is to the online service of Entrepreneur Magazine, and features three entrepreneurial fitness tests. To do well, a respondent must be able to answer "yes" to a series of ten statements including "I can bounce back from failure and disappointment" (emotional fitness), "I understand the barriers to entry in this industry and have an idea of how I will overcome them" (mental fitness), and "I have enough collateral to cover 10 to 20 percent of any bank loan I seek" (financial fitness).

A start-up workshop offered by the Maine SBDC/SBDTC also offers opportunities to explore one's suitability for self-employment or match to a business idea.

Finally, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) site offers its own list of successful entrepreneurial traits including tolerance for ambiguity and inquisitiveness. It also lists questions to work through to determine "Is Entrepreneurship for You?" The SBA site says, "There is simply no way to eliminate all the risks of starting a small business — but you can improve your chances of success with good planning, preparation, and insight." One of the most important insights is into one's head and heart.

Katherine Arno is the Director of Training and Communications for the Maine Small Business Development Centers (www.mainesbdc.org) in its Portland center at the University of Southern Maine. Kate owned her own small business in Maine for eight years. Today, aside from working with small business issues at Maine SBDC, she helps her husband with the small business that he has owned in Freeport for 12 years. She can be reached at Karno@maine.edu.

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