Yet the truth is this: Regardless of your idea, owning your own business takes hard work, determination, sacrifice and a very clear understanding of not just your business, but also of your personality as well.

Here are a few points to consider before deciding to become an entrepreneur:

1. Don’t quit your day job… yet

Whether you’re currently a student, work part-time or are gainfully employed, the next great idea usually doesn’t need 40+ hours per week to get off the ground. Create a strict schedule for how much time you really need. You may not make a dollar from your new business for a while, so keep whatever job is currently paying you.

And don’t ask your spouse or significant to quit like I did, or you will end up living in your parents’ mobile home… like we did.

2. Estimate your annual revenue and divide in half

Some businesses never get off the ground, while others grow at such an amazing pace that annual estimates become immediately obsolete. However, you must be realistic about the time it will take for your efforts to really kick in.

Calculate how much you think you can make, then divide it in half and plan your expenses around that number instead. I started a business that facilitated recreational sports leagues in a community of 600,000 after getting the idea from a sports club in Chicago, home to more than two million people. The two markets were vastly different, so my estimates on participation and growth were way off: I ordered 2,000 jerseys for our first season and only 75 people signed up! For an entire year, I didn’t know if I was running a sports business or a T-shirt business.

3. Make free your favorite word

New businesses must keep expenses as low as possible, and it doesn’t get any lower than free! Brainstorm creative ways to grow and operate your business at little to no cost. Trade services with other businesses in any industry; for example, if you know graphic design but don’t have a clue about databases, consider swapping your design skills for free database setup.

Before spending money on marketing, take advantage of free methods to spread word about your new business. I used free listing services like Craigslist to advertise leagues and events, post job openings to find umpires and referees, and trade services with local screen printers and advertisers to keep our start-up costs extremely low.

4. Know your business well, but know yourself better

You and your business will practically be one entity for a while, so realize your morals and values when making decisions and building relationships. Don’t bash competitors or make business deals you don’t feel right about. Be the boss that you always wish you had, that you foresee others working for.

You must know who you are and how you’ll react to challenges and situations; stick with your core values and ensure your business is in line with them as well. Most importantly, make sure you love what you’re doing, since you’ll probably be working twice as hard for half as much money in the beginning.

5. Take a break, take a walk, take a shower

Entrepreneurship is exciting, but don’t let it consume you. To keep moving in the right direction with fresh ideas and new approaches to challenges, take breaks often.

It may be as easy as taking a walk; I happen to get my best business ideas in the shower.  Though my wife gets nervous whenever I emerge from the shower and say “I have an idea,” I find that I think more clearly when not thinking about business. Make time for breaks away from your new business so you can come back with a fresh perspective.

If you’re finally ready to start your own business, I encourage you to create a schedule, reduce your expectations, find things for free and figure out who you really are… then, go take a shower.

Reposted with permission from Brazen Careerist

Steven Staley is the owner and founder of SoCo Sports, a sport and social club located in Sarasota, Florida.  He is also the creator, founder, and owner of Playbook Community, a free mobile application that connects athletes and sports organizers across the globe.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC leads #FixYoungAmerica, a solutions-based movement that aims to end youth unemployment and put young Americans back to work.

Reposted with permission from Brazen Careerist; see original article here

With the economy starting to turn a corner, and hiring in some industries and regions picking up, you might be contemplating making the jump to a new job. But any career move comes with risks you need to be aware of before you make a change.

Here are some common mistakes young professionals make when switching jobs – and how you can avoid them:

1. Chasing the money

Sure, money’s an important factor, but it’s not the only factor.

A friend of mine in Portland, OR, a marketing manager, jumped at a new job opportunity a few years ago because it gave him more than a 50 percent raise.

“The money was great – while it lasted,” he said. But a year and a half later, the company he moved to was acquired and he found himself out of a job. “In retrospect, I should have seen it coming,” he said. “They were setting themselves up to be acquired. But I was blinded by the dollar signs.”

If he had it to do over again, he would have spent more time asking questions about the company’s plans for future growth and where they were headed.

2. Buying too quickly into a brand

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to work for a big brand name. Just make sure you do your homework and move for the right reasons.

Some people seek out work with well-known brands because they think it will look great on their resumes. But once they start working there, they sometimes discover the public image of the company doesn’t translate into a quality employee experience.

It’s a good practice to talk with people who work at any company you’re thinking about going to work for – even if it’s a big name. You need to think about whether the company culture is a good fit for you, not just whether you’d like to have a big brand name on your resume.

3. Moving up just to move up

Twice in my career, I’ve made the mistake of going after a promotion just because it was a step up. I didn’t really think through how these moves fit with my career goals, and in both cases I was miserable in the role.

What those experiences taught me is that without having a clear vision for your life and career, you won’t have much to guide you in those decisions.

Get clear on what you want your life and work to look like first. Then start looking for the next thing in your career. And have the strength to pass on anything that doesn’t fit your vision.

4. Burning bridges

If you’ve toiled away through the recession at a job you don’t like, it might be tempting to quit in dramatic fashion. Tell off your domineering boss. Let all the people you didn’t get along with know what you really think of them.

Despite what movies and TV might have led you to believe, this will not make you seem heroic to your (now former) colleagues. In most cases, it will just make everyone feel awkward – including you.

Early in my career I watched as one co-worker who had just been hired by a competitor told off our boss and then stormed out of the office. About a year later, he changed jobs again. This time, he was working for a supplier who wanted our business. He had to tell his new boss about what had happened and ask to be taken off the account team.

Needless to say, that revelation didn’t score him any points with his new employer. You never know who you’ll have to work with down the line, which is why you never want to burn any bridges.

The key to all of these tips is being strategic. Before you hop to a new job, get clear on what you want in your life and your career. Then, if you pursue an opportunity that looks like a fit, do your homework on the company to make sure it’s headed in the right direction and the culture is a good fit for you. And if you do end up taking a new job, please, for everyone’s sake, give your two weeks notice and leave in good standing.

Dylan Alford is publisher of RecentGradsOnly.com. To sign up for a seven-part email series with the best career advice from RecentGradsOnly.com, click here.

I wanted to take this time to answer a question I received from someone who would like to remain anonymous, but I think we can all identify with her, yes?

Question: I am an event promoter, but I am so overwhelmed with my social networks — it’s taking over my life. I spend more time on the computer than I do meeting clients to promote my variety of business ventures. Today I’m associated with 10 different social networking sites. What gives? I just can’t keep up this pace for much longer!

This is actually an excellent question and one that my students and my private clients ask all the time. The answer is as simple as four steps:

STEP 1:

You need flexible structure. As a smart business person, you probably wouldn’t allow any other part of your business to “take over your life,” so why should you allow social media to do that? You wouldn’t allow bookkeeping to take over your life. You wouldn’t allow email to take over your life. Don’t let social media do it either. The first step is making the decision to put social media in it’s place. That might sound silly but you understand what I mean.

STEP 2:

Start by giving yourself a schedule. Pick two or three days out of the week which you will designate as your “social media” days. I am NOT saying that you should ONLY do social media activities on those days, but rather, those are the days that you have predesignated to be full-on active with social media. This will allow you to stay visible while keeping your sanity.

STEP 3:

The next thing is figure out where your market is and be there. For example, if your potential clients aren’t on Facebook, why bother? It doesn’t mean that you should ignore Facebook altogether, it just means you don’t want to put a lot of your energy there. And, if people invite you to social networks that you’re not familiar with or that don’t resonate with you — and your market isn’t there — hit the delete key. Remember, you’re in charge here.

STEP 4:

Also, if you’re still stumped about what you should do, you might want to download our Insider’s Report, 76 Ways to Expand Your Influence, Explode Your Income and Rock the World, it will give you 76 different ideas and distinct actions to take with your social media marketing to get out of overwhelm and start getting results. The report is available free from our website at: http://www.InfluenceExpansion.com.

Once you start to develop your own set of rules for managing your social media initiatives and stop allowing social media to manage you, you’ll be golden.

 2011 PA Conference for Women speaker Lena L. West is an award-winning social media consultant, blogger, speaker, journalist, technologist and the founder of InfluenceExpansion.com, the only social media training program created exclusively for women business owners and leaders.

It seems somewhat befitting and ironic that the day before I sat down to write this piece, I went to a new massage therapist.

I thought I was going to tell you, in how-to, self-help guide fashion, how I manage stress in my life. (Everyone loves tips, right?). I was going to convey that tension is best released on the bike at spin class twice a week. I was going to tell you about my weekend runs at a trail near my home, and how I take travel getaways, or go to the spa every now and then for a facial.

Well, my new massage therapist changed my mind because she found stress in places I never thought I had.

As a working journalist and television producer in a large media organization, it is easy to get caught up in the news and mentally ignore all that is hidden and not in front of you. Television producers are masterful multi-taskers and crisis management experts—in the field or in the control room. Apparently I hadn’t thought to “produce” stress relief in my own life.

I had treated myself to many massages prior to this one, and what I thought was a relaxing lunch hour trip to the spa to start my weekend, ended up being an uncomfortable experience. Coaxing knots out of one’s muscles and uncovering pain you didn’t know existed is not relaxing.

What I realized, and was graciously taught that afternoon, is that stress manifests itself in so many different ways. My body’s fight or flight mechanism has been expertly finding ways to pack the stress away so that it’s not overtly seen or felt. In my case, only expert hands were able to find my hidden stress. Now, it’s up to me to be more aware of how I produced that stress to begin with.

Career women often hold to the notion that they can be all, to all, at all times—as if we have something to prove. I certainly am one of them. I recently took a personality test that indicated one of my greatest strengths was my “achiever” quality—a desire to grow and constantly achieve and meet goals. After over a decade in my profession achieving and growing and covering some of the world’s biggest news stories, I am now turning to my own developing story: the need to produce unknotted muscles. It will be the most important self-help guide I’ll pen for myself.

As I was leaving, the therapist said, “Please come back in two weeks. I want to help you.”

Graciously accepting help: Tip #1.

Maria M. Ebrahimji is a journalist and executive editorial producer at CNN and the co-editor of “I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim” (White Cloud Press, 2011).

Whether we’re single, married, divorced, have children, don’t have children, work, volunteer, take care of our parents, have health issues, lose our jobs, have to look for work, look for love, whatever it is, we seem to be having a difficult time making the adjustment to the advancement, the accessibility and the change that has come to define how we live in our world today.

The result? Stress! Stress at epidemic levels. Do we want to wake up in the morning and be in a life we know we can handle, enjoy and thrive? Yes. Do we doubt it? Yes. How exactly can we go at this stress in our everyday lives and work to change it?

TAKE A STEP BACK. What I mean is, in order to make change, you have to really see what is going on. Look at your life and the result of some of the choices you’ve made. Look at the relationships that mean something to you, and see the impact. Once you see it, you have a shot at changing it.

FIND THE COURAGE TO SAY NO AND DO LESS. We have become the society of people who believe the more you do the better you are. Challenge yourself to realize that there is little truth in this. Learn your limit and stick to it.

LIVE IN THE MOMENT. Yes, we’ve heard it a million times; you know why? Because it’s true. Everything you do can become an experience. Challenge yourself not to think about what it is you haven’t done, or what it is you need to do later. Try staying where you are right now.

CHANGE THE RECORD. Whatever record you have playing in your mind about who you are in the world, what you need to do, and why you need to do it, you may want to change it. Make sure you are listening to something from inside yourself that is supportive and positive with no judgment. It’s a gift that costs nothing and can move your thoughts, and eventually your life, to a place in which you can wake up in the morning and want to be.

Liz Pryor is “Good Morning America’s” advice guru, a modern-day Dear Abby. She also writes a weekly online column at ABCnews.com and her own “Dear Liz” page for advice seekers.