Of course! Sure. Probably … Maybe?
There are many questionnaires that can help you answer this question. They all test your skills, some of them ask you if you’re ready for low and unstable paycheck and long working hours. But many of them fail to show you what will you be really working on. And it’s probably not what you expect 
I have created two pie charts to show you some common misconceptions people have when starting a business and the things you’ll be juggling a few months into the venture. For this example I have taken a very small IT company that is totally unrelated maybe a bit similar to our own, but the core business can be from any other industry. Have fun and leave a comment at the end telling us if you’ve found a way to run a business as the first pie chart shows.
At the end … is it worth it? Oh yeah!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vatroslav Skare, Merlin Rebrović. Merlin Rebrović said: Have you ever thought about running your own business? If yes, check this out http://bit.ly/cVjuMZ [...]
True!
Can I ask you question ? What’s your main product ? What you achieve until now or you just reading a lot and this ‘articale’ is product of that reading ? I’m asking because your references are just a few web pages nothing ‘serious’ like software. It seems to me that you just read a lot. Knowledge is nothing if don’t know how to use it. Someone said : ‘ Action speaks louder then words’.
Best regards,
Juraj
Hi Juraj,
Thanks for your comment. What is our main product? It is our web and software related services as you have probably seen. We are trying to get into a “products category” but it is not as easy as it seems. Funding, new ideas, right people – it’s all very hard to come by.
For your next few questions … I’m not sure what do you consider “serious like software”? Isn’t a CMS powered web page a software? A web shop that we’ve built and will be launching in a few weeks? A mobile web CMS for our Kad će Kiša weather forecasting service and a Facebooks applications that streams that same data to the Kad će Kiša Facebook page? If that is not “hard-core” enough, maybe a Qt/C++ native Maemo application we are building at the moment will be? I can agree that maybe we haven’t presented what we’ve done in a right way, but I cannot agree that we’ve built nothing in 1.5 years we exist. Also, if you’re building a product – software will be only a smaller part of it. The pie chart above has a point.
I must compliment you for your observation. I actually read a lot (and should try some more). And I try to apply it to a day-to-day business every time. This article is a result of real-life experience, not some mental exercise.
To continue this dialog, let me ask you what have you done lately and that you consider “serious”? Not as an employee or a contractor, but as your own product.
Hi.
I must agree with Juraj.
Merlin, everything that you named is relatively good stuff. The question is : ‘How much money do you make ?’ I have also a small business.
Often people say the same thing as you are : ‘Funding, new ideas, right people – it’s all very hard to come by’ and I consider that is just one way to say I always have that excuse I have knowledge but I don’t have the right opportunity.
Charts can be helpful. Reading also can be helpful. Self-confidence and enthusiasm also can be helpful. If you have opinion and you want teach people of something then you have to be example and backup your words with result. No offence, there is thin line between self-confidence and arrogance. Practice is the key.
Reality is something completely different.
Marko
Hi Marko,
Your observations are to the point. And so I’ll be honest with you – I don’t make enough money to be comfortable with in this business. You said that one statement is just an excuse … could be, but I never said that’s my excuse. If you or Juraj asked me at the beginning, I would certainly said that the current state is because I don’t have enough knowledge and experience, not the lack of opportunity. But as you said “practice is the key”, I try every day. I hope one day I’ll succeed.
The article and the charts are here to show (in somewhat funny way) the misconceptions about entrepreneurial ventures, not the right or wrong way of doing it. I’m sorry if any part of it seemed arrogant, it wasn’t my intention.
One question for you and Juraj: do you have any advice about running your own business? I concluded by your comment that you have more experience so I’ll be glad to hear and apply it in my ventures.
The first thing is to be true to yourself.
Questions :
1. What skills and experience do I need to run my own business successfully?
2. What skills and experience do I have ?
3. How I will find my clients ? (They will not come to you)
Answer this three questions and you have a start.
Best regards,
Juraj
Hi.
Juraj, I couldn’t agree more.
If you are living at the edge of existence hoping for one big breakthru then something is seriously wrong. If put too much energy and get nothing then something is seriously wrong.
When Bill Gates draw chart or write a book about runnig a bussnies then I will be first who will believe in that chart without any doubt. You know what I mean.
Good luck.
Marko
Hi guys,
I don’t know why is everyone being so negative about this post – I find it entertaining rather than anything else, so I see no need to criticise it.
However, this post is also a genuine evidence of a personal experience, because these guys are leading their own company, and, no matter how big their profit is, the fact that they’re still doing it is also a success.
And, at the end, I think it is pretty accurate, considering our (local) economic (and other) conditions…
I like the “Tweaking for IE” part especially
Cheers,
Hrvoje
Hi Hrvoje,
First of all – thank you for the positive feedback
This post’s first intention was fun, so it should be taken as such.
Secondly, the fact about the 30% core work is not so far-fetched as it may seem at first. Many successful entrepreneurs and/or freelancers are stating that they also have a similar division of work and other “distracting” activities.