The 5 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask

I talked about the 5 Stages of Entrepreneurship which were discontentment, realization, hope, grind and balance. No matter what stage you’re in it’s helpful to know what’s coming and what you can do to proactively prepare for it. In this post I’d like to talk through some key questions you should be answering and when you should be answering them!

1. Discontentment

The first stage is Discontentment. As a reminder this is the stage where you are dissatisfied to some level with your current situation but you’re not yet quite sure what you want to do about it. At this stage the questions are all about figuring that out.

Question #1: Why are you dissatisfied?

This sounds basic but a lot of people don’t take the time to fully explore what the basis of their dissatisfaction is. You’ve got to peel the layers of the onion. People are complicated and often the obvious answer isn’t so obvious. Dissatisfaction at work can be driven by a bad situation at home or some other source. Even if the issue is truly work related, what is it exactly? Perhaps it’s a difficult boss causing you stress or a project you feel overwhelmed by.

2. Realization

Stage 2 is realization.  This is the stage where you realize the situation you’re in isn’t going to be fixed by waiting for the feeling to go away or by making small changes. You realize that you want to follow your own path and be your own boss, in other words, you want to start your own business.

Question #2a: If all other concerns were put to the side what would I want to spend my time doing?

Put another way what if you had no concerns about money, familial obligations, or anything else requiring your time and energy? Bear with me, I know this isn’t going to be the case but it’s a means to an end.

Question #2b: Factoring in family, financial and other concerns, what can I do?

This is the necessary dose of reality. Financially what can you afford to do in the short and long term? Do you have other current or coming commitments that are important to you? Maybe caring for your aging parents or finishing a degree. Keep in mind though this should be a look at reality mixed with creativity and optimism. Your life circumstances do not have to define you. You can find creative ways to accommodate or work around just about anything.

3. Hope

This is the stage where you know you want to start your own business and you go about making that happen.

Question #3: How do you make everything (side hustle, day job, family, social life) work together?

This stage is HARD. It’s a great feeling to be going down a path that excites and motivates you but there’s a lot more to it. Chances are you’re still holding down your full-time day job and, oh ya, you have a family and friends clamoring for your attention as well. This is where tough choices are made. Be honest with yourself. The truth is you can have everything but you can’t have everything at once. Something will suffer during this stage but keep in mind it’s a TEMPORARY situation and enlisting the support of those around you is invaluable during this time.

4. Grind

This is the stage in which your baby is starting to walk! Your business is starting to grow, new clients are signing up, people are buying what you’re selling! You’re working a LOT, probably more than you ever did in your day job. Since there’s just you, you’re the one personally delivering every service or product that you offer in addition to doing all the behind the scenes stuff. You’re exhausted and need help but the business isn’t big enough financially to hire someone.

Question #4: How are you going to protect yourself physically and emotionally?

This stage will take you to your physical and emotional limit and, if you’re not careful, chew you up and spit you out. This is where most small businesses fail. It’s important to realize, before you get to this point, that you need to take care of yourself. It’s not ignoring your business, it’s actually the opposite, it’s ensuring your business doesn’t die on the vine after it kills you.

5. Balance

And that takes us to the 5^th and final stage of entrepreneurship, balance. This is the stage where your transitioning from working nearly 100% in your business to working more on your business. You’re developing the infrastructure that will allow your baby to leave the nest or your business to function without you in it, or at least in it as much.

Question #5: What kind of adult do you want your baby business to grow into?

There are a lot of options at this stage. You could be working toward a business that will completely stand on its own while you relax with a fruity drink on the beach in Mexico. Or you could have a business that you are still very involved in doing either the back room administrative functions or being hands on in product delivery. This might be something you thought about in the early stages but many people don’t. You need to decide where you’re going and what you need from your business to get there.

Eliza is the owner of two successful pet related businesses; Preferred Pet Partners, a pet sitting and dog walking company, and The Pet Business Coach, offering coaching and resources to aspiring or current pet related business entrepreneurs. She maintains two awesome blogs. One for pet parents https://preferredpetpartners.com/blog/ and one for pet business owners https://thepetbusinesscoach.dog/blog-page/.  Eliza also supports various animal rescue and shelter organizations. Eliza, her husband, and their three pets live in Nebraska. Visit her websites: www.preferredpetpartners.com or www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog.