Have you always dreamed of being your own boss?  Have you hit the ceiling of opportunity at your current company?  Are you between jobs, or concerned about how long your current employment may last and feeling as if you’d rather depend on yourself than yet another employer?

Whatever the case, lots of people just like you start their own business every day.  A few succeed beyond their wildest expectations and create a small business that becomes much larger and very profitable.  Some do just fine meeting their goals for adequate income and a good quality of life.  And the reality is that still others end up losing more money than they make.  By taking the time to understand the requirements, risk and work involved in starting your own business you can become one of the growing number of successful self-employed business owners.

More and more people are starting their own business every day.  Some are “bricks and mortar” store-front type of stores, while others are service-oriented and don’t require a walk-in store.  A growing number are home-based, Internet-dependent and have no employees at all other than the owner.  Small businesses owned by women are growing at twice the rate of small businesses in general. 

The trend has even spawned some new vocabulary.  Microbusinesses, a term coined in the early 1980s, are defined as having five or fewer employees and requiring $35,000 or less in start-up costs.  Small office, home office businesses are often referred to as SOHOs.  MOMpreneurs are mothers who have started home-based businesses.  These groups are large enough to create a hot market for business products and services, as well as for a few scam artists.  Policy makers and politicians are also paying attention to trends toward self-employment and very small businesses as ways to increase self-sufficiency, create jobs and revitalize local economies. 

This section of Tomorrowsmoney.org touches on some of the things you need to consider and do to start your own small business.