Dreams of self employment

The word "dream" often comes up when people talk about self employment. According to http://www.inc.com/criticalnews/articles/200503/unemployment.html, 44% of 2500 out of work people said they they considered starting their own businesses.

Yet only about 4% actually did.

Certainly for some folks the "dream" is just that; an idle fantasy. Those folks probably don't even flesh out the fantasy very much: it's just a vague picture of freedom from whatever enslaves them now. Maybe a few details about what they'd actually be doing, but usually even that's pretty vague. They may be serious about not liking their job, but that's as far as it goes.

Considering all the real and imagined problems that starting your own business can involve (more imagined than real, but most don't know that), that 4% figure is actually pretty good. Those are the 4% that paid no attention to self doubt, ignored the bemused expressions of family and friends, and put real work into making a dream into reality.

If you've been dreaming, how much of that dream is still fantasy and how much is concrete planning? How much work have you done in preparation for the day you stand on your own? Dreams are pleasant, but reality is much more fulfilling. Get started with your plans today.

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