Running your own business

I was asked by a good friend of mine, who is still in the corporate world what it is like running my own business, so i thought i would share my quick 5 minute thoughts here!

His question - What for you are the 5 best things about running your own business?

1. The freedom to do what I want when I want - I answer to no-one - flexibility is wonderful, but with this certainly comes a lot of responsibility too!
2. Being able to create from scratch ideas on paper in to reality - this has been great for developing my creative side. I love being creative - yes accountants can be creative too!
   
3. Challenge - I love the challenge, as you grow bigger and bigger of course new challenges arise, so risk management is an issue then, but they are nice challenges to have.
4. Financial rewards, although not the most important, the financial rewards if you do it right can be much bigger than working for anyone including banking. Most importantly, you can make money by building a passive income stream whilst spending time with kids etc - however this takes at least 5-6 years to get to this level, unless you hit lucky!
5. Building a team I take responsibility for....the right team are essential - wrong people and you have had it! I have had the pleasure of working with some wonderful people on my journey! Thank you.
   

His question - What have you found to be the 3 biggest pitfalls?

1. Things always take longer than one would expect, so make sure you have adequate financial reserves when building the business - we did but I know others who did not!
2. Trying to do everything yourself - the key is to build a great core team. No great team, tough business.
3. Your loved ones - yes they may love you, but they worry for you. So parents, family etc, the less they know the better, they are worried about you - tell them this is a course of action you have to take....once they see the success they will then realise why you did it!
4. One extra thought - if you are in a relationship, make sure your partner is 1000% with you on the journey. There will be times when you hit rock bottom, you will need someone there to support you when the going gets tough!

Good Luck!