想自主创业,先想明白这七个问题

想自主创业？先想明白这七个问题吧

Starting a business is like building a boat from scratch and setting sail. Unless you build boats for a living, expect things to go wrong very quickly.

开始做生意就像从零开始建造一艘船到它开始航行。除非你以制造船谋生，（否则）你不会希望它很快就出问题。

To continue the metaphor: The problem with many would-be entrepreneurs is that they only have experience on the open water. They know how to sail, navigate and survive at sea. They’re sailors, but they don't have the skills to build their ship. They just have sailing skills.

继续这个比喻：许多想成为企业家的人的问题是他们只有在开放水域的经验。他们知道怎么航行，驾驶和如何在海上生存。他们是航海家，但是他们没有建造自己船的能力，他们只有航行的技能。

I didn’t make the decision on a whim to start my company after I was fired from my last full-time job. I was already in the right industry, had learned from some of the best minds in the business and was freelancing on the side. In other words, I had a good sense of how to build a boat and captain my own ship.

我不是在离开我的专职工作后一时兴起想创立自己的公司。我在合适的行业里待过，向一些商业精英学习过并且空闲时当过自由职业者。也就是说，我知道怎么去建造船并且指挥我的船。

If you too want to start your own business but have experience working only under a manager, you need to do some serious soul-searching and self-assessment. Ask yourself these six questions before you start：

如果你很想自己创业但是只有在经理手下工作过的经验，你需要一些严肃的自我询问和自我评估。在你开始（创业）前，问你自己七个问题：

1. 'Could I survive, financially and psychologically, poorer than I am now?'

1. “如果我比现在更穷，我在精神和财务方面能否撑过去？”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 543,000 small businesses are started in the United States every single month. Yet, somehow, more businesses shut down than start up each month. Those aren’t exactly great odds for a newly minted entrepreneur.

美国人口普查局的资料显示，在美国，每月有超过543000个小公司成立，然而，每月总有更多的公司倒闭。这对于新手来说并不稀奇。

Unless you’re some transcendent genius, chances are you’re going to fail at your first business. And that’s totally normal -- more than 543,000 other business owners will be in the same boat. Even if you do “succeed,”you may end up making less than you do with your current full-time job.

除非你是卓越的天才，你在你的第一次生意中将会失败。那是十分正常的——超过543000个其他创业者和你的情况一致。即便你真的成功了，你可能最终会比你现在的专职工作挣得更少。

Countless success stories, including J.K. Rowling’s, began with a life of modest means. Can you live at a level even lower than you do now?

无数成功的故事，包括J.K罗琳，都是以很少的财富开始的。你能过比现在更低层次的生活吗？

2. 'Could I work on something alone, and without encouragement?'

2. “我可以在没有鼓励的情况下单独做一件事吗？”

It’s certainly fun and games thinking about a great business idea -- but executing it is another story entirely. As Freelancers Union founder Sara Horowitz discovered when she created a health plan for freelancers, remote work can be very lonely. “You work with coal miners and you learn everything there is about black lung . . . You work with freelancers, and you learn about depression," Horowitz has said.

想出一个好的商业点子无疑是有趣新奇的，但是执行它又是一个完全不同的概念。自由职业者联盟创始人萨拉•霍罗维茨在她给自由职业者创立健康计划时发现，远程工作非常孤独。“你和煤炭工作者一起工作，在那里所有你学到的是黑色的肺部……你和自由职业者一起工作，你学会压抑”霍罗维茨说。