创业之前先问自己这6个问题

最近，创业变成了一个令人心动的热门话题。媒体对那些取得巨大成功的“独角兽公司”赞不绝口，《创智赢家》等电视节目将创业者展现到全世界面前，让许多人禁不住自问：“我能创业吗？”

创业确实能带来许多方面的回报，但真正脱颖而出的人都具备某些特点，不论他们在大学毕业后直接开始创业，还是厌倦了朝九晚五的工作后才开始选择创业。在创业之前，你需要回答许多问题——其中有一些问题涉及的是具体情况。但面对下面6个问题时，你必须明确地给出肯定的回答。

1. 你在经济上能否承担创业的风险？

刚走出校门没有背负太多经济责任的创业者，需要承担的经济风险更低，而如果一个人要养家糊口，要偿还住房按揭或汽车贷款，还要支付其他日常家庭开销，他或她所承担的经济风险便更高。

你必须懂得，创业往往会带来巨大的经济风险。你的想法可能失败，你自己可能在很长时间内没有收入，而且你很可能会一败涂地。

如果你得承担一大堆经济责任，你可以选择兼职创业。这可能并非理想的方式，但同样可以取得成功。如果你不需要承担这些责任，并且你对自己的想法深信不疑，那就放手一搏吧。

2. 你是否拥有强有力的支持？

如果你决定创业，你要清楚创业之路充满坎坷和十字路口，每一个路口都会有无数种选择；你会遇到各种各样的问题。因此，身边有一个支持系统变得至关重要，他们可以帮助你解决问题，寻找答案，在必要的时候可以让你发泄情绪。

获得家人、朋友、导师和业内人士的支持，将大幅提高创业成功的几率。即便只有精神上的支持也是无价的。远离怀疑你的人。若想创业成功，你就应该远离他们，因为他们对你有害无益。

3. 遭遇失败打击（你肯定会遭遇）之后，你能否重新站起来，面对更多的失败？

你将遭遇失败——极有可能经历多次失败。一个错误的决定，很有可能让你一败涂地。就像棒球比赛一样，如果你期望自己第一次上场便能击出本垒打，你最好还是别去参与比赛。因为你会被三振出局。你会变得心灰意冷。

中途放弃的创业者和成功的创业者之间的区别在于后者的韧性——他们愿意承受毁灭性打击，并且能够重新站起来，面对更多打击。

我最喜欢的例子是詹姆斯·戴森，他是一款热销真空吸尘器的创始人和设计者。戴森设计的前5126个原型均以失败告终，但第5127个却成为美国最畅销的真空吸尘器。如果他在失败超过5000次之后便选择放弃继续尝试，他便不可能拥有如今高达45亿美元的身价。

4. 即便要放弃个人的享受和便利，你是否依旧会有前进的动力？

马克·库班经常谈论他创业之初的情形。当时他吃的是抹上芥末和番茄酱的三明治，与五位朋友合住一套三居室的公寓，每天都睡在地板上。想想自己处在这样的情境会怎么做？如果你每天都睡在地板上，只能吃汉堡和奶酪或者拉面，你是否还能保持100%的动力？

如果不能，这意味着你不适合创业。成功与失败最大的区别，往往在于你是否愿意牺牲。为了在公司投入更多资金，你是否愿意卖掉自己的汽车，乘坐公共交通上班？为了让公司发展得更快，你是否愿意卖掉自己的房子，搬进一套小公寓？

如果你想要公司成功的欲望足够强烈，你就会愿意付出任何代价，并时刻保持对创业的专注和积极性。

5. 你是否知道，在创业之初你的工作/生活会极度失衡？

创业之初，你需要将大多数时间投入到公司当中。你会没有时间陪伴朋友和家人，你将错过之前经常做的许多小事情——比如在周五下班之后一起喝酒，周末旅行等。相反，你将不得不在办公室加班到深夜，周末也会排满工作。

你必须在最初的时候愿意投入时间和精力。一旦开始创业，所有事情都需要你一人来承担。这种巨大的压力是许多人难以承受的。随着公司发展，你可以实现更健康的工作/生活平衡，但你必须明白，在最初几年，你将不得不面对工作/生活严重失衡的状态。我直到最近才能在周末完全把营销公司的事务放在一边，拿出时间做自己的事情，陪伴家人和朋友。

6. 你能否预想自己的成功？

“相信自己能做到，你就已经成功了一半。”

— 西奥多·罗斯福

这是我最喜欢的一则关于预想成功的名言。如果你不能预想自己的成功，这意味着你尚未做好创业的准备。你需要清晰地看到自己的成功。你要在清醒的时候预想自己的成功。你要把成功的画面深刻在自己的脑海里。你要在睡觉时梦到成功。

针对这些问题，你的答案是肯定的吗？（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

审校：任文科

Entrepreneurship has recently become a sexy and trendy topic. The media glorifies the startup unicorns that hit big and TV shows like Shark Tank have introduced the entire world to entrepreneurs, leaving many people asking themselves, “Can I be one?”

While entrepreneurship can be rewarding on many levels, it requires a certain type of person to excel, whether he or she is venturing into this world straight out of school or transitioning out of a 9-to-5 career. There are so many questions to ask yourself before making the move — and a lot of these questions relate to specific circumstances. But here are six things you most definitely have to answer “yes” to.

1. Can you afford to take the risk, financially?

An entrepreneur fresh out of school with few to no financial obligations has less of a financial risk than someone with a family, a mortgage, multiple car loans and all the other standard monthly bills families have.

You need to understand the big financial risk associated with starting a business. Your idea may flop, you may be unable to pay yourself for a long period of time and there is always the possibility of losing it all.

If you already have a stack of financial obligations, start your business on the side. That scenario may not be ideal, but it’s still possible to find success this way. If you don’t have those obligations, and you fully believe in your idea, then go all-in.

2. Do you have a strong support system in place?

If you decide to start a business, the road is going to be filled with bumps and intersections, each with multiple options; you will have questions, lots of them. It’s important to surround yourself with a support system that will be there to help you solve problems, seek answers and be available when you just need to vent.

Having family, friends, mentors and industry connections to turn to will greatly increase the odds of your business being successful. The moral support alone is priceless. Keep the doubters away. They are toxic and need to be avoided if you desire success.

3. If you keep getting knocked down (and you will), are you going to keep getting back up for more?

You are going to get knocked down — most likely several times. There is also the possibility of making a wrong decision that causes you to fall flat on your face. If you are expecting to hit a home run the first time you go up to bat, you may as well not even play this game. You’re going to strike out. You’re going to become frustrated.

What differentiates the entrepreneurs that quit from the ones that go on to experience success is the latter group’s tenacity — their willingness to keep taking devastating punches and their willingness to keep getting back up for more.

My favorite example is James Dyson, founder and designer of a highly successful vacuum cleaner. Dyson’s first 5,126 prototypes were failures, but the 5,127th one went on to become the top-selling vacuum in the United States. He wouldn’t be worth $4.5 billion right now if he had stopped getting up after being knocked down more than 5,000 times.

4. Can you remain motivated, even without personal luxuries and conveniences?

Mark Cuban often talks about his early beginnings, when he was eating mustard and ketchup sandwiches and sleeping on the floor of a three-bedroom apartmenthe shared with five friends. Put yourself in that situation. Could you remain 100 percent motivated while sleeping on the floor and eating mac and cheese or Ramen noodles?

If not, entrepreneurship may not be for you. It’s often the personal sacrifices that make the biggest difference. Would you sell your car and take public transportation to your office if that meant being able to invest more money into your business? Would you sell your house and move into a small apartment if that meant being able to grow your business faster?

If you want it badly enough, you will do whatever it takes, while remaining laser focused and motivated.

5. Do you understand that your work/life balance will be extremely unbalanced in the beginning?

Most of your time will need to be allocated to your business in the beginning. You will see your friends and family less and miss out on a lot of the little things you used to do — like getting together for beers after work on a Friday and taking weekend trips. Instead, you’ll have long nights at the office and work-filled weekends.

You have to be willing to put in the time and effort in the beginning. When you start a business, everything is on your shoulders. It’s an enormous amount of pressure that some can’t handle. Over time you will be able to create a healthier work/life balance, but understand that it will be very unbalanced in the early years. It’s just recently that I’ve started to get away from my marketing agency 100 percent on the weekends, to devote that time to myself, my family and friends.

6. Can you envision your success?

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

That’s one of my favorite quotes about envisioning success. If you can’t envision success, then you aren’t ready. You need to see it, and see it clearly. You need to wake up envisioning your success. You need to have that picture engraved in your head. You need to dream about it when you go to sleep.

So, have you answered “yes” yet?