If you are planning to start a business, this article has been put together to provide you with guidance on how to go plan your entrepreneur journey. You may have heard people saying that starting a business is not for the fainthearted. Allow me to add that starting a business is not for people trying to escape a bad situation in their 9-5 job, in the false belief that being their own boss will solve their problems.

Starting a business with the wrong motive will jeopardise one's chance of success. Indeed, many people who have carelessly gone down the road of starting a business without adequate mental, spiritual, financial and emotional preparation for the business world eventually find it an uphill struggle. It is always prudent to start a business after carefully considering the demands that it will put on your time and on those closest to you. This is because there will come a point when you need support of others and it is not uncommon to find those who are in your inner circle finding it challenging to support you because they do not have the mindset of an entrepreneur and can therefore offer you the real assistance you need. Such an event will call for a change in how you perceive the world and of course a radical change in your social life. Doing things the way you always done it will be crazy because that just not going to work. Knowing what works and taking the courage to step out of your comfort zone will be critical for you if you are to make it in the journey.

Starting a business is more than making money and this is the first thing you need to know. Many entrepreneurs starting a business primarily do so because they want a lot of money. This predominant lust to make money at all cost without seeing the other side of the coin often becloud the judgement of entrepreneurs and create more tension and stress that undermine the success of the journey. Don't get me wrong, a business should be profitable and growing if it is to be viable. But focusing on the money at the expense of satisfying customers is the worst possible mistake you can make because your desire to make money will soon be cut short when the reality of business hit you as your customers or prospect bypass you for other suppliers. In business, you boss is your customers and so your number one priority should be about serving your customers.

A business will only exist if it serves its market effectively and efficiently. Effectively, because it must offer the market what it wants; efficiently, because it should do so within the resources it has and at the same time makes profit. Remember, money is simply a reward for serving others. So if you are planning to start a business, let it be known that service should be at the heart of everything you do.

In my book 'My Business Is My Business' I have set out the steps for starting a business in a succinct manner covering the emotional, spiritual and technical management/leadership skills you need to develop to be able to develop confidence and move through the process. In fact you can download a copy of this book (the first three chapters) and learn about the emotional and mental dimension as well as access tools that will help you prepare well.