You also need to realistically assess how much time it's going to take you to get your business started. (Here's where it really help to be passionate about your business -- because it makes it easier to spend many hours that will be required if you love what you're doing). But, chances are you also have other obligations; (family, job, social etc.) so you need to take time you'll be spending getting business going into account and find a balance you can live with.

After money and time, you need to look at amount of effort it's going to take to grow your business to point that it becomes profitable. Know what your "break even point" is. It's better to figure out your "break even point" when you're still in planning stages. This will help you to know how much you need to charge for your products or services in order to reach that point quickly.

Make sure that your chosen business can support income you want to be making, and that your target clients will pay for your products and services. Don't be surprised if -- while you're still getting your business off ground -- following your marketing strategy, doing free or low-cost jobs, searching for clients or customers, you may not be making enough to break even, let alone bring home a salary. This can make your effort seem out of balance to return on your investment. (But if you're prepared for it, you'll be able to stay motivated and determined, and you'll get beyond that point sooner).

One of most important traits of successful entrepreneurs is of persistence! If you come to point when you are working your hardest and doing everything your business requires but still not seeing monetary results, you may hit a psychological wall. This is where truly entrepreneurial individuals see an obstacle to overcome as opposed to a dead-end to their hard work. Passion for their work and strong desire to work for themselves overcomes any perceived barriers and moves them to keep going and ultimately becoming very successful.

By persevering you will certainly see fine fruits of your labors and prove to yourself and others that benefits of self-employment far outweigh mediocre status quo of typical worker's daily grind.

You can take a free assessment to find out how ready you are by going to http://www.microenterprisesuccess.com and clicking on entrepreneur assessement.

Cheryl Antier is the President and CEO of Dream Weaver Enterprises, a business and fundraising consulting company that helps small business owners by them consistently find the funding, training or technical assistance they need to "weave their dreams into reality." If you're looking for start-up funding for your small business, please visit: http://www.microenterprisesuccess.com