Do you feel that you must, because idea of not trying is infinitely worse than idea of trying and failing?

Can you afford risk? Do you have either a good backup plan, or is your present situation such that you don't have real responsibilities (family, children, mortgage) to take care of?

If you do have these kinds of responsibilities does your plan allow you to continue in your present occupation until new venture takes off?

Are you willing to fall down (fail) and get right back up again, brush yourself off and move on, perhaps several times before ultimately reaching your goals?

Are you willing to spend many long hours - for six months or more - doing potentially thankless work with great enthusiasm for potential it represents?

But there are many small businesses that have been virtually unaffected by internet boom. Those professionals in more service-oriented fields - veterinarians, chiropractors, beauticians, dentists and more - do almost all of their work in what's now affectionately know as brick-and-mortar business, and as such can never be fully replaced by internet technology.

However, many of these businesses, from tiny mom-and-pop stores to small health care centers - have yet to merge onto information highway, and it's costing them plenty; of customers, that is.

That's because, although traditional advertising (phone books, flyers, radio ads, etc.) are still widely used, there is no doubt that most effective advertising now takes place online.

As our society becomes increasingly computer-savvy, consumers are turning more and more to internet for information and advice on where to do their business. Your potential customers would much rather type your business name into a search engine than ferret out your phone number in some ratty, old phonebook.

And who can blame them?