Being Your Own Boss

For aspiring entrepreneurs, especially new college grads opting to be their own boss rather than report to one, the task of getting ready to launch a business can be overwhelming. Consider these tips from entrepreneurs who learned how to position a new business for success from the start.

Get educated. Prepare to take the entrepreneurial leap by learning about your future business, whether it's through graduate school, technical training, or simply reading and "being a sponge" for related information,

Get "intrapreneurial." Thinking and acting like an entrepreneur while working for someone else, also known as intrapreneurship, can be another stepping stone to business ownership. Take Peggy Paul, founder of SheTaxi, a website that provides content focused on women's issues, for example. While working in corporate philanthropy, she learned everything from business planning to the importance of a company board.

Get comfortable with failure. Michaela Conley of Washington, D.C.-based HPCareer.net, a social media company focused on advertising careers in the health promotion industry, found that "trial and error" offered some of the best training to grow her business as she learned quickly from her mistakes.

Get out there. In many ways, entrepreneurship is considered a "contact sport." "You can't run a business sitting behind your desk," says Denise Praul, founder of Accurate Tax Management Corp., an Indianapolis-based tax appraisal firm. "Get out into the world and start meeting people."

Giving your full commitment over your own business is the most important thing that you should consider in being your own boss. Because if your people don't see it in you, you won't get anywhere.