Talking to people about business related issues almost every day has made me realize one thing, it seems that virtually everyone wishes that they could start their own business, but very few people ever actually do. Starting a business is not easy, I would know, I have started numerous businesses across multiple industries; some have failed miserably while others have been successful. One thing I have found is that there are some basic questions you should be able to answer if you want to launch a successful business venture:

1. Why do you want to start a business?

Do you want to make a lot of money? Then be prepared to commit an equal amount of time an effort into your business – nothing comes easy. Do you want a supplemental income? If so the level of commitment and effort you need to put into your new business is probably a little bit less. Whatever your reasons are, make sure you know them because it will dramatically influences not only what kind of business you should start, but how you should conduct your business as well.

2. What do you have to offer?

A great idea? Drive and passion? Experience and expertise to share with the world? A phenomenal education? The basic question here is; what is your value proposition? What do you have to offer that the other guy does not? What will set you apart from the crowd? If would like to start a business sit down and start making a list about all the things that you have to offer, it will get your creative juices going and you might just come up with a phenomenal business idea along the way.

3. Will you be working full time or part time?

This seems like a simple question, but you really need to think about it. If you are working full time you will probably have more money to invest in your business, but less time to manage it. On the other hand if you are working part time you will not have as much money to run the business, but you will have a lot more time to put into it. Whether full time or part time you have to find the appropriate mix of time and money to make your business work.

4. What products of services do you plan to offer?

You would be surprised the number of people that decide they want to start their own business, but have know idea what kind of business to start. If you are in that situation don't worry about. Think about your skills, what you like, what you don't like. Look at the world around you; what do people need / want. What can you offer? Ultimately just be creative and find something that you can be passionate about, that's the biggest driver for success.

5. What Laws and Regulations do you have to follow?

Do you need a business license? A reseller's license? Insurance? Bonding? Are you impacted by zoning laws? What about taxes? If you are looking into international business do not forget to check on any applicable duties and tariffs you may have to pay. Make sure you do research into the legal requirements as soon as possible – many people put vast amounts of time, money and effort into starting a business only to find that they missed an important law or regulation and have to close up shop or spend a small fortune working to fix their mistakes.

Believe it or not, after answering these five questions you will be a lot further down the path of starting your own business than you realize. Once you have started down the path stick with it, it will be tough and there will be times you want to give up, but when those first few pay checks from your new business start coming in you will realize it was all worth it.