We’ve all heard horror stories about small businesses failing. What should you consider before starting one?

Love it or hate it, the great message I got out of Forrest Gump was: “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something”.

But even more importantly … “Run, Forrest! Run!”

If you’re starting your own business, expect steep learning curves. And you won’t have time for a casual stroll. You’ll have to run over them.

I went out on my own 2½ years ago. It’s been awesome (er, mostly awesome), but the learning curves have been unending. Sure, you need to know your own industry well, but you need to know a bit about everything.

If you have less than a few staff, that will include marketing, accounting, the law, IT systems and human resources.

So put a dollar value on your time. Once you have that, you can quickly decide whether you should pay others to do some things for you – better and often cheaper – if it frees you to work with your customers.

There will be disasters. Some could be career-threatening, costly errors, like Waterworld for Kevin Costner. If you find yourself suddenly drowning, call in experts quickly.

Hone your bulltish-ometer. Some people will feed you crap. If you can’t call a spade a spade immediately, have your shovel ready to scoop up the poop.

Don’t reinvent every wheel. Sure, you’ll want to do most things your own way. But where you can, learn from mentors.

And regularly re-evaluate your business. Are you being properly rewarded (it’s not just about money) for the stresses of running your own business?

I hope your answer is “yes”, because it’s (mostly) awesome out here!

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and a licensed financial adviser.