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Recently down-sized, company closing, early retirement offer, tired of making other people rich. Whatever the scenario, those with an entrepreneur mind-set eventually make the decision to start their own business. Some people are young, while others don't make the transition until their late 50s or early 60s.

Once the decision is made to become a business owner, entrepreneur or self-employed, how do you decide what to do? Sometimes it's an easy process. Let's say you're in your mid-20s, creating great web pages for an employer and love what you do. The only thing is, you realize you'd rather own your own company. It makes sense to continue in that field, and possibly extending your reach to other marketing areas as well. But what if you work in an auto factory that just closed? I doubt you'd find it a good choice to start your own automobile company. Or how about a retired teacher wanting to start a second career? With all the opportunities waiting, how do you choose?

List at least three key criteria that this new adventure must meet. There are others, but these three are essential: Passion, Financials and Skills/Abilities. Knowing ahead of time what best fits you, you'll be more focused as you investigate and consider franchises, business opportunities, licenses, independent businesses, home-based businesses or any other form of entrepreneurship.

The first, Passion, will steer you toward doing something that feeds your values, allows you to serve a purpose and give you something more than money to drive you to succeed. When your daily efforts feed a passion, you will enjoy each day and it will not feel like work. For example, when my husband and I worked through this process, we wanted to create a company that, at the end of the day, we could feel good knowing that we provided a service that helps people. Keeping that in mind eliminated some options that did not fit our passion.

The second, Financials, is very important. Do you have a large amount of money that will purchase a high-level franchise, an existing business that is extremely successful or a high-tech company that owns a large amount of expensive equipment? Or are your funds limited to the point you must focus on low-cost entry to market? On the other hand, you might have some money available, but also other resources that allow you to consider something in the middle. Knowing what funds you'll have available will help pare down your list. Being realistic is difficult, but there are a plethora of opportunities

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