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When you first set out in business, fired up with enthusiasm, long hours do not seem too onerous. After a few months or a few years of late nights, little personal time and so much of your attention being fixed on your business you may start to question whether you can or should carry on the way you are going. The intensity of the work involved, especially at the start when there can sometimes be little real financial reward, can seem like an insurmountable challenge.

Uncertainty.

Firstly it may be that running your own business really isn't right for you but even if it is you will probably ask yourself this question across your working life. Instead of seeing this as recurrent despair or uncertainty see it as your natural drive to frequently take stock of the situation and consider whether to change it and if so how. This is after all one of the most essential qualities of a person in independent employment and unless you inherited your business the chances are that you left your old job by this same process of assessment and subsequent action.

The answer to whether you really want to call is quits lies in your heart and your own mind. If you truly aren't happy and see no chance of being so then only huge success would ever make your situation bearable and without drive and passionate enthusiasm it's unlikely that success would ever be achieved. If your business really isn't what you want then you are faced with the prospect of letting it go in order to find better direction for yourself.

This dilemma will be equally hard and traumatic whichever path you choose. The process of choosing itself is stressful and accompanied by a lot of doubt and regret (if you have spent a lot of time on the business you are about to fold). The way to ameliorate this stress to some extent is to try and give yourself a transitional period where you keep your business running on small hours and find another occupation for the rest of your time. This is easier than making a clean break on something you thought you wanted and have put a lot of effort into.

If you decide to keep going with your business you still need to accept that these phases of doubt will most likely resurface. All efforts in life are usually subject to self doubt but where your own ventures are concerned they are always that much keener. If your business goes through a slow phase or you feel like you are missing out on other things be prepared for the times when you question what you are doing and be prepared to make

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