Really know yourself.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 413.

Don't worry about credentials or experience.

" 'How can you publish a bankruptcy newsletter? You're not even a lawyer,' ” Chapman quotes his sister-in-law as saying. "She also told me I couldn't be an investor because I never worked on Wall Street." Chapman says the information-gathering, writing and analytical skills he picked up in college were all he needed to start a business. Career counselors agree and tell of recent grads-turned-entrepreneurs who are designing and creating fiber-optic lighting displays for museums, Internet home pages for corporate clients, "flowers cape" business parks for developers and Cajun food for national distribution to supermarkets. All are operating without the benefit of an advanced degree or business experience.

"Price Waterhouse would've fired me," says Chapman, basing his comment on an academic career marked by missed deadlines, a reluctance to do anything according to schedule and a lack of organization. "Once you realize you're not going to change, you can work around your weaknesses," he says.

To succeed as an entrepreneur, it's important to know the skills and situations in which you excel. For example, "if you can't sell, you'd better find a partner who can," says Sowell-Scott. "Likewise, if your files look like they were recently roiled by hurricane-force gales, you need to think about getting clerical help."