 Good morning. I'm Glenn Muskie with the NDSU Extension Service, and today I'm going to talk to you about starting a business. Starting a business is the dream of many Americans, and it's been done successfully by many Americans. However, there are several challenges that you have to be able to overcome, and this morning I want to talk about 10 of the things or skills that you need or abilities that you will need in order to have a successful business. So let's get started. Number 10. Can you say no? Yes, I always have been told, and you've been told, that the customer is always right. But sometimes you maybe have a different answer to that. Sometimes you have to say no to a customer, sometimes you have to say no to an employee, or sometimes you even have to say no to yourself, including maybe now isn't the right time to start a business. Number 9. Dreams are not opportunities. People tell you you've got this dream, go chase your dream, but is it truly an opportunity? Are there people willing to buy your product or service? And are they willing to buy it at a price that you can make money? Number 8. Do you have skills? By that I mean, do you have certain skills in the area of management, personnel management, production, the technical side? Who's going to handle your sales? Who's going to take care of your fiscal accounting? All of these skills you can learn or you can hire somebody to do, but you need to make sure that you're going to have them covered. Number 7. Do you have resources? That's both time and money. You hear a lot that there's all this money out there, this free money out there that you maybe can tap into to start your business. The reality is it's going to cost you and you need to have money set aside to put into your business and you need to have money aside to pay for those everyday bills that will be out there, your rent, a phone, etc. They're going to be out there and you're going to have to take care of while no income is coming in. Number 6. Do you know your market? Who are they? Where are they? How do you know they're there? Have you done any testing? And not only do you know your market, but do you know the competition that's in your marketplace? What are they selling? Are they prepared to respond to you if you come out with a business that looks like it's going to be successful? Number 5. What about the legalities of your business? Do you have your business name registered? Do you have your sales and use tax permit? Do you have your federal tax ID? Are you going to run into any regulatory issues such as from the health department or the U.S. Department of Ag? What about intellectual property? Those are things that you need to consider and this may be something that you will need to bring an accountant and an attorney onto your team. Number 4. Does your family support you? I don't mean just lip support, but have you had a serious conversation with them telling them that things are probably going to change. You're going to need to spend more time at this. They may not see you as much. It may change the family financial situation. It may change family dynamics in some degree. So you need to have a serious conversation with your immediate family and even sometimes your extended family somewhat. Number 3. Are you a people person? Do you like people? Can you get along with people? Can you go out and reach out to people? Are you an extrovert? You don't need to be. But all of these are things you need to understand about yourself so that you're prepared to handle the myriad of people who are going to be coming to your business. Number 2. Are you a bobo doll? Meaning when you're knocked down, can you come back up? And when you're knocked down again, can you come back up again and again and again? Starting a business is fraught with hurdles and failures, all that you can overcome but you have to know that every day you can get back up and go back to work and think this is what I want to do. And finally, do you have the passion? Passion, perseverance, tenacity. I don't know what you want to call it. There's lots of names for it. But the reality is you need this fire burning inside you. This ability to keep on going no matter what's going on. Yes, that and the bobo doll. You need to just keep going forward knowing this is the end goal. Well, that's a quick rundown on some of the skills and abilities that you need to know about yourself and that you need to have in your back pocket ready to take and bring out when you need them as you create your business. I hope these have been helpful for more information. I'll have a reference to a website. Take care and good luck. Thanks.