The temptation to start a small business or venture into self employment can be strong particularly for those who are unhappy with their existing employment situation.    The freedom and flexibility that being your own boss seems to offer can be seductive, as is the potential for growth which you, as the business owner, can have full control over.  You may have an idea or a particular skill that you believe is desirable to a specific target market and you are confident that once this target market is aware of your existence they will all be banging down your door.  Consequently, you start your business by offering an amazing product or services, only to realize that building up a customer base is more challenging than you thought.  Additionally, there are a number of other obstacles for which you do not have the expertise (done by another department when you were an employee) whether it is marketing, website development, legal research and accounting.   Finally, you realize that you actually need a fairly sizable source of cash to maintain the business, deal with growth opportunities, whilst ensuring that you are able to support yourself.