Are you ready to be an entrepreneur?

Breaking out of the employee mould, where you are assured of a monthly salary, is not easy. It adds to stress and risk. If you have dependents such as a wife and children, you will need to go through the financial planning for the venture over and over again, to ensure no unpleasant surprises.

Simple things like waiting for a fixed deposit to mature to pay your child's school fees can be frustrating and de-motivating.

The good news: These risks can be reduced to a large extent by sound financial planning. In an entrepreneurial venture, motivation is a key element.

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Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before starting your venture.

The first psychological setback will come when you won't get the comfort of a monthly pay cheque. To tackle that, set aside some money in a liquid mutual fund account, with a systematic withdrawal facility, to draw a sum to cover all your monthly expenses.

If having any other income in form of interest, rentals, income of spouse, etc, then the withdrawal from the liquid fund should be adjusted downward to that extent.

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The trick is to ensure you have enough every month to tackle every eventuality. Still, you cannot afford to have too much surplus. A simple way of ensuring this: Have a monthly withdrawal system from the liquid fund.

It helps cover the expenses and on the psychological front, the monthly SMS from your bank that some amount has been credited to your bank account is relieving.

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