This November marks my two-year anniversary of starting my own human resources consulting business. As I look back on the years, I am amazed at what I accomplished and learned. If you are thinking about starting a business, read on!

I always dreamed about having my own business, talked to friends about it, and imagined how it might be. But it was only after two people in my life gave me a push, that I started doing instead of dreaming. First, my former boss said to me, when we were both thinking about moving on, "I never looked for a job, I always went out and created my own." Given her advice, I hired a business coach to help me map out my next career steps. My coach saw my entrepreneurial spirit and encouraged me to start a business. So I moved from dreaming to doing.

The first few months of my business I spent setting up a legal structure, registering the business name, implementing an easy accounting system, setting up a business checking account, establishing a line of credit and obtaining business insurance. Each item was time consuming but not difficult. The more difficult work was writing my business plan and marketing plan. I talked to professional colleagues and volunteers at the Small Business Administration and SCORE, and read books on marketing. The process was slow because I was learning along the way, but I now use both business and marketing plans as daily road maps to guide my actions. One of the easier and fun parts of the first few months