Many full-time employees dream of the day when they can quit their day job and start their own business as an entrepreneur.

No more bosses to order them about, no more getting stuck in snarling traffic to and from work, no more slogging away at the office when they’d rather be on vacation, no more office politics, the list goes on.

But seriously, is your reality going to be quite as wonderful as your dream?

Explore your vision

Explore the basis of your vision and ask yourself why you are convinced that being an entrepreneur is the easy way to riches and leisure time.

Are you inspired by the biographies of successful entrepreneurs and believe that you too have what it takes to achieve success? Do you see yourself as the next Mark Zuckerberg?

Reality check: not everyone is a Mark Zuckerberg. In fact, the number of successful entrepreneurs is very small.

Being an entrepreneur may look easy, but behind the glamorous exterior lies a great deal of extremely hard work, dedication, discipline and sacrifice.

Regardless of what your business idea is, you may find that the transition from full-time employee to entrepreneur poses challenges in areas that you did not anticipate.

For example, let us say that you are a qualified accountant, and your full-time job is in the finance department of a large company.

You are responsible for the financial reporting. You report to the Chief Financial Officer or Financial Controller.

Your KPI is to complete the work assigned to you accurately and within the timelines allocated.

For your work, you are paid a monthly wage. This money comes in every month without fail regardless of how the company is performing, or what is happening in other departments, or the economic situation.

As a full-time employee, your wages are fixed.

So, you feel you’re not paid enough?

“So what?” you may ask. “The monthly wage is so low, I work such long hours and have to put up with all sorts of nonsense from my boss and colleagues, whereas I can easily make so much more money if I were to open my own accounting firm as a small business”.

Reality check: as the owner of a small business, you will not only have to do the work you are trained for (providing accounting services to your clients), but will also have to worry about other aspects of running a business that were not your concern when you worked full-time.

For example, human resources, IT infrastructure, legal and regulatory issues, sales and marketing, business development, and other areas.

Less time for yourself and family

You may not have the resources to hire a lot of staff, so may find yourself doing more work than you used to as a full-time employee.

Soon, you’ll find that you’re working even longer hours for (initially at least) less money than before, as your set-up costs are high and your new client base is still small.

You spend even less time with your family and don’t have time to take care of yourself.

Worrying about the business consumes your every waking moment (and eats into your savings in “lean” months when the takings are not high enough). You start to value the security of a job.

Know what you are getting into

The above scenario is not designed to discourage you, but rather, to simply highlight the less talked-about side of quitting your full-time job to become an entrepreneur.

One should at least be aware that it is not as easy as it looks.

Even for the lucky few who became successful despite starting out with nothing, if you study their background, you will see that there was no short cut to success.

They worked hard and went through tough times, to get where they are. They also had their fair share of luck.

So, for those planning to quit their full-time job and start a business as entrepreneurs, spend some time to first thoroughly research your idea, explore the readiness of your potential market, understand who your competitors are and know your comparative advantage.

Also examine the regulatory environment, understand your current financial position and growth targets, and build a list of potential partners, investors, staff and customers.

This article first appeared in kclau.com

KC Lau’s first book Top Money Tips for Malaysians has sold thousands of copies. He launched the first online personal finance course specifically designed for Malaysians, entitled the Money Automation System. He also co-founded many other online financial courses including the Bursa Method, Property Method, Founder Method and REIT Method.