Assess your entrepreneurial abilities
Do you have what it takes to become a small business owner?

Chiropractic Economics 9th Annual Salary and Expense Survey (Vol. 52, Issue 6) notes that almost 70 percent of chiropractic offices operate as solo practices. This means you are most likely to be in practice for yourself.

Before you venture into this scary thing called "chiropractic practice," take some time to get to know yourself better, so you'll know your strong points and those you need to work on before going into practice.

(Note: In this article, we recommend visiting a number of different Web sites. Although we have attempted to find Web sites that do not require registration, in some cases, to use the site's resources, you will have to register. No purchase is necessary.)

• Personality type. First, what about you personally? Do you know what kind of person you are? Do you know how well you communicate with others? Do you know your personality type?

Many personality tests are available to get a better insight into yourself. Let's start with the "Big Five," a tool that measures your personality across five dimensions: extroversion, emotional stability, orderliness, accommodation, and intellect.

It is similar to the Meyers-Briggs and the DISC personality types, but it includes the dimension of emotional stability that they lack and which is a vital element in your ability to relate to patients. Here's the Web link for the test: http://similarminds.com/bigfive.html.

So why do you need to know your personality type? In addition to getting to know yourself better, you can learn more about your personality type as it relates to your ability to start your business.

For example: If you are an extrovert you will have little trouble talking to lots of people before you start your practice. On the other hand, if you are an introvert, you will have to work harder at overcoming your resistance to meeting people. Or you will have to find other ways to get people into your practice.

Another valuable way to analyze your personality is to use the Wilson Social Styles, which tell you a lot about the ways in which you interact with others, in order to enhance your interpersonal effectiveness.

Of all the skills you need to succeed in practice, your ability to relate to (that is, to win friends and influence) people, is paramount, and this instrument gives you a sense of how you relate to others. This instrument provides you with descriptors on two continuums: assertiveness and responsiveness.

Taking the test gives you two high descriptors of four (Driver, Amiable, Expressive, Analytical).

For example: You might be an Amiable Driver, or an Expressive Driver. You can find out by completing a short social-styles assessment found on the Web site of the International Association of Business Communicators (United Kingdom chapter): http://uklondon.iabc.com/event_downloads/ 050201_winfriends/win_friends.pdf

ENTREPRENEURIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Do you have the characteristics of an entrepreneur?

The Small Business Administration (SBA, www.sba.gov) has distilled the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur down to three: the ability to be flexible, the willingness to change with the market, and the ability to trust yourself.

If you have all of these, you are more than halfway there.

Here are two tests that discuss the qualities of an entrepreneur:

• Brigham Young University's Marriott School, "Should You Be An Entrepreneur?" (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/cfe/startingout/test.cfm); and

• Canadian Career Consortium, "Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur?" (www.careerccc.org/products/cp_99_e/section4/quiz.html).

If you take either of these tests and you're disappointed with the results, don't give up! Anyone can be an entrepreneur if he or she is willing to work hard and find great advisors.

As Socrates said, the unexamined life is not worth living. This personal self-examination is essential for you, before you start on the journey of chiropractic practice.

For more information on preparing for a career in chiropractic, go to www.StudentDC.com.