So you have finally decided you would like to leave your job and start your own at-home business. Good for you! Risks are necessary if you want to see big returns. Unfortunately, risks are also… risky. You are gambling on your ability to make your new small business work. However, there are ways to make your start-up less of a gamble. In order to do that, you must have a well conceived plan and be ready to deal with the risk that you are about to take.

The first thing you need to do is reduce or eliminate your debts. If you have outstanding credit card debts, you need to get those debts pared down as much as possible. Credit cards and credit card interest rates are hard to manage even if you are working at a regular job, much less while you are trying to get a business up and running. If you can pay off the cards, pay them off. That is the best way to take care of your high-interest debt.

However, if you can't pay off your card an excellent way of reducing your debt is to get a debt-consolidation loan. By combining your high-interest credit card payments into one low interest loan, you can ease a lot of your burden. There are several places that provide debt-consolidation loans, including banks, credit unions, and debt-management companies such as lowermybills.com. Of course, it's much easier to get a loan while you have a job, so you should do this long before you put in your notice.

Another thing you have to consider is health insurance. In case you had not noticed, health insurance is very expensive. Having an employer pay those monthly fees is one of the good things about a regular job. But when you are out on your own, you will need to take care of health insurance on your own.

If you quit your job, you will usually be given the option of keeping your health insurance. This is good, because they will cover pre-existing conditions that might otherwise leave you paying for both health insurance and your medical expenses. However, continuing health insurance coverage can also be very expensive and usually is only available for a certain period of time. Investigate your options and make a solid plan for insurance in place before you leave your current job. Get several quotes from different companies and check the policies for their rules on coverage.

The third — and the most important — thing is to figure out just how you are going to pay for all this. Your business needs income if it is going to survive. So be ready. The best way to ensure you have an income is to have clients lined up ready to go. Promote your new business before you leave your current job. Start selling yourself and your business to prospective clients and see what happens. The best market analysis you can do is to sell yourself and see what happens. Then, when you have some contracts signed, you will know that there is water in the pool before you dive in.

Leaving your job to start a small business is as exciting as it is stressful. But, with proper forethought, you can make that move with confidence. By knowing what you will need and having it in place beforehand, you will be able to make that move with success already on the way.