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Business Owner Preparedness Questionnaire

ASSESSMENTS: Business Ownership Preparedness Index

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A Hypothetical Model and Study in Process

Before We Begin...

This website was born out of a passion for both testing and measurement of both teams and individual performance. This study is designed to evaluate if there are personality traits, characteristics, or situations that an individual must possess before entering the world of the self-employed. We plan to accomplish this by first conducting a random sample of people who have taken this journey to better understand what went right or wrong along the way.

• The first questionnaire contains 12 questions pertaining to how prepared you were (or would be) if starting your own small business.

• The second questionnaire is a 12 question scale that has been used for many years which will indicate your personal support from friends and family that may influence your overall business results.

• The final set of 12 questions is an existing scale to evaluate how important grit and determination is to overall business owner success.

Completing all 3 questionnaires should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.
Agree to Terms and Conditions(Required)
By agreeing to the Terms and Conditions of this form, you are giving consent for the person or persons who requested you to complete this assessment. The three (3) questionnaires will be populated with others (without reporting identifying information such as your name and email) to generate a statistical report for the Harvard University Psychometric Theory and Assessments graduate course.

Your information WILL NOT be used in any other way than for the purpose of the development of our assessment nor will it be distributed or made available to any 3rd party.
PLEASE NOTE: The purpose of this survey is to evaluate many things including validity (does the test do what it's supposed to do) and reliability (will repeated tests yield similar results).

When building a new parametric test, it is important that all participants are treated equally. Without knowing personal information about each participant (such as age, gender, race, and nationality to name a few), the test could unintentionally generate unfair advantages to one group and not another. For this reason, we do ask that you honestly answer a few personal questions before you begin.




The email you provide now will be used to register your access to content on this site and cannot be changed. Please make certain to enter the correct information before submitting.

Your Name(Required)

Background Information

When conducting research, it is extremely important that our research is fair for all groups and does not unfairly discriminate because of gender, relationship status, sexual orientation, or race. For this reason, we ask that you answer the questions below honestly and without hesitation. For concerns or questions, please call 281-752-6565 or email info@self-worth.org.


Resident Country(Required)
Is English your primary language?


Work Status

Your current occupation:
Please choose the best choice from the options below.

Business Ownership Experience


How long have you lived in your current community?(Required)
Education Level


Please enter a number from 18 to 99.
Please enter a number from 18 to 99.

Number of Years Owning a Business Prior to Starting Current Business
Total Years in Current Business


Type of Insurance Agent Contract
Capital Available at Startup
When you first started your business, did you have the capital to invest, or were you struggling from month to month financially? Does having money to invest really matter in the early stages of business ownership? Some would argue having money helps while others believe coming from nothing is the highest motivator.
Performance in Current Job(Required)
When compared to others who do your job, please be honest and rank your performance at work.


Preparedness Questionnaire

PLEASE NOTE: You may have been asked to complete this survey because of your experience in being a business owner. If this is the case, please think back to the time before you started your current business and respond the way you would have prior to startup.

There are no right or wrong answers; however, it is EXTREMELY important that you answer the questions honestly. Your responses will not be evaluated individually. Once enough participants have completed the survey process, if this questionnaire proves to be statistically significant, companies may use it to determine if a candidate has what it takes to become a successful business owner. In other words, the results could significantly impact another person and/or family's lives. Please take your time to read through each question and select the best answer before moving to the next question.

When ready to begin, click "Next."

Business Ownership Preparedness Scale

If you own a business now, please answer the questions now as you would have before starting that business.


1. I am diligent. I never give up.(Required)


2. I am a competitive person.(Required)


3. I am concerned with the financial risk that comes with business ownership.(Required)


4. I am someone that friends come to when they are in need of help.(Required)


5. I often stay late at work to get the job done.(Required)


6. My significant other is excited about my decision to own a business.(Required)
6b. If I had more support from my significant other, I would be able to achieve more at work.(Required)


7. I can count on my friends when things go wrong.(Required)


8. There is a special person who is around when I am in need.(Required)


9. I often seek advice from others who have been successful.(Required)


10. I finish whatever I begin.(Required)


11. The closest people in my life are concerned that owning a small business is NOT the right career for me.(Required)


12. I routinely overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge.(Required)


Social Support Scale

By G.D. Zimet (1998)
br The next set of questions pertains to your support network at home.

IMPORTANT: If you are a current or previous business owner, please think back to the time when you first became self-employed. Answer the questions now as you would have back then.
1. There is a special person who is around when I am in need.(Required)
2. There is a special person with whom I can share my joys and sorrows.(Required)
3. My family really tries to help me.(Required)
4. I get the emotional help and support I need from my family.(Required)
5. I have a special person who is a real source of comfort to me.(Required)
6. My friends really try to help me.(Required)
7. I can count on my friends when things go wrong.(Required)
8. I can talk about my problems with my family.(Required)
9. I have friends with whom I can share my joys and sorrows.(Required)
10. There is a special person in my life who cares about my feelings.(Required)
11. My family is willing to help me make decisions.(Required)
12. I can talk about my problems with my friends.(Required)

Grit Scale

Duckworth AL, Peterson C, Matthews MD, Kelly DR. Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2007;92(6):1087–1101.
1. I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge.(Required)
2. New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones.(Required)
3. My interests change from year to year.(Required)
4. Setbacks don’t discourage me.(Required)
5. I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.(Required)
6. I am a hard worker.(Required)
7. I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one.(Required)
8. I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to complete.(Required)
9. I finish whatever I begin.(Required)
10. I have achieved a goal that took years of work.(Required)
11. I become interested in new pursuits every few months.(Required)
12. I am diligent.(Required)
Our preliminary findings from 1,963 interviews conducted reflect there are several factors that significantly contribute to entrepreneurial success. Contrary to popular assessments being used today, it's not education, credit history, an extroverted personality type, or even experience in owning a prior business. The most important factors contributing to new business success are perseverance (grit) and the length of time in your community. Furthermore, while not required for success, when a significant other is NOT supportive of his or her partner, the failure rate is a whopping 92%.

We would love to hear your comments!
If you have been declined an opportunity because of the failure of a personality test, credit, or another reason, OR you have been in a relationship that has prevented you from achieving success, please let us know. Your comments will be strictly confidential and very helpful in developing our future research.
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