re: Business owners- when did you make the decision?

You don't have the mentality to survive at owning a business honestly because you don't seem to have any direction. People who make it that do the 9-5 world several years generally do their side business in their spare time, sometimes for several years before making the leap. You're on an anonymous message board posing a random idea based on something tough that's happening in your life or career. I guess the way to know is when you realize you've built the side business to the point you know you're better off focusing all your time on the side business. And remember this, the easier and more common something is to do, the more competition you're going to have, the more likely you are to run out of money.