Know thyself.

More than just Socrates’ goofy little catch-phrase, it’s key advice for an entrepreneur. (Also not bad are: Know your limitations and don’t bite off more than you can chew.)

Thinking along those lines and just in time to crush all of your great, big small-business dreams, Investopedia.com offers a thought-provoking new story that offers entrepreneurs a little reality check.

Headlined “5 Reasons Why You Don’t Want to Grow Your Small Business,” the piece says that before you grow, you gotta know:

1. Can You Handle the Stress? Hey, I hate stress. We all like the excitement of a professional challenge, but stress is one of those icky words that just has such a terrible connotation. It’s something to think about: If you’re not in the right place both professionally and personally to take on a bigger business and more responsibility, you might be making a serious mistake.
2. Can You Manage the Risk? Woof! Can you generate the higher sales numbers, meet the new financial obligations, maybe keep a little more stock on hand? Make sure you’re ready to dot your I’s and cross your T’s so that you don’t jeopardize the business that you already have.
3. Are You Ready for a Bigger Workload? That’s riiiiiiiight, get ready to roll up those sleeves!!! Sometimes we feel like we’re ready to take on the world, then down the road we just find ourselves, well … buried. Not only will your workload increase, your responsibilities will as well. Make sure you have the time and the mental energy – and that you definitely will down the road as well.
4. Can You Handle the Hiring? That’s right, to go along with that super-fun new workload, get ready to juggle a load of fresh new faces! (Along with the added tax and financial responsibilities … woo hoo!!!) Seriously though, make sure you have the resources in place not only to hire them, but to train them and grow them as well.
5. Ready to Sacrifice Your Time? Have you been enjoying those weeknights to yourself, and time on the weekends? Well, you might want to think about that looooong and hard before making the decision to try to take your business to the next level.

Sheesh! The article pushes you to ask some good questions, but it’s kind of a Debbie Downer in the end, right?

But then again, sometimes entrepreneurs can fall into the trap of being beautiful dreamers and need to be forced to face some of those difficult questions.

On a brighter note, the article is accompanied by a pretty good Introduction to Starting a Small Business.