Anyone can do it. Many say you need a true passion, something you really enjoy. And those people couldn’t be more right. You also need a strong support group: family, spouse or just a great friend. You’ll need these people to talk you off the ledge every other day or so. And of course you need a solid budget to get your idea moving and to support you while you focus.

Me, I’ve been planning financially for this for years, plus I have a supportive husband. I also read a ton of books when trying to muster the courage to take this plunge. There were several, but two that I found particularly helpful were Mommy Millionaire by Kim Lavine (it reads like a novel and has a lot of no-nonsense advice, as well as a few cliffhangers) and The Martha Rules by Martha Stewart (this one is for more practical advice about the staples you need to think through and execute on, a lot of what I learned while getting my MBA, but a great refresher). You can’t go wrong with either one of these.