Women in the United States continue to decide on entrepreneurship over working in corporate America. According to a recent PayPal survey , 55% of "aspiring women entrepreneurs say the single biggest motivator for them is a better work-life balance. As a woman entrepreneur and business coach I say, stop fooling yourself! I promise you that becoming a successful entrepreneur will not give you time to put your feet up on your desk.

Today's work environment requires a commitment of 24/7 for men and women. Yes, deciding to work for yourself means that you can call the shots, but be mindful that those decisions can make and break your business.

First, in this blog, I am using the word 'corporate' to mean 'working for someone other than yourself'. Let's start the discussion with an old cliche 'time is money'. This is exceptionally true for entrepreneurs. Let me explain why.

In a corporate job, you are working 'in' the business and others, the CEO, management and board of directors (if there is one), are working 'on' the business. As an entrepreneur, you must be working on the business every minute of the day and/or night that you are not working in the business.

Over the years, I have worked with many women in business who made the decision to become women entrepreneurs by leaving their corporate job to start a business doing exactly the same work. Their first order of business was to bring the old employer on as a client. I have seen this done in consulting, communication/marketing, accounting, technology and even event planning and management. This can be a great way to build a path to entrepreneurship. However, it can also be a disaster if the new CEO does not realize the importance of taking on the responsibility of working 'on' the business.

Here is a real life scenario. Jane, not her real name, is a marketing manager at a mid-size real estate firm. She works long hours including weekends as the industry she is in requires a 24/7 endeavor. Her commute to the office is 45 minutes each way so she spends up to two and half hours a day in her car. Her responsibilities include special events so she often travels for the company to prepare out-of-town venues for meetings. Jane comes to the realization that what she does for the company doesn't require her 'in the office' presence every day. This part of the job is just the way it has always been done. Jane reaches out to me and asks me to help her design a business plan to present to her company's CEO where the company will outsource the role of marketing manager to her new business. We discuss the potential danger that this can bring on as by taking herself off the books of the corporate job and setting herself up as a vendor to the company could backfire down the road. But, she is confident that this decision is right for her and the corporation she works for.

These are the things we need to look at: First, her salary of $100,000 (not the real amount), is necessary to her family's income. As a vendor to the corporation she will also forgo health care benefits and all other benefits (401K, IRA, etc.. Therefore in preparing a business plan she must make a case for how she can replace these financial assets and still make it worth it to become her own boss. Honestly, the more we talk the more Jane gets excited about starting her own shop....good for her.

Lucky for me that Jane keeps absolutely crystal clear records so we are able to estimate her expenses going forward in providing marketing services for her current employer and new customers. Yes, that is the key...new clients. Jane must be prepared to not only provide marketing services for corporate clients but ALSO market herself to them to get their business. This is often the stumbling block for those aspiring women entrepreneurs who are expert at doing the work they do but not prepared with outside networks to cull new business accounts.

Building a business means actively reaching out for new business everyday. Those commuting hours or extra hours of sleep you thought you might get working as an entrepreneur will or MUST be used for working 'on' your business. This element of your business is not only time consuming but expensive. Some entrepreneurs decide to join BNI or other networking groups. All of which cost time and money.

Now that you have successfully started your own business, you must start thinking about bringing others on to do the work that you do so that you can continue to grow the business. Your staff will be paid at a lower rate than you are so that every hour they are working your company (not you) will be making profit. The reason I said not you in that last sentence is that YOU ARE NOT YOUR BUSINESS. Unlike working for corporate, where your work is all about you, as an entrepreneur your work is not all about your company.

The moral of the story is that becoming an entrepreneur, male or female, means working more not less hours than you currently do in corporate...that is if you truly want to succeed. As I often do, I like to use the analogy of giving birth to a baby to birthing a business. Every woman who has one knows that a baby is a round-the-clock and so is being an entrepreneur. If what you really want to do is babysit a new baby and then give its care and growth back to the parents at the end of the day than working in corporate is for you.

New moms and new entrepreneurs know there is no putting your feet up on the desk anytime during the day during that first year!