Although self-employment is a growing career option in Canada, many career practitioners find it personally difficult to make the leap from being an employee to starting a business. E-mail surveys completed by 13 self-employed career practitioners and counselors revealed six key factors that contributed to their business success: vision and passion, knowledge of the field, strong professional relationships, effective marketing, and solid financial management. The participants also identified several personal characteristics as contributing to their business success: perseverance, endurance, openness to change, integrity, balance, and willingness to take risks. Most respondents identified autonomy as the most enjoyable part of self-employment, followed closely by working with great people and having more lifestyle options. There were mixed findings regarding the financial rewards of self-employment--although some were earning more than when employed, many weren't. The paper concludes with ten steps for building a business, extracted from the survey results. (Author)