Major Hangups On Starting My Own Firm

It is my eventual goal to own my own architecture firm. I'll have, in theory, freedom, control, complete personal accountability and the profits of my own work. However, though I've worked in multiple countries, on construction sites, on large and small scale projects, I can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm not ready, and that I still have more preparation to do. And that makes me wonder when or if my preparation will ever be enough. These are some of the major factors I think are holding me back:

Technical Knowledge - this is a ridiculous reason, because so many methods of buildings can be learned and developed easily through new methods of technology. Some construction methods that I know I want to attempt, such as adobe or compressed earth construction, would never be used in any of the practices that I have worked with in the past.

Geographic Unfamiliarity - I have moved around a lot both personally and professionally and it has made it difficult for me to lay down roots or establish a community in many places. This is especially relevant in the arena of finding clients to work with, and to believe in my ability to design. I am also considering practicing internationally, in a completely different country, with building codes and regulations I am not very familiar with.

Personal Relationships - Going back to the client concept, I don't know a lot of people in the industries that I would like to design buildings for. I don;t know any commercial developers or government officials in my target market, let alone the government procurement and bidding best practices. Not knowing anyone will be a serious hindrance to my possible practice. It is possible to find clients through the use of government small business assistance programs and WBE or DBE participation, but those things take time to put into place.

Financial Responsibility - Funnily enough, this is the aspect I worry about the least. In the course of running my other ventures and programs, I think I have gained a strong amount of business acumen, and I feel like I can overcome challenges related to a lack of funds or running my firm on a shoe string budget very easily. There are virtual practices, setting myself up as a solo practitioner, running as a join venture or subcontracting with a design builder. This business will still require a significant initial investment, with ideally at least 25,000 set aside for this purpose.

It still may be a few years until I feel like I'm ready to open the doors to my own firm. But I'm actually glad that I listed my insecurities, so that I can work to tackle those specific areas, and know my key areas for growth. Thanks for reading!