Much has been written on the legal and technical side of going public. This paper does not intend to address those issues directly, but rather indirectly. Every action or step that you take during the process of going public can, and most often will, have a corresponding emotional reaction. How you handle these various emotional reactions can be the difference between sleeping easily at night and not sleeping at all. Some of the more common emotional reactions that a business owner can expect are:

• Excitement
• Fear
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Impatience
• Uncertainty

• Joy
• Pride
• Accomplishment
• Confidence
• Sense of direction

1. Taking a company public can be looked at as a three phase process: Pre-, Mid-, and Post-Process. The emotions that a business owner may experience during the Pre-Process may not be apparent during the other two phases. Likewise, just because a particular emotion does not manifest itself during the first stages of going public does not mean Taking a company public can be looked at as a three phase process: Pre-, Mid-, and Post-Process. The emotions that a business owner may experience during the Pre-Process may not be apparent during the other two phases. Likewise, just because a particular emotion does not manifest itself during the first stages of going public does not mean that it will not become an issue during the latter stages.
   
   
2. The appearance of any of these emotional issues should not be considered a bad thing. The emotion is not a negative in and of itself. We are all human, and humans experience emotions. This is normal. It only becomes an obstacle when the emotion itself begins to direct or dictate our decisions and actions. Doing something out of fear is not the same as doing something out of clear thinking and logical deduction.

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