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Find the
Upside in a Downturn |
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We discovered this article
on BNET and found it so important that we have furnished
a link to it. |
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Please read it by
Clicking Here
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Start Now to Prepare For
the Economic Recovery: |
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Free. |
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Weigh the Pros and Cons
of Becoming Your Own Boss |
People consider self-employment for
many different reasons, ranging from the allure of not
having a boss, to the excitement of being an
entrepreneur.
Regardless of your motivation, you’ll need to ascertain
if you have the skills required to manage yourself
effectively. You’ll also need to weigh the pros of cons
of working within an organization. For starters, an
organization offers you its structure, systems, and
resources to support your professional development as
you move along a career path. Also, while in an
organizational environment, you'll get a regular salary
along with a variety of benefits.
If you work for yourself, you’ll need to create your own
structure and systems and maintain sufficient financial
flexibility to cope with an irregular flow of income.
Being your own boss also requires “big-picture” clarity,
lots of energy, and a great deal of self-discipline.
However, the rewards are great if you have a desire to
be autonomous and a healthy ambition.
What You Need to Know
I want to start working for myself and am thinking
about a franchise. How do I choose the best one for me?
If you are considering buying a franchise, make sure you
do your research properly and find something that will
hold your interest for the duration of the franchise
agreement. It is easy to buy a franchise, but franchises
come with a tangle of legalities that are hard to back
out of. Talk to some of the existing franchisees and
visit the
Federal Trade Commission Web Site for advice on buying a franchise.
I would like a different lifestyle and am
considering running a business abroad. What do I need to
consider?
Many people have a dream of leaving the rat race
and living an idyllic life in a sunny climate where they
meet the many and varied desires of tourists. However,
many people run afoul of their dream by not considering
whether the culture and lifestyle will be conducive to
them and those venturing forth with them. Make sure you
understand the legal aspects of owning and running a
business abroad and find something you can commit to.
Ensure that you plan properly and have the resources to
support you while you set up your business. Being on
vacation is very different from living and working in a
tourist destination, so talk to others who have done
this.
If there was one thing that I needed for being my
own boss, what would it be?
Most of us need a structure and incentives to work. If
we do not have these, we tend to let things slip, so you
will need to provide these things for yourself. Make
sure you know what you want to accomplish and what you
will gain by doing so. In terms of your approach, the
most important qualities are self-discipline and a
commitment to what you choose to do. You need to be able
to keep yourself focused and productive even if things
are not going particularly well.
What to Do
You may be contemplating entering the self-employed
world for a number of different reasons, some of which
may have more to do with “escape” than “aspiration!”
Although your initial motivation may be to get away from
something dreadful, check that this is not the only
motivator for you to become self-employed—otherwise you
might find yourself trying to move forward while looking
backwards! If, however, your unhappy circumstances are
merely encouraging you to do something you have always
wanted to do, perhaps it is time for you to take action.
See if your motivation for becoming self-employed has a
positive basis by thinking about the following
questions:
● Have you dreamed of being your own boss for a long
time?
● Do you have a great business idea?
● Have you invented a product or a process that you
think will form the basis of a
business?
● Do you come from a family of entrepreneurs?
● Do you have a role model or mentor who inspires and
encourages you to go it
alone?
● Do you think you will be able to make better use of
your talent and experience
as an independent person?
● Is there an opportunity you wish to take advantage of?
● Do you
have startup tools?
Whether your motivation is positive or negative, try to
have a positive vision of the future. If you can manage
this, you will easily find the amount of energy and
commitment that you will need to succeed.
Here is a checklist of things will need to do to
establish whether or not you have the skills to be your
own boss:
Know Yourself
Although you may think you know yourself, it does no
harm to review your values, beliefs, drivers, and
talents to ensure that you will be able to rally
sufficient personal resources to sustain yourself in
self-employment. Try to envisage what it will be like to
be your own boss and what behavioral qualities you will
need to succeed. Ask yourself the questions below.
● Are you happy to be the sole decision-maker? Often
people who manage themselves find it quite hard to take
full responsibility for every decision that has to be
made: small or large, trivial or important. In
organizational settings, we either have precedents or we
can bounce ideas off colleagues. When we work on our
own, we do not have this luxury.
● Do you like to be alone? People who manage themselves
are often happy to be alone and autonomous, and they
like having choice and control. However, even though
this is generally true of the self-employed, many rejoin
the organizational setting because they miss the social
interaction and the support of being with people who are
working toward the same goals.
● Do you have the organizational skills? Being your own
boss demands a great deal of organization. You will need
to plan your time to include your marketing and
networking activities so that work will continue to
flow. In addition, you will need to make sure that your
books are kept up to date and that you can put your
hands on the paperwork related to your finances.
Invoicing and general office administration will need to
be dealt with efficiently, and the technology that will
assist your communication will need to be purchased and
maintained. All this is before you even begin your work!
● Do you have the self-discipline and persistence to be
your own boss? The tedious parts of running your own
business are not exactly motivating. Sometimes, you will
have to be strict with yourself to keep going when would
rather stop and relax a while. In truth, you are never
off duty when you run your own business, and if you fail
to attend to the administrative or work-related issues
as they arise, they will just pile up until they become
urgent.
● Do you complete projects and assignments on time? You
have no one to blame or cover for you when things get
away from you and deadlines slip. You are only as good
as your last piece of work, so you must maintain the
goodwill of your clients by troubleshooting and
delivering on promises. If you are going to miss a
deadline, you will need to manage your client’s
expectations so that there is no damaging fallout.
● Are you able to market yourself by building and
managing your network? Most common among people who work
on their own is their distaste for networking. As one of
the personality traits that people who manage themselves
have is introversion, they often resist contacting
people and building their network. Yet this is a vitally
important activity. If you are to remain visible to a
client base who would not otherwise see you, you need to
contact them and arrange meetings so that they can build
a relationship with you face to face.
● Be Sure You Have a Business Plan
There are likely to be ebbs and flows in your business,
particularly at the outset when you may not have the
market breadth and stability that will guarantee your
continued success. Have you written a business plan and
does it include the contingencies that will help bridge
the gap between prosperous and lean times. Do you have a
good grasp of the risks you may encounter and the ways
in which you can ameliorate these? You may need
professional liability insurance which protects those
who provide professional advice or services.
● Be Sure You Have a Good Support Network
Families are often the casualties of those who are
committed to making their own businesses successful.
Having a support network, whether it is your family or
an affiliation to a professional network, makes all the
difference.
● Be Sure You Have a Safety Net
When you work for yourself, there is no safety net if
you get ill or when you retire. These are considerations
that should be made at the outset of your
self-employment.
● Make Provisions for Tax Payments and Accounting
Many people find it challenging to take responsibility
for their own books, particularly in the context of
today’s complex fiscal laws. It is a relief, often, to
be able to hand these over to a specialist and it need
not always come at a high cost. However, there are many
accounting packages, and tax advice is freely available
if you choose to take responsibility for this aspect of
your business.
Becoming your own boss requires robust motivation and
brings with it high levels of responsibility,
commitment, and energy. It is easy to focus on the more
burdensome aspects of working for yourself, but there
are also pleasures. Every time you win a piece of work
or are awarded a new contract, you know you have done it
for yourself. Your earning capacity is as great as you
wish it to be, and you can choose when you spend time
away from your work and when you take a vacation.
Although it is hard work, the rewards are in direct
proportion to your skills and abilities. There is much
to recommend it!
What to Avoid
● You Choose a Business You Know Little About
Some people see running their own business as a quick
way of making money, and, because of this, they get
embroiled in opportunities that promise an early return
and lots of riches. However, it is important that you
not be seduced by the apparent glitter of a business
idea that you know little about. Make sure that your
venture is in an area in which you are knowledgeable and
in which you have passion.
● You Fail to Account for Tax Liabilities
When cash flow is poor, you may be tempted to steal from
your reserves to get over the lean time. However, this
puts you in danger of being left short when your tax
payments are due. Make sure that you calculate and cater
for your tax liabilities as you go along, and if you
think you are getting into trouble, consult with an
expert who can advise you of the best way forward. The
IRS, Chambers of Commerce, major banks, and independent
small business advisors are useful resources in these
circumstances so do make use of them.
● You Fail to Have a Business Plan
A common mistake is to rush into a business and make it
up as you go along. However, this often leads to
disaster. Make sure you think through the business
opportunity from all angles and write a detailed
business plan. This will force you to examine the
business and highlight any areas of vulnerability which
need to be considered before you commit yourself. It
does not mean you will not take the business
opportunity, but it will mean that you are prepared and
can take into account most predictable eventualities.
There are many resources on the Internet that offer
guidance on drawing up a business plan.
● You Fail to Consider the Risks
A dream and enthusiasm are not enough to ensure success.
If you have dependents, you may want to consider running
your own business alongside your usual employment for a
while or agree to have your partner to have him or her
support you for a period of time. Although this may
delay the beginning of your self-employment, it contains
the risk long enough for you to discover whether or not
you have the personal attributes to be your own boss and
succeed in your aspirations.
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For a small amount of capital, one of the most
frequent startup ventures has been consulting. |
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Top 20 Consulting
Businesses Thriving Today |
Although you can be a
consultant in just about any field these days, the
current top 20 consulting businesses include
alphabetically:
1. Accounting: Accounting is something that every
business needs, no matter how large or small. Accounting
consultants can help a business with all of its
financial needs.
2. Advertising: This type of consultant is
normally hired by a business to develop a good strategic
advertising campaign.
3. Auditing: From consultants who audit utility
bills for small businesses to consultants who handle
major work for telecommunications firms, auditing
consultants are enjoying the fruits of their labor.
4. Business: Know how to help a business turn a
profit? If you have a good business sense, then you'll
do well as a business consultant. After computer
consulting, people in this field are the next most
sought after.
5. Business writing: Everyone knows that most
businesspeople have trouble when it comes to writing a
report--or even a simple memo. Enter the business
writing consultant, and everyone is happy!
6. Career counseling: With more and more people
finding themselves victims of a corporate downsizing,
career counselors will always be in demand. Career
counselors guide their clients into a profession or job
that will help them be both happy and productive as an
employee.
7. Communications: Communications consultants
specialize in helping employees in both large and small
businesses better communicate with each other, which
ultimately makes the business more efficient and operate
smoothly.
8. Computer consulting: From software to
hardware, and everything in between, if you know
computers, your biggest problem will be not having
enough hours in the day to meet your clients' demands!
9. Editorial services: From producing newsletters
to corporate annual reports, consultants who are experts
in the editorial field will always be appreciated.
10. Executive search/headhunter firms: While this
is not for everyone, there are people who enjoy finding
talent for employers.
11. Gardening: In the past decade the demand for
gardening consultants has blossomed (pun intended) into
a $1 million-a-year business. Not only are businesses
hiring gardening consultants; so are people who are too
busy to take care of their gardens at home.
12. Grantsmanship: Once you learn how to write a
grant proposal, you can name your price.
13. Human resources: As long as businesses have
people problems (and they always will), consultants in
this field will enjoy a never-ending supply of corporate
clients, both large and small. (People-problem
prevention programs could include teaching employees to
get along with others, respect and even violence
prevention in the workplace.)
14. Insurance: Everyone needs insurance, and
everyone needs an insurance consultant to help them find
the best plan and pricing for them.
15. Marketing: Can you help a business write a
marketing plan? Or do you have ideas that you feel will
help promote a business? If so, why not try your hand as
a marketing consultant?
16. Payroll management: Everyone needs to get
paid. By using your knowledge and expertise in payroll
management, you can provide this service to many
businesses, both large and small.
17. Public relations: Getting good press coverage
for any organization is a real art. When an organization
finds a good PR consultant, they hang on to them for
life!
18. Publishing: If you're interested in the
publishing field, then learn everything you can and you,
too, can be a publishing consultant. A publishing
consultant usually helps new ventures when they are
ready to launch a new newspaper, magazine,
newsletter--and even websites and electronic
newsletters.
19. Taxes: With the right marketing and business
plan (and a sincere interest in taxes), your career as a
tax consultant can be very lucrative. A tax consultant
advises businesses on the legal methods to pay the least
amount of tax possible.
20. Writing services: Anything related to the
written word will always be in demand. Find your
specialty in the writing field, and the sky will be the
limit!
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