Did you ever hear the saying, “Nobody ever got rich working for someone else!”?
On the other hand, around 80% of new businesses fail within the first 5 years!
So what makes being your own boss so attractive if the end result is most likely failure? The answer given by most would-be entrepreneurs is …
FREEDOM.
So how can you break free and go solo without crashing?
Well, not by jumping into every business opportunity that comes your way and giving it a whole month’s try before admitting defeat and going on to the next one! Believe it or not, a lot of people do just that.
The success secret is simple to describe but not necessarily simple to apply.
So here goes…
The Rules
Rule 1 Recognise that you will be exchanging one boss for many, they are called customers and they can be more demanding than any employer.
Rule 2 Know yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are you prepared to do and what are you not prepared to do? What skills do you have? How do you relate to people? A knowledge of yourself will help to avoid entering a business unsuited to you.
Rule 3 Pick the right idea. This sounds obvious, but it isn’t always so. Will the product or service sell? Will it deliver a large enough profit to cover expenses, pay you and the taxman and leave some over to expand the
business? Can you afford to give it time to grow? Does it fit the YOU that resulted from rule 2?
Rule 4 What support is there to help you build your business? Going solo does not mean doing it alone. Some opportunities provide built in support e.g. Franchising or Network Marketing. Support is also available locally from Business Link and other sources.
Rule 5 There’s no such thing as something for nothing. “You only get what you want by helping enough other people get what they want!” – Zig Ziglar. In business the other people referred to are usually customers.
Rule 6 Pick your business carefully then focus on making it a success, without becoming too distracted by other things. When it is successful, you can then apply the same techniques to another opportunity if you want to.
There are other factors of course, but following these five rules will help you get started.
How To Do It
There are a number of ways to go solo without loads of capital and without too much risk. Once you have “cut your teeth” on one or more of these, you will be ready to tackle the complexities of a full blown business. Being self-employed is simpler then running a business (many people think they are the same thing – believe me, they are not!)
Being self-employed means precisely what it says ….. employing yourself – often in the same job you had as an employee. More often than not you will be home based with few costs. Running a business, on the other hand, often means premises, staff and a host of other costs have to be carried. Which means you have to make a lot of money before you get to keep any for yourself.
Over the next few months I shall be adding a few suggestions to get you thinking……..
