Thursday, February 06, 2020

So you want to be self employed . . .

A note for absolutely new entrepreneurs.

Congratulations on taking the plunge! As scary as it seems right now, quitting your job to start your own business will be one of the highlights of your life. 

A few notes of caution are in order. First, please be very sure that you are willing to take the plunge. I know it’s a good decision, and I’ve never met you. But you need to know it’s a good decision. You need to be completely committed so you will move forward and not look backward.
I’ve always said that bad managers have created more entrepreneurs than any other force in nature. Everyone wants to quit their job sometime. But when you want to quit your job all the time, then you don’t have any choice.
Second, is your family ready for you to take the plunge? You will probably have to work longer hours in the beginning. And you may take a cut in take-home pay for quite some time.
But most importantly, you will fall in love with your new job. Your family will enjoy many benefits from your new freedom, but they need to be prepared for you to spend a certain amount of emotional energy in a relationship with your work.
Third, you need to make sure you are the kind of person who will be successful as an entrepreneur. That means you are self-motivating, you can work effectively alone, and you are good at organizing your work.
If you’re unsure, that’s okay. The Internet is full of resources to help you learn about what it takes to start and run your new business. Just be care of the advice you stumble upon. One of the oldest jokes on the Internet is: On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. In other words, be careful not to take advice just because you found advice that seems to make sense.
One of the advantages of belonging to a larger community is that you can meet people who have actually built businesses and found some success over the years. Their advice is probably worth taking.
Congratulations and good luck!
:-)

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