How many times have you said those words to yourself, or to someone else? If the answer is at least once, you’re not alone. But why do so few people take the plunge?
There are a lot of answers. One answer is security: Despite the common pitfalls of working for someone else, or for a big company, there is a great deal of appeal in knowing where your next paycheck comes from, in not having to go out and find your own health insurance, in not having to Sell (that’s a Four Letter Word). In not having to think much, really, about anything except the work itself. Is that a good enough reason to not take the plunge?
Don’t get me wrong, not everyone should go into business for themselves. For a lot of reasons. Only you can decide which are the right reasons to go into business or continue working for someone else.
But people do go into business for themselves all of the time. (And a lot of people are doing it right now.) Some are successful, some are not. Many are not successful the first time, but they keep trying. Others go back to The Corporate World.
If you are seriously thinking about launching your own business, there are a number of issues you will have to wrestle with, including being clear about why you want to do something this crazy, formulating your idea, coping with fear and uncertainty, dealing with isolation, accepting the fact that yes, you will have to Sell, balancing planning with action, and thinking about the type of business you want to run. (Hint: I don’t just mean your line of business or your niche. What kind of soul do you want your business to have?) Not to mention all of the traditional business issues like dealing with taxes, licenses, insurance, financial planning, and so on.
That list may be enough to make you thank your lucky stars for the boss you hate and the paycheck that’s too small and the benefits that are too expensive. Or make you call a recruiter instead of a CPA. But if you’ve thought that you might have a great idea for a business, or at least you’ve got a solid platform of experience that you could use in your own business, and you are willing to wrestle with this stuff, stay tuned. We’ll talk more in the coming days and weeks about these issues and about some of the other things to keep in mind as you consider taking the plunge, and I’ll share some of the things I’ve found helpful as I have gone down that path myself.
Stay tuned…
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Although the list of what is involved with starting your own business is overwhelming and scary, it may not look so bad when listed side-by-side with a similar list of fall backs of working for someone else.
Not everyone is a jack-of-all-trades type willing or able to wear all the hats needed to run a business. However, and perhaps a prelude to your “stay tuned” sections, there are more than one way to skin a business.
PS- I’m really enjoying your blog Sue!
Thanks Amanda! There is definitely more than one way to skin a business, and I think that huge boon for people starting businesses right now is the number of other people doing it with complementary skills. I hope you’ll be part of the discussion going forward!
Hey Sue,
I have been nurturing my photography business for 10 years now! Once you have met your goals, you really need to set new ones or your business just kind of stagnates…I am in that state!
My roommate started her own business about 6 months ago, so I have been watching and supporting her – The Racy Blond. I was blown away when the Chron had her headlined in the SF Marathon.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F07%2F25%2FBAOQ1EJNVA.DTL&type=printable
If you have any qualms of starting your own business, think of the Racy Blond, not only did she start her own business, but she lost over 130lbs, stopped smoking and now runs marathons for fun.
Hi Laura! Thanks for visiting! Congratulations to Alyshia – that is an awesome set of accomlishments! Thanks for the link to your site, too – it’s great to see the range of work you do!