Over the years, we the "hard-working salaried lot", complaining of "never making the ends meet" as far as our salaries are concerned, have searched and searched for ways to make extra income. A lot of us seek part-time employment, or get a second job, but very few leave the convenience of the workforce to set out on their own. For this reason, the companies and big corporations that employ us grow bigger and bigger and make millions in profits, for tapping that immense reservoir of human resources who must make that badly needed extra income to make “'their ends meet".
As much as we want to, most of us cannot afford to stop working and face the risks of establishing our own businesses. Many of us are afraid to lose our regular salaries for a variety of reasons – all of them valid – the bills we need to pay, the family we need to feed and clothe, among others. Hence, some people opt to take the “safer” route and accept the security and stability of a salaried job.
But we can have a full time job somewhere and have a small business on the sides. While the regular job takes care of the basic necessities of the home, the small business takes care of the extra amenities. Plus, you get to be your own boss doing the things you love or do best! All it takes is hardwork (lots of it!), creativity, patience and perseverance. There are thousands, probably millions out there who are still enthused to operate a business of their own. Why is this so?
It is the search for freedom, security, power and good quality of life that drives a person to look at those who already made it to the higher level of the financial echelon and guided with the fact that each of us are given the equal opportunity to harness our capabilities, we decide to go for it.
The path we recommend for starters is to have a "fall back" position. If you are married, one of you may continue to work somewhere while the other make the initial steps to form the business. If you are single, start your business part-time.
This path is the safest way to take. It is always worthwhile to have a "fall back" position, just in case the business does not turn out good. However, because of this "fall back" position, the effort and concentration you may give to your business will not really be considerable. There will be a lot of instances that you will be faced with time and other constraints, making you lose focus of your entrepreneurial goals. Given the demands of work, home, family and business, you may not be able to do what you have to do for your business -- following-up with your clients, finding financing for your inventory or disposing of excess inventory, checking up on your competition (some of your clients may have become your competition), finding new customers. Well, we can always shrug and say ‘it was good while it lasted”.
Please remember however, that we mean a serious business for you or for me. We wish to tell you outright that it is not easy as you may have read in thousands of "Business Opportunities" and classified ads and “How-To" books. We will be cheating or making up a "dream world" if we tell you that you will automatically become "rich" if you follow what we tell you.
NO WAY! This is not selling you a lottery ticket with zero chance of losing.
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