How To Start Self-employed Career

This article will help you answer key questions : What are my goals? Should I stay at the current career (employed by other's company) or not ? What are my choices? Should I buy a business or start a new one? What pitfalls should I be aware of? It also profiles a few practitioners who have launched alternative or auxiliary careers?. Their experiences show some of the opportunities available to a certain business, point out skills they found useful.

In this faster-spinning modern world, many professionals (by choice or necessity) will have more than one career before they reach their final goal in life. Fortunately, the skills that make for being a successful person, whatever field you are in now, they are an excellent foundation for a segue into another enterprise if the economic winds or your heart changes whatever. Young practitioners can capitalize on the field’s broad-based any specific knowledge to seize an entrepreneurial opportunity, professionals can use their understanding of business structures, familiarity with the fields where they are now, exposure to management styles and disciplined, analytical thinking to succeed at other endeavors, and running with their own business.

About Job Satisfaction

Almost 75% entrepreneurial—those who classify themselves as self-employed or as the owners of small businesses—say that being self-employed is their dream job.

100% of those who move themselves to self-employed status due to un-satisfaction on their previous job, here are top 11 Reasons why they leave their previous job, “No’s” answer to the following statement:

If your answer is “YES” to most of the above statement, then “NO”, you better stop reading this article, instead wait for my up-coming articles “How To Build Your Career Better”. Unless if you think this articles maybe useful to broad your view and knowledge.

If your answer is also most “NO” to the above statement list, then “YES” you may need to move to self-employed scheme and keep read this articles until the end.


Identify What Motivates You

One asset of being professional (engineer, accountant, doctor, lawyer, etc), particularly in public practice, is that you have a window into diverse client companies. You’re aware of the most profitable ones, those that interest you and those whose owners want to sell. Sometimes a good opportunity just comes your way—perhaps a client asks you to work for or buy into his or her company or a spin-off, a former colleague mentions an interesting business is for sale or you hear about a lead at a professional association's meeting. Due diligence should include looking not only at the financials but also at yourself. Consult your advisers, family and perhaps a business coach and think through your goals.

Answering such following questions will help you to evaluate possibilities as they come your way:

(-). What would I accomplish by making a career change?
If your aim is to broaden your professional scope, if it’s to pursue deferred dreams, another kind of change may be right for you.

(-). Is my job likely to be downsized?
If the answer is yes, develop a fallback plan.

(-). What would I enjoy doing—and where?
When you visualize the answer to this, pay attention to what you’re most excited about.

(-). Is it spending more time with people, earning more money, working in a new occupation, serving the public good, seeing direct results from your work, having more time to pursue special interests or something else?

(-). What would I like to be doing in five years?
Imagine yourself five years after a career change and five years after you retire.

(-). Do I want an entrepreneurial retirement?
If you think work will keep you alert, active and engaged, it is possible you do.

(-). How can I use my strengths as a professional to create success in a new field?
List all your professional assets and strengths, both intangible (what you know) and tangible (your credentials and contacts).

(-). What skills prepare you to be a manager or owner?
Analyze the full set of aptitudes you can bring to a new business.

Buy a Company, Buy a Franchise or Start a New Business

Experiences you gained during your previous career has shown you the risky side of business, too, so proceed cautiously. The basic choices are :
(-). To buy a company
(-). To buy a franchise
(-). Start a new business.

Buying an existing company often has the advantage of offering a guaranteed income stream from day one, a physical plant and if you’re satisfied with the way the business is run trustworthy management. But a potential drawback of buying an entity is that it may have entrenched problems. Sources say it is easier to work with an existing business. If that is your main concern then buy a company or franchise.

Starting a New Business - Take an effective approach

Starting a business gives you maximum control over the structure and focus of the enterprise, it is riskier than buying an existing one. If you think you might want to make the leap into something new, organize the following step by step approach:

Step-1: Make a plan.
If you have an idea for a business, start writing a business plan. The process will make your ideas more concrete.

Step-2: Look for new possibilities.
Watch for opportunities in and out of the field. Do you have a client who is looking to sell his or her business? Do you see a market for a spin-off business? Perhaps your client will want to be part of the new enterprise.

Step-3: Tell friends and colleagues you are looking for a business to invest in.

Step-4: Go to chamber of commerce meetings and other places where you will meet businesspeople.

The best opportunities often come from friends and their circle of acquaintances.

Step-5: Research carefully.
For example, if you are interested in purchasing a franchise, research the market and the company carefully. Study the financial statements of the target company. Speak to several current franchise owners, and get a solid estimate of how much the franchise will cost you.

Step-6: While you are on the way
While you’re on the way to your own career, your own business, I encourage you to keep the following practices to make your way keep in progress:

(-). Stop billing by the hour and restructure pricing for more job satisfaction and to discover more time to pursue other interests.

(-). Inventory your strengths and weaknesses.

(-).Assess your degree of comfort with taking risks. Decide what is really important to you.

(-). Write up a business plan. Putting it in black and white will make your idea more concrete.

(-). Maintain a part-time practice to stay current and to supplement your new enterprise.

(-). Look for new possibilities—for example, through your network you might hear about a client who wants to sell his or her business.

(-). Go other places to see what’s happening—be observant, take notes, then go back to your area, identify the need and try to fill it.

(-). Get advice from the Small Business Administration about starting and funding a small business.

(-). Join a support group of entrepreneurial people with whom to brainstorm ideas. Informal groups and business groups are important sources of information and support.

Step-7: Work with a business broker .
A good borker can match you up with a business that won’t break your budget and will fit your interests.

A Wise thought

Never take a big change without analyzing the market, having capital for the long haul, having a network of professional and personal support and caring about what you propose to do. The choice to reinvent yourself involves trade-offs. For some, the risk-taking element of starting a business can be exhilarating, while others will find it terrifying.

Further Reading: Entrepreneur Characteristics

You may would like to know if you are entrepeneur material or not, get know entrepreneur characteristics what take you it to go to your own business, your victory !

SmallBIZZ provide a more comprehensive and details guidance about a very fisrt step to do to start a small business and what it takes to start a small business . I found those two guidance are relevant by the time. Check it out, you may find the blog owner put in a more topic related to this. Oh ya, there are some video about recent small business event as well, you may find them enjoyable and usefull.