ForumsStarting a Business

Well, I'm working in the funeral industry now, so it's pretty much job security. I started my business 3 years ago selling Halloween related items and have seen positive gains each year. This year was going to be the year I left the funeral biz to focus on my biz full time.

Yes, I want to focus on it full time. And no, I am ashamed to admit, I do not have a Business Plan. I don't know how to make one.

Just a word of caution. Please make sure that you do have savings to survive a recession before you quit your job. Just in case you do not have enough savings, try to have a different PERSPECTIVE about your day job.

Write down all the things you LIKE about your day job. And keep adding to it
Next write down all the things you DONT like about your day job and figure out ways to change them - or find a different way to look at that part of your job.

That way you will have have the financial security while you pursue your DREAM JOB
Take care

By the way - if you do have any promotional events, you could post them FREE at www.TheBestCityGuides.com - ROI is great as you do not have to spend a dime to post your events...

I tend to think of things as a trickle down economy. Smaller Businesses tend to struggle through tough times and keep what they can while large businesses seem to cut & run. By this i mean the fortune 500's will announce THOUSANDS of high paying job cuts that will help them achieve profit goals even through painfull times while small businesses will keep on working.

The trickle down part is the impact of job cuts on smaller businesses by a smaller / less spending pool of available customers. The big businesses also cut spending as part of there profit strategy motivation as well.

So my response is its often trickle down and you probably have MORE job security if your personal business is sustainable than you do trying to keep the corporate coffers happy and hope you don't get cut if the economy does continue to shrink.

I always told myself in my other startups "i need to keep my day job boss happy" and never made the commitment to myself to be happy and i always beleived the day job was more stable. The first time i was upset, the second time i was furious. The third time i was lethargic and the 4th time i was just plane peed off. Being in the high tech industry the down turn has really been never ending and i just accepted it as a fact of life but for some reason my brain always thought it was more stable than doing it on my own.

I've since learned that the ONLY stability is that of which YOU create. No matter HOW hard i worked for someone else i was ALWAYS expendible. ALWAYS. Until you work for yourself and commit to yourself on a fulltime basis its hard to realize this.

So take pride in what you do, be proud of what you do and commit to making yourself succesfull on your own and start learning that employment is what you make of it - not what others give to you. I'm soooooo glad to be ending my career in the fortune 500 world and focusing on myself and my family - even though its harder work, its much more satisfying to see the fruits of my labor pay off in many ways beyond a week to week paycheck.

When i worked for a bank one day i was paged on friday not to come in on monday and they mailed home my stuff. When i worked for a high tech company one day i was told i was being laid off because they couldn't afford me - 8,000 other people were laid off and the PR spin was this was so they could make estimated EPS on stock and boy howdy did they. Another one i was laid off because the project was terminated and one more i just quite because i worked 24x7 and still had to fight for my job security - almost like the work wasn't good enougyh to them because it was expensive but at the same time they relied on me and couldn't justify it themselves so I had to justify my own position and if i'm going to do that i may as well WORK FOR MYSELF.. the boss wouldn't stand for me because he was too busy trying to stand for himself. Just a crappy place to work and glad i'm rid of it.

Regarding health insurance...both my wife and I have minimal health benefits (another con related to working for a small business). When our daughter was diagnosed with O.I. (Osteogenesis Imperfecta or Brittle Bone Disease) we knew we had to get good health coverage for her since she'd be in and out of the hospital so much (she's had 4 broken bones already, and she's 2 1/2). We live in CT, and we're lucky enough that CT has the Husky plan for children. We signed up for that. It's a great plan with max benefits, so she's covered.

Brian,

Thanks for the sound advice and words of encouragement (thanks to your mother as well). Since originally posting this thread I have had just that revelation: I no longer am fretting over the economy.

Not to belittle the whole economy and recession, but we all have to stay strong and toughen up. Once I was looking for sympathy and expressing to a co-worker that my sales were down from a year or two ago and I blamed the economy. He right away said, "Ken, people have money and they are still going to spend it". He then added: "They are just going to be choosier what they spend it on". I think if you have great quality products, they will speak for themselves. Sure, the luxury products are going to suffer in sales because people need food on the table and gas in the car. If you as a business owner have personality and passion, people are going to see through that and it will be contagious. I know I love Halloween and decorate like crazy for it. It is 2nd to Christmas in my home. If you got nice things....people are still going to buy.