How Can You Best ‘Bite The Recession’?
Is there any other way to ‘bite the recession’ than to make more money? How do you do that when you are either a: 1) Person working for someone else – i.e., an Employee; 2) Student or Teen; 3) Budding Entrepreneur or Stay-at-home Mom or Dad, or; 4) Business Owner? Regardless of your situation, there are ways to make (extra?) money and increase your ‘bottom line’ that are common to any of the above situations.FIRST of all, nearly everyone has a home they can work out of. Figure this as a great starting place, as you can usually find a time & place in your home to work undisturbed for one or more hours per day. You will avoid some of the common negatives that may be oppressing you in a (your?) standard work environment, such as office/corporate politics, sexual harassment, ageism and other forms of discrimination &/or bias, office bullying, workplace violence, demeaning duties &/or titles, favoritism, personality clashes, lack of privacy, gossip, etc. And of course, there’s always the potential for unexpected downsizing and layoffs. In your workspace at home, you are your own boss. You set your hours, your goals, your rules, and your rate of progress, and you collect the rewards. But if you’re not willing to consider the possible necessity of hard work and long hours for yourself, don’t take that step off the curb.SECOND, you probably have a hobby, interest, area of expertise, or brainstorm that you would like to spend more time exploring. Why not make an extra, or even full-time, income from something you enjoy doing? Or learn how to enjoy making money from something new? You already have a computer, so start researching things that interest you and how other people are making money in that area. There are even some seasonal jobs you can do from home. Check out the library, book stores, and magazines. You have to decide to take action and then follow up. You do not have to be your own stumbling block. Learn how to educate yourself and success will follow. Improve Yourself! Remember, everyone on the Forbes 400 list had to start somewhere. Write down your goals and the details of how to proceed as you can envision them, then take that first step and START! Your lists will probably be a moving target as you have to adjust your position based on the market, your ever-increasing knowledge, and other circumstances. Do not write these down in wet concrete, as they are subject to change.THIRD, figure out how much you have to invest. This is not just an issue of money. Frequently, the most important investment is one of time. In many ways, one will offset the other, so that, when you have a larger amount of money to invest, you may not need to invest as much time if you hire the right people (employees, advisors, consultants, etc.). Conversely, if you don’t have much money to invest, or even zero, you will need to invest a lot more time. But there ARE opportunities available to you out there that take little or no monetary investment, but, instead, rely on your investment of time; i.e. – ‘sweat equity’, such as when you clean up a ‘fixer-upper’ to move into. RESEARCH! Again, YOU set your rate of progress. Investing the time in doing the research is the single most important activity you can do before deciding on, and starting up, your own home-based business.Owning your own home-based business is one of the most commonly realized dreams in America. If it was that difficult to do, then home-based businesses would not account for 52% of ALL small firms in the U.S. (from The U.S. SBA – Office of Advocacy: “Small Business” is defined as “an independent business having fewer than 500 employees.”) – That’s HUGE! In 2009, there were approximately 14,285,700 home-based businesses in the United States. Contrary to what you may have heard or read on the Internet or in e-mails from skeptical ‘friends’ about ’95% of all small businesses failing within the first five years’, the SBA says, “Seven out of 10 new employer firms survive at least 2 years, half at least 5 years, a third at least 10 years, and a quarter stay in business 15 years or more.” Similarly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data “…show that 49 percent of establishments survive 5 years or more; 34 percent survive 10 years or more; and 26 percent survive 15 years or more.” Who are you going to believe? Somebody must be doing something right – Why can’t that somebody be YOU?
