Laid Off? Do This to Run Your Own Business
You just got fired for the last time. Now you’re in charge of the hiring / firing policy. Why? Because you are starting your own business… FINALLY.
To hang the “BOSS” sign on your door, here are 5 quick tips:
1) Play to Your Passion: Figure out what turns you on – if you’re passionate about a business idea, your chances of success go way up. That passion will help you get through the tough times. See Life Planning at StartupNation, the first of 10 Steps to open a business.
2) Take Stock: No, not shares of the company. We mean take stock of what your skills are, the resources you have available, the track record you might be able to leverage from a marketing perspective.
3) Commit to Your Concept: create a short but clear statement about what your business idea is. It’s OK if this morphs into something else, but you need to force yourself to distill the idea into a brief statement that’s clear to any third party (money people, customers, partners, employees, web designers, etc.)
4) Google Like Mad: To collect some quick research, immediately start Googling for anything and everything associated with your idea. The faster you become an authority, the faster you’ll be able to come up with your business strategy, including pricing, target markets, milestone timing, operations and more.
5) Test Drive: Find someone—maybe a few people—who’ll be your sounding board for your ideas and strategies. It’s easy to buy into your own hype when working up a business opportunity. Use insiders for this, but don’t be afraid to ask people who have no relationship with you. One smart thing to do is find someone in non-competitive geographic market who runs a similar business and ask them to be a mentor.
If you take these quick steps, you’ll quickly replace confusion, fear, desperation or any of those kinds of negative thoughts with information, action items and the beginning of a path forward to get your own business off the ground.
January 17th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I have not been laid off, and actually just got a well-paying programming job, but these tips are still very useful in my case. I am in the works of creating my own LLC and everything on here applies! Thank you!
January 17th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
timothy,
my pleasure. if you have other strategies that prove to be effective, please let everyone know here!
January 17th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
To add to your piece, Rich.
-Get educated in the business you are dreaming of
-Get a business coach for indepenent advice
-Your coach or mentor will put the brakes on when he has to and let you step on the gas when appropriate
-Study your numbrs and projections; then redo them again and again for diffrerent scenarios to cover yourself
-evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Are you the expert widget maker with a new twist on it, or are you a leader, thinker, problem solver, deal maker within the widget industry?
mrfranchiseman.com
January 17th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
thank you….. very timely piece, because I am determined NOT to ever work for someone again. However do you validate how realistic your idea is? I am awed at what people spend money on, but what’s the best way to to survey if people spend money on my business goals/ideas?
January 19th, 2009 at 8:18 am
get help from a company called Program Funding Consultants
they get start up companies and relatively new companies
SBA backed Microloans these loans are for people that are unbankable and that have little or no credit they are great. Their # is: 888-935-5349
January 19th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Great advice, I got the ol’ ax about 9 years ago and never looked back! Getting a mentor is by far a great idea and can help you avoid many rookie mistakes. Having an open mind helps as well because as was the case with me, what I started out doing morphed into something else in the same industry but was better suited to my personality. Thanks for sharing!
January 19th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I guess the mindset of an adult should be the same of a college student. Before you start your own business, it is always about whether you can afford the risk, whether your plan is going to work and whether you can afford the hard work.
Go ahead, give it a try and I can tell you that if you have the entrepreneurial mindset, spirit or what we call it as FIRE, you will never look back.
Wayne Liew
http://www.wayneliew.com
January 20th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Interesting,you can be a total expert on something and have everyone on earth rob your time and knowledge for free and not pay a dime for it,what is the trade,real estate,all phases since ‘71,it is so much fun
January 20th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Go with your dreams. The choice is yours. Dream Big and you can make it. Control your life and own your time. Stay focused and determined!
Tracy Wright
http://executees.net
January 20th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I just got laid off last week. 4th time in 4 1/2 years. Needless to say, I’m done with the corporate world! I am now focusing in turning my part time Gift Basket business into full time. Wanted to do this for a few years now. I think this layoff is the exclamation point I needed to take that leap of faith and make it happen. My advice for those who are being laid off - when life throws you a curve..adjust your batting stance and hit it out of the park !!
January 20th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I hope Joe is right about the financial group he mentioned. I dropped 200 points when I missed a house payment. Sure does leave you in trouble fast. Unemployment insurance is something I’d rather give someone else.
I’ve wanted my own business for years. Maybe I can get started well enough to hire a few more and get them working again.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:31 am
Whether you offer a product or service, the best advice that I can share is to have a marketing plan.
Everyone dreams of making it big, but not too often do we dream of the grunt work to get there. There is nothing worse than casting too wide of a net and not being able to handle your orders. So, start by marketing in your local and surrounding areas first. This will give you an idea of the demand for your service/product and how many orders that you can reasonably handle at one time before you need to hire additional help.
January 27th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Thanks for the tips Rich, I just discovered this site a week ago, and I have been very excited about all the information you and your fellow entrepreneurs have been putting out! I have nacent plans for a green energy business when I get home from Iraq, and I was thrilled to see the addition of some resources just for veterans! this is my second tour, and I managed to squeeze a couple of technical certifications in between, so I can be assured of a steady income while I work out the details of my new venture, I’ll be checking back in here as and when I can, thank you all so much for laying everything out so well, and thanks for the thanks!
Sgt Soulia, Bagdhad
ps. I hope everyone jumps on board the earth friendly train President Obama is running, If you aren’t on-board, you might want to step aside because it won’t stop until we eliminate the middle eastern strangle-hold on our security.
(hooah!)
January 28th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
The reason for the sudden push into entrepreneurial action is people are recognizing the slow axe that is the 9-5 and want to take action. Why give the best years of your life to someone else? As 3 am infomercial-ish as it sounds, the “rat race” is better left for, well, rats. Very good read! Get info on starting your small business YORE Foundation
February 10th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
I certainly can relate to both Penny and Terrie, and others.
I was laid off for the third time in that many years. I understand it was nothing personal, just business. Staff and management enjoyed working with me and commented on my integrity, teamwork, and work product. I am now doing my job searches around the country and contemplating “selling” my skills using a marketing plan I recently developed.
I am a Baby Boomer with over 30 years of executive assistant experience in several fields of business.
To get that critical interview with a potential employer, I only list the last 10 years of employment on my resume.
In this area of the Inland Northwest, downturns and unemployment are unfortunately the norm. But, that being said, employers in this area still advertise for people who have a stable employoyment background, and those with college degrees - I have neither - but I DO have a number of certificates as well as exceptional experience working in quality improvement, policies and procedures, proposal writing, and more. I continually study to upgrade my skills.
Realizing that my resume is now reviewed (or tossed) among hundreds of applicants, it is now time to take control of my own income and work path.
I have developed a marketing plan, and following up with an action plan, for a couple very diverse small businesses - catering and an FBO aviation facility - businesses that are worlds apart.
The information and suggestions within my marketing plan can be adjusted to any business needing assistance, and I will most certainly be using some of the suggestions to improve my own situation.
Good luck to everyone, and your feedback and suggestions are most welcome.
Lyn
March 27th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
[...] In a recent article written by Rich Sloan, ideas were presented on what you can do to start your own business if you have been laid off or fired from a job and you’ve had enough! [...]
March 29th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
[...] In a recent article written by Rich Sloan, ideas were presented on what you can do to start your own business if you have been laid off or fired from a job and you’ve had enough! [...]
July 9th, 2010 at 7:55 am
Nowadays, you must be super creative to have a good business idea that works.*:”
July 12th, 2010 at 11:11 am
it is easy to get Business ideas, just look for a product or service that has demand and fill it~”:
July 12th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
it is easy to get Business ideas, just look for a product or service that has demand and fill it~-.