2 - Start A Business

Contents

1. Gain Control Of Your Own Life
2. Successful Freedom

1. Gain Control Of Your Own Life

Hold on to your seats, because the next phase of your life is going to be wild. It will be the best, most exciting time you've ever known. The fact that you are reading this manual shows that you've made that first step, a step towards life without a 'job'.

Maybe you have planned to be your own boss for some time. Maybe you haven't even made this decision yet. Whichever, by the time you finish this manual, I know you will feel confident in starting a life of freedom, the life with no boss but yourself.

Everyone has only four choices

1. Live off the government, retirement check, student grants, spouse or savings and not work at all.

2. Stay in your current job, and with what you've got right now.

3. Get a new job.

4. Choose life without a job, by starting a business.

Let's face it, few of us have the money (or rich spouse) to pursue option one for long. Even if we did, we would soon find such a life devoid of purpose and rather boring. We would probably dread the question "what do you do for a living?" because there is little social acceptance for non-workers, for bums or others who are just drifting through life.

Doing nothing may even kill us. Studies have shown that those who choose to just "take it easy" after retirement have a much shorter lifespan than those who continue to challenge themselves.

Choice two is the easiest choice, because it requires no changes. Remember this saying though:

If You Always Do What You've Always Done, You'll Never Have More Than What You've Already Got

Rather than focusing on the material aspect, I'd like to amend that slightly to end with You'll Never Be More Than What You Already Are. What are you now?

You're just a cog in a machine. A serf working for the baron of industry. A wage slave. Slave? Yes! The shackles may be silver or gold, but they're restraining you nonetheless.

When most people think of making a change for the better, they go for the third option. A new job. That is the "normal" choice. It may provide a better income, and a familiar structure. It is also the choice that we have been taught as the normal route for people with ambition. If you are reasonably able-bodied, you are expected to "hold down a job." Each job is supposed to be a rung up the ladder to a new job. Unfortunately, most never reach the top of the ladder. They fall off on the way up due to office politics, due to lack of recognition, due to discrimination, due to heart attack from stress. Those that do reach the top are often struck with disappointment. Is this all there is? Oh yeah, you'll get your gold watch at retirement.

Few people tell you as you are growing up that you are perfectly capable of making the fourth choice, that of starting your own business.

That is sad, because many people feel trapped in a job, but feel helpless to quit. They have to provide for their family, after all. They are trapped into work they are tired of, for a company that doesn't really care about them, for a boss they can hardly tolerate. They fight a nasty commute to get there, and can hardly wait to leave - often with more drudge work in their briefcase that needs to be done on their own time.

Jay Conrad Levinson has written several books explaining why people still keep jobs they hate, and why they should make the break into a business of their own. One of his books was titled simply "Quit Your Job," and it made an enormous difference in my own life. It is out of print now, but you may be able to still find it. If you do, grab it. If I could, I'd reprint the entire book in this chapter, it's that inspirational. In "Quit Your Job," he describes perfectly what it is too often like to be a "wage slave."

"You have a job. With it probably comes a steady paycheck and fringe benefits, such as insurance, a pension plan, a bonus and a paid vacation."

"Perhaps you take pleasure in a few of your job responsibilities. Maybe you feel some sense of job security. It's enjoyable being with some of your co-workers, and then there's the company picnic and maybe the bowling team."

"Here's what else comes with a job for many people: boredom, confusion, frustration, insecurity, a lack of control, insufficient income, fear, a hard-headed boss, insensitive company policies, commuting, uncertainty, and eventual retirement - unless you get laid off or fired or your department is dissolved - to a life with too much free time and not enough money."

Is Slavery Really Dead?

If not, whose person are you? Your boss's? Maybe. Your company's? Probably. Whoever controls your time, behavior, income, responsibilities, attire and future controls you. Just as surely as a puppeteer controls a puppet. Maybe you've never seen it that way, but that is the way it is - as long as you have a job.

When you have a job, who will control you? Who will say when you have to get up in the morning, when you take your lunch, when you can go on vacation? Who will you have to beg for a raise, and who will you have to be nice to even if you hate their guts? Your boss!

Haven't we had enough of that? Whether you believe we were created by a Holy God, or evolved from prehistoric ancestors, or were dropped from spaceships, we are on the top of the intelligence chain here on Earth. We are too smart to have to go to somebody else and ask if you can have an extra half hour off for lunch!

Let's look at option four instead.

Being your own boss means that you are in control. You have gained the freedom to decide how your life is going to be run. You have the freedom to earn as much money as you want, to do the kind of work you like, where you like to do it (in your pajamas if you like), and when you want to do it.

Imagine the feeling - getting up in the morning when YOU like, not having to blend into the flow - or more likely the crawl - of all the commuters. Not having to put on the corporate uniform. Not having to wait till the weekend or dreading the Monday, like all the other wage slaves.

These freedoms and many more are part of being your own boss!

Life without a job is something you've probably never known before. Most of us went from the parent telling us what to do, to the teacher telling us what to do, to the boss telling us what to do. This will be different! It will take some getting used to - but you will enjoy getting used to it!

You'll now be excited about work, because it is all your idea, your effort, your way. Your income will depend not on some arbitrary wage scale, but on how well you do your work. Finally, you get to decide how much money you make.

That's economic freedom!

Being an independent business person, you'll have opportunities jumping out at you all the time. These opportunities just don't present themselves to wage slaves - and even if they did, wage slaves have no time to pursue them. You may hear that a company or government agency is looking to purchase a quantity of gizmos, and recall that you were talking just the other day to someone who had a lot of gizmos sitting unsold. Believe it or not, such serendipitous things happen all the time to those who have the freedom to pursue the opportunit.

That's opportunity freedom!

When you are a wage slave, you have to ask for time off for a vacation. Hopefully it can be worked out so your spouse can get the same time off, and at the same time the kids are out of school. Sometimes not. As a self-employed person, you have the freedom to balance your life as you wish.

Many self-employed people work only three or four days a week. Some work only mornings. Some don't get out of bed before noon. On the other hand, some choose to work twice as many hours as they did while a wage slave. While I think that's missing part of the point of self-employment, they do those hours because it is their choice. As your own boss, you decide your hours.

If you love travel, you can take off whenever you want, and stay gone till YOU decide you need to come back. If you want to take a day off to just rest and relax, you do not have to ask permission from anybody. You don't have to call in with a phony "I'm sick" excuse. You just do it.

That's time freedom!

One of the most interesting trends among the self employed is people moving their business to wherever suits them best. If you don't like winter, you can move to Talahassee or Tucson or Tahiti! People are moving themselves and their business to a farm in the country, a cabin in the woods, or a boat in the harbor. With the modern technology, you can do many businesses from just about anywhere.

That's geographic freedom!

As your own boss, you'll find a new sense of pride in your work. You begin finding that you get more done in five hours of activity on your own than you did in five days working for somebody else.

As noted by Barry Tarshis in the Inc. Magazine Ofice Guide, 22% of the day is spent by the average executive writing or reading memos. Almost 40% didn't need to be written in the first place, according to the executives that read them. According to some, as much as 70% of the day is spent taking care of internal matters, such as meetings, reports and filing, activities not directly concerned with filling the customer's needs or making a profit.

As your own boss there need be no meetings, no waiting for orders, no memos, no dead time. Since you alone decide your hours, and your time directly affects your income, you find ways to spend your time wisely.

More importantly, being your own boss means you and you alone are in control of your life. Don't you think it is time for you to take control?

There will be problems, to be sure - but you can easily overcome them - because you are in control. You don't have to make suggestions or wait for approval on a request. You can take action immediately. it's your show! Aud just as surely as there will be problems, there will be triumphs. You will enjoy these immensely, because you are the one who made it happen.

"When you paddle your own canoe - you get to steer."
                                          -Anonymous

2. Successful Freedom

You will not be alone. The most significant economic change happening in the work force today is the rapid increase in the number of the self-employed. lt is revolutionizing the way America does business. In contrast, do you know how many net jobs have been added to the economy by the Fortune 500 companies since 1980? None. Not one single job. In fact, the major companies have eliminated five million jobs, So the burden and the momentum of the economy has shifted to the entrepreneur. The INC. 500 list of America's fastest growing small private companies has had an average growth rate of l03% yearly, with the average company adding nearly 23 employees every year.

By deciding to become free, to become an entrepreneur, you are part of a movement sweeping the country, At the same time that more and more people are evolving out of wage slavery and into economic freedom, the move is made easier because of the rapid change in the tools available. Those tools are allowing many people to start their business from home. An estimated 25-40 million Americans are home based business owners now. The exact number is n't known, since many are not registered or licensed anywhere. What is clear is that the numbers are growing rapidly - about 10% a year.

Part of success in business is determined not by how much money you make, but how much you get to keep. Being homebased allows you to keep much more of what you make. There is no reason to have the overhead of a commercial rent in this business. Start it from your home - and keep it there!

Three Success Traits

There are three traits that I feel will be necessary for your
success, in this or in any business.

1. Persistence.
 Napoleon Hill, probably the inspirational father of all entrepreneurs, made a study over many years of his two heroes, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, trying to figure out what made these two inventors such dynamic and productive geniuses. He finally decided that:

"I found no quality, save persistence, in either of them, that even remotely suggested the major source of their stupendous achievements."

The next trait is closely tied to the first:

2. Optimism.
 This is not pie-in-the-sky thinking or hoping that somehow everything good will be given to you by Divine Gift. It is a belief that if you work your tail off for something good, Divine Providence will ensure your efforts are rewarded.

The optimist sees the chance to start or expand a business even when there is a recession on. The optimist know something very special about himself (or herself) -that all that is needed for success is what is inside. What the mind can conceive, and the heart can believe, will be achieved.

"Nurture great thoughts for you will never go higher than your thoughts."
- Benjamin Disraeli

There will always be people around you that will come up with many good reasons why you cannot succeed at starting your own business - or if you do succeed in starting, why you will fail before long.

"The economy is too tough"
"You don't have enough experience"
"You are undercapitalized"
"The ‘big companies' will eat you up."
"Don't you know most businesses fail in the first few
years?"
"Your family will starve. How can you be so irresponsible?"

Ignore them. Press on. You can do it if you only have enough guts to stick it out. Believe in yourself. You were created with all the talent and intelligence needed to do this. Plenty of folks have succeeded who were less intelligent, less educated, and who started with far less.

A tool for optimism is to visualize your goals. Set goals and concentrate on them. Write them out on a sheet of paper or a 3x5 index card, and make sure you look at your goal list several times a day.

A really great speaker came to talk to the real estate office where I worked. She showed us her watch, and it was a nice one, but what was unique was that there was an orange dot sticker stuck to the face. She explained that the orange sticker represented her goal of having the cash and time to take a European month-long vacation. She had given herself a deadline to do it, and every time she looked at her watch, she was reminded of her goal! ( I now have a dot on my watch, too!)

3. Balance.
This third trait needed to succeed is perhaps the hardest to maintain. The point to becoming your own boss is not (I hope) just to make a ton of money. The point is to again freedom and control over your own life. This truly marks the successful entrepreneur from the ones who may be growing a great company, but are killing themselves in the process.

One of the myths about entrepreneurship is that if you own your own business, you need to become a workaholic. I debunked it before, let me do it again, because this is the worst kind of nonsense!

You may need to work long hours - for a while in the beginning. (In fact, it has been said that you'll have to work 80 hours a week for yourself if you want to avoid working 40 hours a week for somebody else!) You may need to work harder than ever before - for the first several months -maybe even the first couple years. You might decide to do it forever! The key is, are you having fun?

If you're not having fun, you're not doing this right!

It may be stressful at first, but if it doesn't start being fun after several months, reevaluate how you are working. Can't you delegate some of this, or hire a freelancer to do some of it? Remember always that the real goal is not simply making a fortune, but gaining freedom and control over your own life!

There are going to be a lot of stresses, worries, and excitement in running your own business. You need a way to recharge your batteries, to find some peace when the world gets too hectic. I believe that faith in the Almighty is a big help. Whatever your concept of God, keep the faith. You need some quiet time every day to recharge those batteries. Some find their quiet time early in the morning before the rest of the family is up, some take a break halfway through the day and lock their door for an hour of contemplation, prayer, and/or relaxation. Some take a walk in the cool of the evening. Whichever time you find is best for you, make it a standing appointment that you will try never to break~ Get away from or lock out all other claims on your time, other people, and all media. You need to be still, to rest and to think.

At first, it may be uncomfortable. In this day and age, we are not used to being still, or experiencing quiet. An hour may seem like too long to spend away from your responsibilities. It's not. Try to keep this time sacrosanct. If you find you have to cut it down on occasion, do it grudgingly. You will approach life with a better perspective if you do this.

Plan in leisure time. Vacations are yours to schedule - one of your new freedoms. You should 'earn' at least 30 days a year for yourself. Even the military gives people that much! Vacations are a necessary counter to stress, and can actually improve the way you do business. Don't pass them up.

Every perk that you think a job could offer, you will be in a position to give yourself. Do you like the idea of a big leather executive chair? It's yours. Do you want a company car or an expense account? As soon as you can budget them in, do so! You are the President of your company, the CEO, the big cheese. Spoil yourself a little. Just remember you have to bring in enough profits to cover these 'perks'. But is it any different in the wage-slave arena? If you don't bring in the profits, the goodies are given to someone else!

Your being an entrepreneur can be hard on your family, at least at first. The first few months it may look like you are spending all of your time working, and not making any money. Your family may begin to resent your decision, if you do not plan in time together. Schedule time spent with them and keep that time free. Remember - you're the boss, and you have the freedom. Besides, a supporting family is an asset to your business - so take care of them!

As you become successful, family support will likely grow. Your hours may become less, your income will start flowing, but that is not the real reason why your family and friends will feel good (though envious) about you running your own business.

The real reason they will like it so much is because you will be so much happier! And if you are happy, you are much nicer to be around. As you start realizing the full potentials of your freedom, your enthusiasm and enjoyment will be infectious. You will have evolved from a wage slave to a truly free person!

Another part of balance is the knowledge that you are in a constant state of change. We all are. It is up to you what direction that change will go, but you cannot stop it. You age, your mind learns from each experience and how you deal with it. You need to ensure that the changes in your life are positive.

Keep changing, positively.

Some of the ways to ensure you continue changing positively are:

1. Continue learning. Take courses at your local community college, attend seminars, read - and read - and read. Many courses and seminars are very low cost, such as those given by the Small Business Administration. Get hold of every business and motivational book and tape you can buy, beg or borrow. Subscribe to the magazines devoted to the entrepreneur, such as Success, Entrepreneur, Inc. and Home Office Computing. Subscribe to newsletters that pertain, such as Home Business News, Smarter!, etc. There are hundreds of newsletters, catering to every specialty.

2. Be ready for inspiration. Carry a deck of 3x5 index cards with you and write down any tidbits of information you run across in your reading that interests you, or stray thoughts that pass through your mind from time to time. Inspiration knows no time limits. You may have a great business idea while sitting on the porcelain throne, or in your car, or sitting down to dinner. If you don't write it down immediately, you may not be able to recall it later, so carry your cards all the time.

3 Grow your library. Start now to acquire a library of business and motivational books. You can get some of them second hand, at garage sales or used book stores. I list sources in the back as well. The library is great for looking up things and borrowing book to read - but you will want to keep working on your own bookshelves. Some of the books on my shelf are getting pretty dog-eared from the many times I refer to them. They are the best kind of partners and advisors - always faithfully there with the best advice.

Winning Attitude

Is all this talk about persistence, optimism and balance necessary to starting a business? Believe it or not, the right attitude is just as important as having an idea - other people's ideas can be easily purchased. It's just as important as having enough capital - many enterprises are founded with no cash at all! It is just as important as any other facet of starting a business - and requires no capital to develop. So start today!