HAVE
YOU EVER OPERATED A BUSINESS
OF YOUR OWN?
This
is a particularly good question!
Experience in self-employment
can be an important factor in
your success or failure.
If, of course, your previous
experience was negative it could
have provided you with valuable
practical knowledge. One learns
as much, if not more, from failures
as successes.
A failure, however, might have
negatively affected your personal
attitude (the old cliché goes
"once bitten, twice shy!").
Let's look at what you could
have gained or lost!
From
a practical standpoint if you
have ever operated a small business
you'll be aware (or at least
you should be aware) of all
the necessary items to be looked
after.
You'll know about the tax laws
in your jurisdiction and what
you have to do to comply with
them. You'll be aware of how
zoning laws and other local
laws and by-laws will affect
use of your property or any
property you might acquire or
lease for your project. You'll
have names and other contact
information for any service
providers you could require
such as accountants, lawyers,
bookkeepers, promotional services
or even people to look after
cleaning, landscaping and other
things you don't have the time
or ability to do yourself.
You may even need someone to
walk your dog(s) or feed your
cat(s) or, for that matter,
your children. If you have no
experience in self-employment
you'll have to learn all these
things or find out the necessary
answers.
After all, going into business
is a bit more complicated than
just putting up a sign on your
front lawn announcing "Such
& Such! Inquire Within."
A
lot of past experience and knowledge
is applicable to any business
you may elect to operate. Say
you ran a widget-straightening
business for several years and
then decided to close it down
because that trade became obsolete.
You then chose to open a gourmet
fortune cookie bakery. Well,
widget-straightening and fortune
cookie baking have very little
in common but most of the details
of running a small business
apply to either trade. You'll
require many of the same licenses
and permits; the same zoning
and tax laws would apply and
you might even use the same
accountant and dog-walker!
Now
let's take a look at the personal
side. If you have successfully
run a small business no doubt
you'll be pretty confident you
can run another one. You were
successful as a widget-straighteners
so why shouldn't you be as a
fabulous fortune cookie baker?
Or, at least, you'll think that
way. On the other hand, if you
have already tried your hand
as an entrepreneur and failed
(primarily because of small
misjudgments or things you weren't
aware of) you may well feel
that experience proves you were
never meant for self-employment!
Mark
Twain summarized this very well
when he stated.
"We
should be careful to get out
of an experience all the wisdom
that is in it. We should not
be like the cat that sits
on a hot stove lid. She will
never again sit down on a
hot lid and that is well.
But she will also never again
sit down on a cold one."
If you have experienced running
your own business, or better
yet if you are earning your
living that way currently, you
have a definite asset.
If, however, you are new to
the concept keep in mind that
others before you have successfully
learned what they needed to
know. If you have experience,
and that experience is negative,
do not assume it will always
be so. Keep in mind Mark Twain's
cat.
Not every stove lid will be
hot nor will every business
you start fail!
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