Starting Your Own Business? - Get Articles by Jim Schulte |  |
> Get Articles > Working At Home - Starting Out > Starting Your Own Business? Starting Your Own Business? Download as PDFJim Schulte jcs795adelphia.net The Internet Marketing Junkie http://www.imjpads.com Starting Your Own Business? .....Great Idea But Watch The Hours. By Jim Schulte (c) 2003 So you want to be your own boss? That's a great idea. You have the required knowledge and backround, you know exactly what it is you want to be involved with. You are tired of that 9 to 5 routine. You want to spend more time with your family, doing the things that you like. You have the money you need to "make it" on your own for at least 1 year, so you tell your boss it was a pleasure, and embark on your new career. Ah, the joy of being your own boss. It's such a great feeling. It's the American dream for most people. Before you make that jump though, be sure you have considered all the facts.The time it takes to operate your business, whether it be online or off, is much greater than you might think. When you worked for some one else, you dreaded that 1 hour commute both ways. Then the 9 to 5 workday, and possibly a little overtime of, let's say, 5 hours per week. Then add in the occassional half day on Saturday to clean up your desk from the work you didn't finish during the week. Tack on the commute for Saturday, only 1 hour round trip because the traffic is not as heavy due to the fact that most people are home sleeping. Total hours for this week, 60! Well now you have your own business, so you won't be working no where near that many hours anymore. That statement is no closer to the truth, then Richard Nixon telling us he was no crook. It's true that you won't have that awfull commute anymore. That, coupled with the overtime and Saturday deal, will give you 20 free hours a week. Oh boy, 20 extra hours to do what I want. You will find out very quickly that the extra time you thought you had, will soon disappear right before your very eyes. That 60 hour work week you hated so much, will turn into a 65 to 80 hour week in no time, without you realizing it happened. I'm not trying to be negative here, I'm just stating facts. I started an online business 1 year ago, selling mouse pads, and nothing else. I didn't go for the usual MLM and other electronic stuff. When you start an online business you need a website, and a newsletter to support the product and/or service. Then you need to advertise, and keep up on current marketing trends, and build your list, and publish your newsletter every week, and write articles, and talk with other publishers, and search for fresh content, and update your website regularly, and submit it to all the search engines, and good God don't spam anybody or the plug will be pulled on the whole shooting match, faster than you can say, where did all of my free time go! I also have two offline businesses. I sell my mouse pads to local shops (this one is doing vey well), and I run a handyman service with a friend of mine. The handyman thing is just starting out but, is looking very promising. The total hours I devote to both my online and offline endevors averages out to about 52 hours per week. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I also work a 40 hour week at my "day job". Make sure you have considerd all of these factors before you tell your boss to take a long walk off a short pier. If you are interested in starting an online business, you won't have to sift through all of the usual paperwork related to starting an offline business. You still need to know what you're doing of course, and you will need to know how to talk the talk, and walk the walk, so to speak. Online businesses are not as easy to operate as everyone thinks. There are literally 1000's of competitors. Offline, or "brick and mortor" businesses, require lots and lots of paperwork. You will need a D.B.A. (doing business as), a tax I.D. number, business checking account, business cards, etc. There are many more things needed to operate your offline business, with a whole bunch more of monitoring agencies, looking over your shoulder all of the time. The online business is easier to run in terms of less paperwork, but still requires a great deal of your time. I have found in my online experience that, there are more people willing to help you with any number of things you may have questions about. I have also developed some great business relationships with online business owners. It's a little tougher to do that offline, as some of the markets are very small, and everyone thinks you're trying to steal their customers. Starting your own business IS a great idea. Just be aware that, like anything else in life, if you want it to be successful, and make it work, you have to put in the time. Remember, you're going to be the boss, and you're the one responsible for EVERYTHING. There will be no one else to blame for your success or failure. In the begining it will be just you doing everything that needs to be done. If you have a solid business plan and stick to it, making the proper changes as things change in your business, then in a short time you will see results. In the first year, that 60 hour week you use to put in, will look like a part time job. Until that happens though, don't look for any FREE time, because there won't be as much. Put in the needed hours, streamline the daily tasks as much as you can, and in the end, it will have been worth everyone of those 80 hour weeks. Finally, if you want something bad enough, don't let the little obstacles get in your way, stay the course, and never ever give up your dream Jim Schulte Creator of the Internet Marketing Junkie Mouse Pad http://www.imjpads.com Editor/Publisher The I.M.J. Newsletter http://www.imjpads.com/mycustompage0013.htm mailto:jcs795adelphia.net How useful did you find this article? This article can be downloaded freely from http://www.get-articles.com and used on your website or in your ezine so long as the author is credited and their resource box left intact. You should not change any links in the article, and where the article is used on a website it's links should be clickable. Please see our terms and conditions page for more information: http://www.get-articles.com/authors-publishers-terms.php |
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