The United States of America has been a world leader for decades because, from the beginning, it has encouraged free enterprise and entrepreneurship. This encouragement has led to thousands of technological breakthroughs and has allowed people to be more successful than they ever could be in their wildest dreams. By creating programs to encourage business owners, the United States provides opportunities that you might not get in other countries around the world.
I HAVE A GREAT JOB. WHY START A BUSINESS?
Today, you have a great job. Today, you are being paid well and life is easy. If you are following some of the guidelines in this blog, you are saving money for retirement, you have an emergency fund and maybe you are able to travel and spend time with your family. If you are satisfied with your life, maybe you don’t need to read this blog or start a business. However, if you are interested in a challenge and you are ready to get out of our comfort zone to really get to the next level in your financial life, this is what you need to read. A job can come and go. You have no control if a company keeps you or fires you. You have no control over the direction of the company and the decisions that are made at the top. Unless you are in upper management, you are simply a cog that makes the wheel go round. You are replaceable at any time and you are expendable if the company starts to go through a rough patch. The only control you will ever have in your life of your financial situation is if you own a business. Technically, your family finances is a business and you control how much you spend, what you invest in and how you monitor your personal finances. This is different.
A business allows you to do the following:
- Create another source of income (you don’t even have to quit your job)
- Create something of value that you could sell at a later time
- Create a stream of income that allows you to write off expenses from the business income so you don’t have to pay after tax money
- Control your own schedule to work on your own hours without having to report to someone else
- Control your own destiny by making business decisions that could infinitely grow your income
YOU DON’T HAVE TO QUIT YOUR JOB
This is one of the biggest advantages. If you are happy with your job, you can still start a business on the side. This depends on a few factors, but really, life comes down to what you’re good at and what skills you have to offer if you want to start a service-based business on the side (like social media marketing, consulting, accounting, etc). If you want to start a product-based business, what products can you sell, who is the market you’re selling to and how expensive will it be to manufacture your products.
BUSINESSES FAIL ALL OF THE TIME
It is true that businesses fail. If a person doesn’t understand the basics of business, then their odds of success start to drop very quickly. That’s a fact. If you are selling a product that costs $10 to make and you are selling it for $13, there is not a lot of money left for expenses like staff, office, utilities and marketing. In my experience, people who start businesses always have an initial blast of energy to get started. They get their business cards and web sites set up and start talking to people about how they own their own business and they get really excited about the “IDEA” of owning a business. The hard part comes next. Is there business dealing in something that’s desirable? Is their product worth the cost or is it even hip enough or useful enough to be sold? Is their service something people want and how good are they at that service? Is their restaurant location in a desirable location? There are many reasons why businesses fail, but success or failure comes down to the owner and how confident they are in their product or service and how quickly they can adapt to market conditions.
