Job loss is never nice, that much is for certain. It brings with it a lot of financial uncertainty, and it can have a devastating impact on the person’s confidence and self-esteem. That being said, unemployment still throws up a host of different opportunities, one of which is entrepreneurship. If you ever lose your job, don’t allow yourself to wallow in the disappointment for too long — see it is as an opportunity to broaden your professional horizons. If you use your newfound free time wisely, there’s no reason why you can’t start your own business and ultimately take your career to a whole other level.
Explore Your Options When It Comes To Financing Your Startup
Unemployment will force you to tighten your purse strings. Your wages will decrease, and, for the time being, at least, you won’t be able to enjoy the standard of living that you are used to. This does not, however, mean that you won’t be able to finance your startup. Rest assured, you will always have options when it comes to injecting your business with funds needed to get it up and running.
In order to start a business, you need to have enough funding to cover your expenses for at least 12 to 18 months. One advantage of doing this while you are on unemployment is that you will have your unemployment check to help cover the expenses.
Another option that you have in this instance is to take out a small business line of credit. This type of financing will allow you to tap into funds as and when you need to. As a result, you will be able to inject your startup with an ample amount of cash without having to worry about landing yourself in debt.
Are You Cut Out to Be an Entrepreneur?
Being your own boss requires a certain type of personality. You have to be a “self-starter” willing to work hard for little or no money. You need to be passionate about what you are doing and not afraid to do whatever it takes to make your business successful.
Do You Have the Support of Your Family?
It is more difficult to make your business a success if your family isn’t fully behind you. Starting a business is tough enough without having to deal with negative attitudes when you get home.
Have You Done Your Research?
Sometimes people are actually too passionate about their ideas. They have fallen in love with them and refuse to listen to experts, market research, and even their potential customers. You need to find a need that you can fill at a price the customer is willing to pay. (Often newbie entrepreneurs forget the last part). So even though they may have found a need, they must charge more than a customer is willing to pay in order to make it profitable or they end up charging too little in order to make the sale and end up working for nothing.
Be Strategic With The Type Of Business You Start
Being strategic with the type of business that you start could very well help your startup to thrive in the earliest days of its inception.
If, for example, you lost your job as a result of an economic downturn, you can be sure that there will be hundreds of people out in the same position as you. To tap into this freshly unemployed market, you might want to consider starting a business that helps people to get back into work. This could entail you starting a resume writing service, or it could entail you starting an agency that helps people to find specific work in specific industries (hospitality, education, etc.)
The point is, take your current situation into account and be strategic when deciding what type of business you are going to start. This will help you get your foot in the door of your chosen field, and what you then do to scale this industry will be up to you.
Unemployment can be a disappointing and scary time, but there are a surprising amount of positives to be gotten out of it. Losing your job will finally give you the time to consider your career options and test your abilities as a self-employed worker.
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