One of the most heralded accomplishments in today’s mostly urban culture
is securing the coveted 9 to 5 job. The prospects of a monthly pay-check with
full benefits, and a loving community of fellow office workers striving towards
a similar goal as laid out in a staff manual by a board of directors, is
regarded as the ultimate achievement.
After all, landing a decently paying job after years of hard work,
investing time and money to earn that prestigious college degree is an
opportunity only a few people can refuse.
However, after only a few years or even months, of mechanical monotony accompanied
with a few salary raises and promotions, we soon realize that we’re getting deeper
into debt than we’re able to get out. And as we struggle through the “rat-race”,
the prospect of saving enough money for ourselves and our children’s future becomes
ever more elusive.
At this point, most of us just give up and let the rat-race roller coaster
lead us to an unknown “black hole” retirement destination and a pension check we’re not
even sure, will take us anywhere.
Most of us begin to realize that we’ve actually been drugged into a
vicious rat-race cycle working a 9 to 5 job for a boss we don’t particularly care
about.
Sooner than later, just like a cigarette smoker longs to quit from that
dreadful habit, we start looking for ways to quit our precious 9 to 5 job into
the unknown world of business.
By this time, the idea of spending a servitude for the rest of our
miserable lives, working hard to make someone else happy while we trade away
our precious time and ideas, begins to haunt us.
Some of us are brave enough to quit our jobs, without even thinking of
the risks and consequences involved. And yet others, while fully aware that someone
else actually controls our financial destiny, continue loyally, to work in our 9
to 5 job hoping for a promotion, knowing very well that the boss may "pull-the-plug" anytime.
If you’re considering quitting your job don’t do it just yet. Starting
a business is a big decision that you need to take with a lot of soberness, thoughtfulness
and planning.
However, if you’re like me you will plunge into business without even
thinking and no one on earth will be able to convince you otherwise. You will
not even want to hear the word “caution”.
Anyway, if you’re convinced that starting a business is the way to go,
here are some steps you can take to minimize risk(s).
Before embarking on anything serious in business,
I would start by investing some money on a business course to turn myself into an entrepreneur.
There are very good reasons for this…
1.
Support
Seek the support of your spouse, family and friends,
and let them be aware of your intentions openly discussing ways to mitigate risks
without causing much turmoil. Increasingly, more people are turning to
entrepreneurship these days due to declining job openings.
At times, your spouse or even family and friends, may
go against your business idea, but if you plan it well and present it professionally,
they may even become your biggest fans.
2.
Start A Part-Time Business
Starting a part-time business or side hustle while maintaining
your 9 to 5 day job could be a good idea. If you have the support of your
family they might even become your first employees.
3.
Leverage Your Cash or Savings
Don’t quit your day job before your business can
generate enough cash to cover your monthly expenses.
Business comes with many risks and there’s no
guarantee that your business will succeed the first time. Failure is one of the
most valuable lessons you can learn in business, and learning from your mistakes
can often result in your make-or-break for survival and sustainability of your business
against challenges in future.
4.
Find A Niche Market
Identify a profitable niche market whose needs are
unfulfilled or whose demand has not been met. Don’t copy what others are doing,
but find a weakness in what others are doing poorly and do it better. In the business
world it’s quite easy to outdo your competition even in an existing market. By
providing better quality services you can even draw hungry customers to your
side.
One of my favorite business sectors is the food industry.
There will never be a time when humans stop eating. One interesting fact about the
food industry is that you can enter at any point in the large food supply chain
and make money (e.g. farming, distribution, hotels, restaurants, catering etc.).
Service delivery is often the differentiating factor
and one that can put you ahead of the competition in this highly competitive (and
profitable) industry.
5.
Approaching Your Soft Market
First approach your soft market (friends,
colleagues, acquaintances and references) and pitch your offer, proposal,
product or service. There will always be takers.
6.
Approach Your Hard Market
Approach your unknown or hard market (niche market,
references, etc) and pitch your offer, product or service. You can easily find
and identify a niche market in many forums and social networks on the internet.
If you have some testimonials or references from
your soft market, you can leverage this to pitch your offer, product or service
to your hard market.
7.
Offer a FREE service
Offer a FREE service to get testimonials, reputation,
references and credibility.
8.
Leverage Your Skills or
Experience
Leverage your strengths – skills, experience, ideas
and passion. Businesses face many risks and failure often very common. Your skills, experience and passion are
often what’s left after a business failure. Passion is what drives you and
keeps your dream alive even when you do not have cash.
According to an article in FastCompany, "Why Most
Venture Backed Companies Fail," 75% of venture-backed startups
fail. The statistic was based on a study by Harvard Business School’s
professor Shikhar Ghosh.
In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure
Rate by Industry, the failure rate of all U.S. companies after five years was
over 50%, and over 70% after 10 years.
No matter
how much you love your career, most of the times the only thing that keeps you in
a 9 to 5 job is money, so this is what you need to take control of for yourself
using your own means. You need some type of a job, but to have control over
your destiny you also need to become your own boss.
You need
to find a way to create value by yourself. Create something that people will be
willing to pay for like a product or a service. This way you get paid for the
value you provide to other people. There is no pay scale so you don’t have a
salary limit and you can put in as many hours as you want.
Figuring
out how you can get people to pay you for something you actually want to
provide is the key. Once you’ve done that, you’ll probably be able to figure
out the practical steps you need to take to create this for yourself. You idea
probably won’t be totally original so discovering how other people have
achieved it would be a good start.
Most
people don’t have the tenacity to do this but it offers a way out of the rat
race. I know this is a gross simplification of the whole process, but I’m
hoping it has given you enough information and motivation to get started.
Before getting into business, a good business education is considered the best investment you can ever make. If you really want competitive edge, here are some good business courses from some of the best business institutions:
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