Tired of Your J-O-B?
According to Robert Kiyosaki (entrepreneur and best
selling author of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series) a J-O-B means "Just Off
Broke".
If you're working a regular j-o-b and tired of the daily grind, you may
be thinking how great it would be to have your own business and be your
own boss.
Or maybe you probably have ideas about how you could manage the job or
department better. Soon you're thinking it would be great to start a business
of your own and run it the way you like. It might surprise you to learn
that thoughts like these are quite common.
Starting your own business is not easy, no matter what you've heard. Some
people are in the right place at the right time and the stars are aligned
and suddenly, they're a success. Stop and think how many people you know
that have been this lucky. It's very rare to succeed the first time and
in fact, many wealthy people don't succeed until they've created or lost
one, two or three businesses. The very reason they are a success in their
own business is because of the failures they have had or the obstacles
they've overcome.
There are other people that have started their business only to find out
later that it's actually worse than the j-o-b they had. This usually occurs
when they have either failed to plan or have left out an integral part
of the business plan. One of the most important steps in planning is your
vision; not the vision of your success, but how you will get there.
For instance, it it's your dream to own a storefront, you'll have to consider
the regular hours of the other stores in the location you're interested
in. You'll have to be in your store, ready for customers usually six days
a week, eight hours or more each day. If you're not open when regular
foot traffic occurs, you'll lose money unless you find another way to
bring in customers. And don't forget the extra hours you'll put in for
bookkeeping, cleaning, organizing, etc., all time away from your family
and friends.
Many people are giving up their j-o-b for the excitement
of working from home, preferably in their pajamas. Usually, this involves
doing business on the Internet or creating and selling services or products
locally. Doing business in your neighborhood means you have to get to
know a lot of people, either personally or through their business and
related organizations. And doing business on the Internet is just another
way of distributing your service or product.
To market your own service or product involves selling. Unless you're
someone who could sell anything to anyone, you're going to need a lot
of training and experience to make a sale. Even selling something you
use and recommend yourself is quite difficult if you're not a social animal.
If you have an idea for a business that you run from your home, you'll
have to consider the local zoning laws and association by-laws when applicable.
Having employees arrive to your home could get you complaints from your
neighbors or even worse, a violation when they call the city or the association
to file a complaint.
Now let's think about when you'll make a profit. It takes time and money
to establish a customer base and you will need enough money to support
your business and yourself in the meantime. What will you do if it takes
longer than you anticipated? Best to have a backup plan in case this were
to occur.
If you're still interested in starting your own business, the key will
be to know your target customer. Find out everything you can about them
and make sure you are targeting them in your advertising and with the
quality of your product or service.
If you're selling business-to-business, you will want to advertise in
their publications, join the same organizations and generally hang in
the same circle of business. If you're doing business with the public,
direct your advertising efforts to local direct mail and neighborhood
publications. People generally read local periodicals to know what's going
on in their area. Writing an article for one of these publications is
even better. And those direct mail coupons for residences are usually
opened when received.
Running your own business is nothing like having a j-o-b with someone
always assigning your next task or project. You will have to make those
decisions yourself and make sure customer service is not affected along
the way.
Once you have your business set up, it's going to take a lot of nurturing
and long hours. Be ready for the day when you think all is lost and find
a way to push through. If you don't push through these difficult periods,
you will lose the business.
For those who continue to push through, the rewards can be very fulfilling
and can sometimes lead to great wealth.
Rich
Dad books, games and financial resources from the best-selling author
of Rich
Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki. Learn how to apply Rich Dad's philosophy
to your own life, building your business and buying assets that set
you financially free.
