With the turn around in the global economy underway and companies beginning to hire again, you might wonder why my advice is to start up your own business rather than get a job. Well here are some very compelling reasons why now is the perfect time to go into business for yourself.
Working for Mr. Big is no longer safe
In times of crisis, large companies tend to start cutting expenses by reducing payroll. It doesn’t matter how long you worked for them, there are no safe jobs anymore. Except in the medical and elderly care fields where there is still a scarcity of qualified workers because in most developed countries, the populations are aging. When you work for yourself you and only you are responsible for your own future.
Buy local
People are beginning to understand that transporting goods over long distances is becoming extremely more expensive especially with the sky-rocketing cost of gasoline. In the USA, our transportation infrastructure, especially our highways and bridges are falling apart and this will make long haul transportation more difficult and expensive. Agricultural as well as and meat and poultry products will be more in demand, the closer they are to the end customer. Small organic farmers and organic markets should do well in this economy. Also small short-haul transportation companies will find more readily available business even from the big enterprises.
Reacting to change
It is critical to be able to adapt to change quickly. The only thing that is certain today is change itself and it keeps happening faster and faster especially as technological advances occur more rapidly. Smaller companies can react to change more quickly and the closer they are to the customer, the better they can be proactive to the customers’ changing needs.
Our 21st century value systems
We are living in the 21st century service society and we are no longer content with buying everything that is pushed our way. Gone are the days of “build it and they will come”. Now it’s let me check it out on the web, see how acceptable it is and then I’ll go buy it from someone I trust who can service my needs. The closer that someone is to the customer the better their ability to deliver needed service.
Customer driven business
It all starts and ends with the customer and large companies still don’t get that. Their attempts at customer relationship management is strictly designed to make their sales organizations more efficient and push more product to an already dissatisfied customer base. What are desperately needed are small businesses which are started solely to cater to customer needs and built around solving customer pain. With the availability of so much customer information in social media sites, a smart entrepreneur who takes the time to listen can quickly find out what a customer community needs and can build a successful business around that.
Now that I’ve sparked your interest, go visit your local SBDC or SCORE office if you are USA based an get some very inexpensive business start-up education. They also give free business counseling. No matter where you are based, there should be equivalent resources available.
