Talk To A Small Business Failure Before You Quit Your Job
photo credit: tinou bao
Many people who are contemplating quitting their job to become self employed make the mistake of only talking to those who have succeeded in self employment. Yes these are good people to talk to and get advice from, but you should also talk to people who have failed at self employment before making your final decision, as suggested on Small Business Labs.
The reason we want to hear from those who have made it in self employment is because we want to hear the brighter side of the spectrum, we want to hear their success story and believe that we will have the same result that they did. That doesn’t always happen, what about the darker side of the spectrum, what about those who did not make it? Are you prepared if that should happen to you? You need to hear both sides of the story before deciding to quit your day job and go at it alone, that way if the worse should happen, at least you will be somewhat prepared. You won’t be caught off guard thinking to yourself “I don’t understand, it worked for Bob why didn’t it work for me?”
Recent surveys show results that prove small business ownership doesn’t come with huge high risk’s, but the reason for this is because most of these surveys are done on businesses that of course are still in business, they lack information from those who have failed, and lets face it… there have been many that have failed. I’m sure if the surveys included their information then the results would be different.
So if you are considering small business ownership, entrepreneurship or self-employment keep survivor bias in mind as you read surveys and talk to people. Also, make sure to talk to folks that have failed. They will give you important and likely different perspectives than people that have succeeded.
Team The Rise To The Top on September 15th, 2009 1:04 pm
Looking at business ventures that have failed will prepare you for the reality of starting your own business, for those businesses that do succeed the payout is worth the hard work, but take the time to really find out if you are ready for the hard work and the possibility of failure that lies ahead before jumping into something that you’re not ready for. Also by looking at someones failures you may learn some of the what to dos and what not to dos of the business.
Paul on September 17th, 2009 2:04 pm
A good way to test how solid your idea is is to try it on a part-time basis without quitting your job. This is easier today with the internet especially if your business idea is internet based. You can build up a customer base and if you do decide to go full-time the transition will not be so hard. Trying it part-time will also give you the time to learn the unique skills required for self employment.
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