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Posts Tagged ‘start your own business’

Have you recently been downsized?

Since you’ve been downsized, have you found that it is very difficult to find a new job to take the place of your previous job?

Current State of Affairs

If so, you have lots of company.  Since December 2007, the official beginning of this recession, more than 5.7 million jobs have been eliminated.  According to the Associated Press (AP), after the May 8th release of the April, 2009 unemployment numbers:

• 13.7 million people were unemployed in April, 2009, and that was the biggest number since 1948
• 539,000 jobs were lost in April alone
• 8.9% unemployment (the highest since September, 1983), but if workers who’ve been laid off and just given up or taken part-time work, are included, that number jumps to 15.8% – the highest since 1994

If you’ve been out of work for over a month, you may be feeling frustrated, or maybe even a little overwhelmed as you see the pages of the calendar turn, with still no job on the horizon.  I’m betting that you’re also worried about some long term issues (e.g., college education, retirement) as well as this immediate crisis.

There are essentially three options in this situation:

1. Panic
2. Continue doing what you’ve been doing (the same things that haven’t yet found you a new job), or
3. Try something different

Option 1:  Panic

The first option, panic, is entirely counter-productive, and should be avoided at all costs.  A little fear is a good thing – it can help us focus and energize us for fight or flight. Panic, unlike fear, debilitates us and degrades our ability to respond to the crises we face.

Option 2:  Keep Doing What You’ve Been Doing

If doing what you have always been doing had been successful for you, you wouldn’t be reading this article right now.  Unless you’re willing to try something new, you’ll end up exactly where you are.

Although there seems to be a little bit of a light at the end of this recessionary tunnel, good people I know have still been unemployed for six months or more.  Despite doing all the “right things” (e.g, answering help wanted ads and sending out resumes), what have they got to show for all that effort?  Zilch, nothing.

Not very many people are getting hired in this economy; many people are not even getting callbacks from their resumes.

Option 3:  Try Something New

The third option – do something different – seems to be the only plausible solution.  With so many options on the table, it is hard to know where to begin?

What would happen if you were to start a home business .

• Don’t worry about being laid off or outsourced again.
• Don’t continue to sell your soul to the company store.

Shift gears; become your own boss!  Start an online business!

A very good place to start for gathering all the necessary education about internet marketing that you will need is to enroll in the Online Success for Beginners program.

The home-based business industry accounts for approximately 7 billion annually and provides many tax benefits, more control over your time, your work, and your money.  Essentially you’d apply the Law of Large Numbers to your individual situation, similar to the way that insurance companies apply that law to minimize their risks. Insurers reduce their loss ratios by sprading their risk across thousands or millions of policyholders.

An internet business will reach thousands, and millions, of prospects allowing you to spread your recessionary risks across multiple people, regions and countries.   To minimize your recessionary risks, do like the insurance companies do – apply the Law of Large Numbers.while building a quality life

So you’re going to to leave your job and start your own home business. Good for you! Risks are required if you want to see big returns. Unfortunately, risks are also… risky. You are gambling on your ability to make your new small business work. However, there are ways of making your business less of a gamble. In order to do that, you need to have a properly conceived plan in place to deal with the risk that you are about to undertake.

The first thing you need to do is reduce or eliminate your debts. If you have outstanding credit card debts, you need to get those debts pared down as much as possible. Credit cards and credit card interest rates are hard to manage even if you are working at a regular job, much less while you are trying to get a business up and running. If you can pay off your credit cards, then pay them off. That is the best way to take care of high-interest debt.

However, if you cannot pay off your credit card bills, one excellent way of reducing your credit card debt is to take out a debt-consolidation loan. By combining your high-interest credit card debt into a low interest loan, you can ease your burden. There are several places that provide debt-consolidation loans, including banks, credit unions, and debt-management companies such as lowermybills.com. Of course, it is much easier to secure a loan while you are working, so you should probably do this well before you put in your two-weeks’ notice.

Another thing you must worry about is health insurance. In case you had not noticed, health insurance is very expensive. Having an employer pay those monthly fees is one of the good things about a regular job. But when you are out on your own, you will need to take care of health insurance on your own.

If you quit your job, you will usually be given the option of keeping your health insurance. This is good, because they will cover pre-existing conditions that might otherwise leave you paying for both health insurance and your medical expenses. However, continuing health insurance coverage can be expensive and is only available for a certain period of time. Investigate your options and make a solid plan for insurance in place before you leave your current job. Get several quotes from different companies and check the policies for their rules on coverage.

The third — and the most important — thing is to figure out just how you are going to pay for all this. Your business needs income if it is going to survive. So be ready. The best way to ensure you have an income is to have clients lined up ready to go. Promote your new business before you leave your current job. Start selling your business and yourself to prospective clients and see what happens. The best market research you can do is to market yourself and see what happens. Then, when you have some contracts signed, you will know that there is water in the pool before you dive in.

Leaving your job to start a small business is as exciting as it is stressful. But, with proper forethought, you can make that move with confidence. By knowing what you’ll need and having it in place, you’ll be able to make the move with some success already on the way.

If you love cooking and are a sociable individual then starting your own catering business should be an easy task for you. Have you always wanted to get into the cooking / restaurant industry and be your own boss? You already have the skills and talents to build your catering empire giver your clients foods to wow their tastebuds. Add those great qualities to an upbeat attitude, relaxed personality and your business accumen then you are already in business.

All over the world catering businesses are making good money and play an important role in our society. Catering events can range from children’s birthday parties to fifty year anniversary parties. The prices change for each event, depending on the number of guests, the style of food, like a buffet for example, and many other factors, but if you pay attention to the bottom line, you stand to make some seriously good money.

You’ll need a business license, so will need to Google the details of how you would get a license in your home state. If you need additional help, you may consider speaking to other small business owners in your very own neighborhood to get a little guidance. I can be sure they would be ready and willing to assist you.

Starting your own catering business from home will prove to be an extremely tedious, profitable and a rewarding move for yourself and your family. People working nine to five Monday through Friday will envy your gull and courage to take on such a venture with the way our economy is going as of right now.

They will all see that soon the economy will get better and going into business for you allows you the opportunity to employ others who too, are in need of a little assistance right now; it is a win-win situation for everyone. You must remember that this is a journey that you want to make a lot of money on but also have fun in the process.

What is your budget? You definitely want to begin this venture with the mind-set of a true entrepreneur so you should have a realistic budget and utilize all of your financial resources to make this dream become your reality.

You do not need lots of cash as many types of catering businesses can start with as little as a thousand dollars… or as much as a hundred grand. The dollar amount will vary depending on the appliances you buy as well as the flatware, napkins, storage containers, foods and many other details, including your staff.

Depending on your client, you may find that you do more onsite cooking than in your own kitchen or facility; so consider renting appliances and other tools to cut down on expenses on unnecessary equipment. You can definitely purchase supplies and kitchen equipment later on when you begin to bring in revenue and you are not still using your startup funds.

In the beginning, you may have to put out more money than you initially intended to but as long as it is a necessity then everything that you put into your business you will get out if later because any successful business will have fruits of the labor to show for in the end.

Whom will you have work for you? It is my belief that family can be an incredibly big help when beginning any business, especially one that they will directly benefit. Do not use friends or relatives who want to be paid big money from the start because you can’t afford them yet. Do not hire those people who cannot be managed or will not listen to you because of your role in the family.

This is your business and make sure the people you select respect and support your decisions. If you happen not to choose family members to assist you then keep your staff to a minimum because you do not have to hire a lot of people in order to run a successful catering company. Make sure you conduct interviews and discuss compensation and hours up front so there will not be any confusion or misunderstandings later. Be professional at all times because people are going to constantly be watching and waiting for you to fail or succeed; either way always bring your “A” game.

It helps if you had some type of formal culinary training but this is not a necessity when beginning your business. You might want to take a couple of weeks to train your staff and work out an organization plan. You want to go over things like food preparation, plate presentation, table decorations and various other important factors that your clients and guests will pay extra attention to at the event.

Remember your reputation will always be in question from the start of the event until it is over so make your first and last impression one worth acquiring your services again.

Who will be your clients? You are in the business of making money so do not turn anyone away. You want to make flyers on your home computer, network with your friends and former colleagues to let them know about your services.

As you can see, you already have everything that you need to start your catering business. It’s great to see you are ready to take the initiative, take charge of your life and go after what you want.

For more food related business ideas have a look on http://www.funcareers.com for more details on how to Start a Catering Business and where they list even more information on home businesses like Starting a Bed and Breakfast Business, even a Dog Bakery Business!