What? In This Economy???

Today, BusinessWeek was out there with this same topic, but to tell you the truth, we're back to the same place I continue to address. It's easy to read these kinds of tips, but unless you have a mentor holding your hand through the steps, chances are you're going to "cave" in the pressure, or rush some important steps. I have to admit I got a little uncomfortable "flutter" reading through their points. I can only imagine how some of you might feel.

So, to the last point in my list:

You just got laid off and you're thinking about starting your own business...

1. You don't know if working for yourself is something that fits your personality
2. You're not sure how feasible your business idea is.
3. You may not have a clear business idea.
4. How much will it cost?
   
5. What? In this economy????

One should not start a business because they got laid off from their job, but perhaps because the lay-off has made them realize that they truly might have it within themselves to realize their dreams.

If you've gone through the self-exploration outlined in the previous steps above, you're now going to have some idea of what you need to pull this off. Here you are, in this economy with it's challenges and you want to do something different. I believe that the US is the best place to start a new business. For better or worse, the lack of stringent regulation for the average small business owner makes more possible. It gives us a hand-up to try that new thing. I know I'm making a generalization here on the regulation but seriously, how many of you spoken to people in other countries who want to "hang a shingle out" and just start doing something. We've got it made it the shade in comparison with many countries.

This kind of laissez-faire attitude can go in the other direction. Intuit tells us that all you need is a copy of Quickbooks and we're on our way. For many of my 15 years of consulting I've done "forensic bookkeeping" to uncover and fix years of mistakes of the small business owner. The one's who just started up and kept going, asking non-professional friends to help out with crucial financial organization of their books. In the end, it cost them crucial 'bucks" to get it all straightened out.

If you folks have questions about where you need help and where you might be able to go it alone, please email me at melissabartonconsulting@gmail.com or post here to this page with a comment.