Is Starting a Business Right For You?
With layoffs running wild, wages stagnant or going down, bosses who, (perhaps because of a glut of available employees), making conditions at businesses less than “employee friendly”, a lot of people are dissatisfied. On TV and the internet you can see people basking in luxury, driving fancy cars, living in decorator designed homes and here you are, getting up at dawn and trudging off to a job you despise just to get that weekly pay check, just to have a way to pay the bills, afford to eat and basically, tread in place.
Quite naturally at this point it's easy to decide starting your own business, being your own boss-that might be the golden egg you've been searching for. But you may forget the egg is a by-product... and what you need is the chicken.
Late Night TV Ideas Can Be Alluring
On TV at late night, con men are pushing their seductive ideas-real estate with no money down, home businesses producing thousands weekly (they don't say how). They know you are most vulnerable in the middle of the night when you don't see a way to get ahead. Check those “home businesses”. Most of them start out by saying “How much can you afford to invest?” They aren't looking for your answer to be “Nothing.”
Can you get rich in real estate? Yes... many have. Can you start your own business and succeed? Yes, again... many have.
Getting rich in real estate is not free. You do need money for down payments or to assume loans, or you need a golden partnership with your favorite bank. You also need education about real estate and knowledgeable people like lawyers to prepare forms and supervise “closings”. And there's also that great catch no one ever talks about in commercials. Overextending yourself. Getting into a mess where you have properties that need upkeep or renovation, payments coming in, and no sales going on, and shortly you can have a situation worse than a sub-prime mortgage holder.
If you are new to business the best thing is to pass on the real estate deal and go for something simpler and less expensive like an internet business.
Is eBay
an Answer?
eBay is a great place to start but you need to study it first to see exactly how it works, and what you can't do and can do. You can sell your own “stuff” piece by piece and often do very well, but you'll probably run out of items and come to the point where you want your own store. And that's where the complications begin.
To start a store you need to decide what kind of store. Most people today will think I want to sell electronics...I-pods, flat screen TVs. There's a huge demand; there is also huge competition because a lot of people have the same idea. And then there's the one you may want... a variety store. You can do that, for not much money-something like DOBA with 100,000 items. You can drop ship which basically means your customer orders something, and pays for it and someone else packs and ships it for you. Of course there is a fee for this. This cuts into your profit and you are always wondering are my orders being filled in a timely manner... if someone wants a refund or exchange will someone take care of that?
Experts say “pick a niche” and work it. Maybe you like cats-you offer anything you find about cats. Then you discover some big companies have the cat market pretty well locked up.
Or maybe fly fishing...you want to tie and sell your own flies. Great until suddenly you have more orders than you can fill, you have angry customers-nasty feedback if you're on E-bay that can get you kicked off, and your stress level goes ballistic.
So what is the right way? Here's a brief check list that could help.
What Are You Good At?
Think about what you know best. Your business should be based on something you know, something you're interested in, something you're good at. I have actually seen people wandering around looking for a business to buy-any business-maybe one they know nothing about. That's what happens to a lot of franchise owners. It looks like the simple solution...a going business...built in customers... built in good will.
But there are usually huge fees to pay. You need solid gold credit. You need to accept that you'll always be subject to someone else's rules. If they decide to change the theme of their franchise, you could end up paying the bill for changes you don't even want. Every day when you make money, a portion of it is not yours. Sometimes it's a large portion.
