Tag Archives: business

Defensive entrepreneurship

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DDFD over at Self Reliance Exchange recently published a short post on the skills one can acquire by operating your own business, and emphasizes that having a side-business can help cushion against job loss.

Speaking from my own experience, starting a business teaches you a lot, even if you already thought you knew it. There’s nothing like hands-on, in-the-trenches learning to both teach you new skills and boost confidence in the ones you already have.

That said, it can be hard to start a side business, especially if you are already employed. Time becomes a big factor. Time you could be spending on many other things, like being with your family. But even if you never actually get the business started, it never hurts to start planning one. That way if you ever do lose a job you can get started right away on your new business rather than spinning your wheels and spending your severance trying to figure out what to do.

But if you can spare the time, get started on your business. Get a few good, satisfied customers you can turn to for recommendations and referrals. If you start getting more business than you can handle, see if it’s something you can “outsource” to your kids to help them get some pocket money (not to mention teach them valuable skills and entrepreneurial thinking as well).

If things start going really well you can start putting away your profits against the day when you think you might want to quit your job and go full-time at your side business. You’ll need a buffer in any case if you ever need to go from part-time to replacing your income.

Owning your own business can be a lot of fun. Depending entirely on your own business, however, can be very stressful. Any progress you make before you have to rely on it can be invaluable.

Where have I been?

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It’s been awhile since I posted. I’ve meant to post more often, but between being very busy trying to get a business off the ground and feeling as if I have very little to add on the subject or self reliance, I’ve not been able to do it.

You see, last autumn a wonderful thing happened. My business partner and I found a third partner who had a brother-in-law willing to invest in us. After putting together a business plan and projections, we decided to go ahead with opening a store–something we had not thought possible for many more years yet. We’ve been open for coming up on five months now, and we’re starting to break even.

The trouble is, none of us are making very much yet. Meanwhile I’ve been watching the balance in my bank account drop with growing concern. I’ve come to the conclusion that I may have to leave the business for at least a time and go find a job that can stop the bank account hemorrhage, perhaps even start it building up again. Since jobs are still not easy to come by, I’d better start now before we really get in a tight spot.

Meanwhile, given my current circumstances, I’ve not felt very self reliant. I’ve had a hard time convincing myself that I have anything to teach others right now when I’m largely just fighting to pay the bills. Yes, our fiscal discipline back when I had a good job as served us well and allowed us to go nearly two years without any significant income. But I can’t really lecture others on building up their food storage when I’m using up mine.

Or perhaps I’m just being too hard on myself. Certainly I’m verifying the truth of what I’ve been promoting. Had we not been somewhat self reliant things would have been worse–much worse.

But in any case, I need to get back to writing this blog. I was recently approached by someone wanting to do some guest posting, and I’m currently negotiating with them as to what form that will take. But I can’t exactly ask them to post when I’m not doing anything, can I? So I’m coming back. It just may take me a little while to figure out what I can say.

The Wisdom of Crowds

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I mentioned before that I’m beginning a new business venture with some friends. Though certainly there are drawbacks to going into business with others, there are also some advantages. One of the biggest is the law of averages. On any given day one of us is bound to be panicked just a bit, but the other are able to keep us on an even keel. Without others to watch my back I’d probably have thrown my hands in the air and walked away a long time ago. Starting a business is stressful.

I believe it’s important to choose business partners you get along with and can have fun with. More importantly, however, you should be able to communicate. Every partner needs to feel valued and respected. If one partner is afraid to speak up you could be missing some valuable insights and ideas. At the same time, unless everyone can really handle it, it’s best to avoid a no-holds-barred, speak-whatever-enters-your-mind type situation as well. Group dynamics are important, but I suspect most groups fail to take the time to really build a cohesive group.

It’s easy to assume that because we’re all adults we should all be able to get along. But really, “adult” is such a broad category, that’s even less useful than saying all white people behave alike or all cats do such-n-such. People do not behave or think the way we think they do. We really only have ourselves to judge by, and chances are there are few people who think just the same way we do. And perhaps if you do find such a person, you should not go into business with them. You’ll both fail to see the same pitfalls.

We’ve probably all heard at one time or another about the four phases of group development: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. There is no guarantee a group will ever get past Forming or Storming, really. With a group of friends they may never even realize that there is any storming going on, let alone really do anything to move beyond it. It’s too easy to take one another for granted.

I’m not sure where this is going, other than to emphasize the importance of social self reliance. We really do need to know how to get along with people if we are to succeed in life. It’s not the easiest ability to develop, but it can be critical in so many different situations. Unless, of course, you’re a hermit, which is not the brand of self reliance we preach here. 😉