Less Jobs more costs
Is it time to replace your job with a small business?
Recently, as I waited for my guest at a restaurant, I checked the LinkedIn news feed on my phone and found the top three stories:
- Bank of Montreal announces the lay-off of 5% of its global workforce
- Groceries to cost the average Canadian 2 – 4% in 2020
- What has happened to all those good jobs in the automotive sector? (hint Robots)
Is anybody out there wondering about this?
Cost of living going up while employment is going down…. not a recipe for dream fulfillment or even modest life satisfaction. In fact, it is a recipe for social unrest laid on a foundation of general distrust of our leaders.
In a connected story today, I heard that Microsoft has discovered that employees working a four-day week are more productive and come to work more refreshed after a 3-day weekend.
There are two thoughts I have as I consider these headlines. The first is people are going to start creating their own jobs, either because the job they had is gone or because they have extra time to work a “side hustle.” Some of those jobs may develop into small businesses employing more than just the founder. The second thought is, if you can figure out a way to entertain people, who will have extra time to fill, you could have a great business.
I will focus on the first one, I think the market will take care of the second idea.
Starting a business is exciting and traumatic if you have spent your adult life as an employee. Suddenly you are responsible for all the administrative functions, collecting money, paying bills, finding customers, keeping records, negotiating with banks and trade creditors. You may be good at one or two, but it takes training and experience to master all the management roles — tuition in the School of Hard Knocks can be expensive.
Before you even start worrying about the administrative details there are concerns such as what business should you be in? What customer need will you satisfy? How will you do that?
In my experience converting a hobby into a business is a good starting place. If you can work at something you are passionate about it typically means your good at it, you have in depth knowledge and possibly even an established network. Alternatively finding a market need or a better way to do something the market already values can also help you launch a new business.
The time is right, the market is ready and there will be no better security in the future than being your own boss.
At Copper Beech Company, we believe that planning for the future helps create the future you want. We help clients identify goals and we care about the results our clients achieve. Whether the goals are improving financial position, growing the business, transitioning management and ownership. Helping Clarify goals, plan the route and holding the client accountable for achieving the milestones along the way is how we bring value to the engagement.