I'm writing this short article not from the point of speculation or guess-work, but from experience and the fact that I know it can be done having had the opportunity to do it .
We all are at these sites hoping to come across ideas to put us in the coveted position of being self-employed. As a young person, I felt that drive to not only be my own boss, but to have enough money to do so on the shoe-string budget that I would have to do it on.
Before I go on, let me introduce you to my own personal acronym that I hope all of you future self-employed, motivated and driven people should and will identify with. The acronym is R.I.S.K. . In a nutshell this is short for: Resourcefulness, Independence, Sensibility, and Knowledge.
The R.I.S.K. factor is not only an expectable play on words, but it exists in any and all business endeavors that we contemplate or orcastrate. Think closely on this point. None of us wish to be self-employed to lose money at what we do. None of us have an endless supply of cash to keep us afloat if things are slow. We do not necessarily wish to have partners to count on (and therefore cut in) in the event that we are too sick to work on a given day. We need look no further than our computer rooms and our homes (bank accounts included) to see what funds and equipment we have at our immediate and cost effective use.
I ask that if you are serious about self employment that you stop right here and take a deep cleansing breath. Now look around at your environment. Will it be your work station? Does it fall short of the things (equipment, office tools, a reliable computer, etc)
If it does, how much will you need (equipment wise or monetarily) to get it up to par.
Perhaps (as is the case with a vast number of self-employed individuals) your home is not the stomping ground for your business at all. One of my personal examples (based on my past experience) falls into this category.
Not the most glamorous nor white collar home business, but a business none the less. This is where the “R” comes into play. I had little money, lived in a small apartment, and at the time a personal computer was not an object that you would find in every second home. I didn't even own one. But I did happen to own an old Ford pickup truck. Battered and old but in working condition. At the time I had had my fill of factories and no-brainer jobs. I think I had let every “temp” agency in business get a cut of my pay for hiring me but I digress. I brainstormed and thought every day of ways to escape my mundane day-to-day, job-to-job existence. I felt like someone hit me over the head with a shovel when I realized that my old beat up truck could turn into money in my pocket used wisely. I couldn't afford to hire anyone to start a landscaping business or a driveway paving company, so I used that independent “I” to come to my rescue. I was willing to work and the only one I would be letting down if I failed was me. Then the sensibility stepped in. What could one person do by him/her self with a pickup truck. The knowledge “K” must be going off like light bulbs for many reading this article. I chose to use my truck to haul things to the dump and to scrap metal (which became more lucrative as I gained knowledge of the business, that I hired a hand on several occasions and still turned a lucrative profit). I placed a short but succinct ad in the local paper reading “Man with truck will pick up and dispose of ANYTHING for $50.00 a load” My phone literally rang off of the hook. It was no picnic mind you. Many days I worked from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. But many people had more than one load to take to the local dump and heaven forbid filling the trunks of their nice shiny cars with the refuse. That was my job. My overhead was the cost of gas, the cost of the ad in the paper ($7.00). Of course there was the insurance and the maintenance of my vehicle, but that was a cost that I was paying regardless.
Needless to say after my first pick-up truck hit the scrap yard I bought and owned at leased 4 more. (All used and work ready). My own business was always a walk away. (To my truck that is)
As I grow older now and look back on these early days of being resourceful enough to realize that I didn't need a huge amount of money to be my own boss, my desire to always be self employed grows stronger with every sensible idea that I come up with.
After some computer education and many more experiences with working and answering to myself as boss, I can't see things in my life being any other way. Trucks aside you can be as resourceful as I was at a young age and really look and meditate on what you have to offer. Use my R.I.S.K. technique and guaranteed if you've stayed focused enough to read a few brief ideas that one man and a truck can achieve, you will achieve your “own boss” goal.
