Entrepreneur, anyone?
I know a number of people who have started their own companies or who work as freelance and have a lot of success doing it. I used to do quite a bit of freelance work before I graduated from the university - first as musician and then as techie - but the last few years I’ve gone the steady job route. (Not that “steady” jobs have meant I always got paid - I worked almost 3 years for a company that paid me irregularly or not at all for the last 2 1/2 years I worked there.) Steady jobs have their advantages in theory, particularly when you’re the only working partner.
My personality tests in school always showed me as a risk-taker, and at the moment I’m not the only working partner.. so what if I were going to do something else, something as an entrepreneur? What would it be?
It’s not that I’m so seriously considering turning entrepreneur next month, it’s just the idea that appeals to me at the moment, the conceptualizing. I was always good in writing, would I - for instance - be able to do that freelance? Maybe write a book? A series of short stories? What about a website or blog that earned money off advertisements? I could attempt opening a restaurant; the town we live in is dying for a decent pizza delivery place (what I wouldn’t give for an American Papa John’s pizza franchise!) - though that sounds pretty daunting. There are websites out there for freelance programmers, I wonder what kind of money that can bring in (thought: not a whole lot I think). Tim started a hobby website a number of years ago and he was able to earn decently off that, maybe I could found a website and see where it goes. On TV you can often see stories of people in Europe who leave their motherland to go found a bed and breakfast somewhere in the south; they usually have a really rough time of it, though the TV stories have a pretty high success rate.
What would you do? I mean, there are plenty of things out there, I’m sure I’ve only thought of the most obvious ones. Hopefully I’ll continue to mull this around on my blog in the coming time, I like the topic.
on March 20th, 2007 at 3:11
Funny you should say this Cheryl. I have an idea that I’ve been working with for awhile now for a business/product……we should talk. =)
From my own experience, the independent contractor thing can work, lots of pros, several cons. Right now it’s not too bad, but thank goodness we don’t live on my income. ;)
on March 20th, 2007 at 23:04
Karyn, your blog linked me to a site that tells you the dollar worth of your blog, and from there I linked to a web page called “Unusual Business Ideas that Work”. Couldn’t help but think it was a fatal coincidence! For anyone interested, here’s the link:
uncommonbusiness.blogspot.com
on March 21st, 2007 at 3:47
Perhaps some sort of application or program that somehow makes people’s lives more easier or organized, but is so simple a moron could use it? That seems to be up your alley. I don’t know if that magazine “Real Simple” is sold or circulates where you are, but you could start your own organizational company and use that magazine for ideas. I would say “start a similar magazine,” but that would probably take quite a bit of capital. I know that people pay good money for “life coaches,” and this is similar- a means to get your life organized and start moving in the right direction, etc.
on March 21st, 2007 at 3:52
www.realsimple.com
on March 28th, 2007 at 22:05
You’re like your Dad; always thinking of doing something interesting, or challenging, or something involving risk taking. Think “monopoly” if you’re really serious about starting something new.