Entrepreneurship in 2010

January is a time when many people decide to pursue new goals and include business ownership as a priority. Business support professionals will receive calls from more people who want to start their own business in January than in any other month of the year.  Entrepreneur is finally being recognized as another job function like doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc.


If you are not currently an entrepreneur but have been contemplating it for quite some time, NOW is still considered a good time to start a business! Why do I say now you might ask...

• A down economy presents great opportunity for newcomers. Barriers to entry have been lowered, expenses should be lower (depending on the business type - it's not a good time to start a gas guzzling business like trucking), and industry gaps are exposed. Resources are simply cheaper now than before (including employees). For inspiration, look at these market leaders who were founded during down economies.
• As a start-up, you would be more agile than the larger companies who are currently BLEEDING. Left and right you see larger companies downsizing their footprint, employees, and products/services. As a newbie, you could enter that space with less overhead, and pursue the projects that are now considered undesirable by the big companies - especially if you used to work for one!
• The economy is too shaky to not have another source of income. I have been in corporate environments with established employees that ALL had a side hustle. In this day and age especially, you must know your job is not secure. Owning a business would present an opportunity to use any of your skill sets and pursue income in your own way as well as have a back-up if the job falls through. Just make sure there are no conflicts of interest with the job... you don't want to mess up before you get a chance.
• There will always be an excuse for why now is not a good time. I wrote a previous post about this reasoning.  Just decide to make the change today and walk through steps to get there. Reach out to support networks to get a jump start on what you are doing.

The Entrepreneur Economy, a great article in Entrepreneur Magazine's December 2009 issue, discusses a few of the concepts I presented above.  If you have not read this month's issue, go read it - it has a gold mine of information for and about today's entrepreneur.