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If you’ve been following along, you know now that we all are going to be starting at the bottom. So I have to ask, why not start at the bottom of your own company so you can parachute into the middle of someone elses!?

The Benefits Of Starting a Business

There’s a bajillions (literally… it’s a real number) of blogs talking about the benefits of being your own boss, making your own hours, etc, etc. This blog is about finding a job. And the irony is that by starting your own company and making it work, other companies will want to hire you to help make their company work! I was recently talking to an individual who did not think that her side business of fixing and custom building computers for people in her neighbourhood was worth putting on a resume. I was shocked! Sure, she wasn’t applying for a computer related field, but the ability to get clients, keep them happy, manage cash flow, and ultimately provide a great service are skills that are required in ANY job! Point being- if you have a (successful) business, put it on your resume. If you don’t, start one today! If I haven’t convinced you yet, here’s the skinny on why you should start a business:

It’s All About The Skills!- If you own your own company, you have to do it all- selling, marketing, finance, HR, procurement, communications, customer service, production. Sure, doing finance at your company is not the same as at a bank, but the bank faces similar challenges, just on a larger scale. Don’t worry about what your company does, worry about what SKILLS you are using to make your company work. On your resume focus on how many clients you had, how much revenue you pulled in, and how you designed the strategy of the company.

People Learn From Mistakes- The #1 thing employers are looking for in today’s market is experience. If you are fresh out of school, or changing industries then you have no experience. The beauty part about starting your own company is that you can create your own experience! Even better, you can make mistakes in a very low risk environment… you can’t fire yourself! (Well, you could I supposed, but I wouldn’t recommend it )

Tax Benefits- You should never start a company for this specific reason alone, but depending on which state or country you live in, you can write off things like client lunches, office supplies, or even a portion of your rent/mortgage if you use a home office. Never underestimate the importance of the money you SAVE vs. the money you earn.

How To Do It

The hardest part about starting your own company is actually starting. You aren’t sure EXACTLY what to do, you don’t know EXACTLY what your product/service is. That’s ok! The most important part is to STARt. Once you start, you can and will adjust on the go. Here’s some tips on how to make it happen:

Treat Your Company Like a Full Time Job- Don’t stop the job hunt, but all of those hours sitting in front of the computer applying for jobs and cruising Facebook can also be turned into income producing hours! You’re only spending 17 hours a week looking anyway… make it 40 and make some cash too!

Tell Your Friends/Family/Social networks that you are starting- This is not only the cheapest marketing vehicle you have at your disposal, but telling your friends and family will help you commit and give you a reason to wake up every morning an get to work. In 3 months when you see Grandma, you are going to want to be able to tell her how much progress you’ve made. The key here- don’t get down. It’s a tough go, just like looking for a job, but you need to keep at it if you are going to succeed.

Build the website/social media accounts- How do I know you will have a website and social media accounts? (I’m a psychic). Seriously, if you are thinking of starting a business without at least a basic website, we should talk! The key here is to keep your overhead really, really low. You are in business to make money, not spend it every month on services you don’t need. If you really want to do it on the cheap, start with a Facebook page/Twitter/Empire Avenue account and go from there!

So tell me beautiful people- have you tried starting your own company? Have you used it on your resume? Did it help? Looking for you in the comments!

PS- I can’t believe I linked to Urban Dictionary. It’s sad, sad day for SBN. :p