Eww, Those Aren’t Raisins

There are very few certainties in life, today I found out my brother-in-law was fired from his job. Yesterday was his birthday, nice gift don’t you think? What does this have to do with anything, well lets just say you can be good at what you do and even work for a “good” company and can still have the rug pulled out from under you. Now starting your own business won’t mean that everything is going to be peaches and cream but it does allow you to control a few more of the variables.

Well That Was One Hell of a Birthday Gift

My brother-in-law was working for a “good” company, he was in charge of manufacturing at one of their plants. Roughly a year ago he was requited from within for a position as a field manager which meant a promotion with a healthy salary increase. He really liked working for this company, they had awesome benefits and seemed to have a very worker friendly culture. My brother-in-law relished the chance for the promotion and looked forward to retiring with this company, so he thought.

6 Months in Hell

The company sent him out-of-state for some management training and then on the road for some on-site training before sending him to a location to function as the site manager and get some on-the-job training and mentoring. Let’s just say that he was shafted, he was put in charge of a long neglected site, with a pissed off customer, a lead tech with no experience and a number of issues and an office manager also with no experience. He also received little to no mentoring as he was told he would and his boss threw him under the bus numerous times and never had his back. A position he liked working for a company he thought he would retire with turned into a living hell for about the last 6 months and then he was terminated.

Procrastination is Like Masturbation, It Feels Good Until You Realize You are Just Screwing Yourself

I am sure we have heard of or experienced similar stories ourselves and they all suck. What is the point of all this, you ask? My point is this, you never know what tomorrow will bring but if you have been sitting back waiting to start your own business, STOP! Don’t wait any longer there is no time like the present. This economy is in the muck but if you do not grab the reins and hop into that saddle you might find yourself out on your ass, like my brother-in-law. So start today, start planning, start applying for funding. Make a business plan, start making contacts. Start taking control of your life and quit following others as the might just lead you off a cliff.

Take a Chance On Yourself

A little over a year ago I was working for a company and hated my job, so I up and quit and started PipingShark, now I must be honest it hasn’t taken off as quickly as I had hoped and things have been a bit of a strain financially but I have a lot less stress and I am in control of my success and failure. It can be done, it will be challenging and also very rewarding. You may not succeed the first time, but many very famous and wealthy people have failed numerous times before they had success. The number one key to success is TENACITY, never give up. Keep fighting, never let someone else talk you down and away from your dreams. Anything is attainable with hard-work and perseverance.

You can find resources to help you all over the place, blogs, the local library, the Small Business Administration, your family and friends. Stop dreaming and start DOING!