Tiny Steps to Make BIG Social Change

There’s a lot of media buzz recently about huge organizations driving social change. Almost every career change seeker I have spoken with has a strong desire to not just make money but to make a difference in their community or the world. 

For most, this is still a dream, so I began looking at what’s holding them back? It appears that while the drive is authentic and strong, the fear factor kicks in and the aspiring change agent is frozen by overwhelm. They’re intimidated by what they see as impossible. They don’t believe that they as an individual can make a difference. 

What all these aspiring entrepreneurs are missing is that no one starts big. Even the most high powered global entrepreneurs had to start right where they were when the idea became an unstoppable drive to make a difference. 

Not all social change has to be global. Is there something in your own community that just tugs at your heart or feels terribly unjust? You can have a huge impact right in your own back yard whether your interest is environmental, educational or social. You may do something in your neighborhood that makes such an impact on one life, one group or one community that it is duplicated throughout the world. Remember, every huge movement started with a single step. Stay tuned for BIG news on a small event where you can make enormous change.

“The man who moved a mountain is the one who began carrying away small stones.”  Chinese proverb

Why a Recession is the Best Time to Start you Own Craft Business

Do your friends and family discourage you from starting your dream business “in this economy.”?  Is their reasoning that you’d be unwise to “leave the security of your job in a recession?”  I’d find that humorous if it weren’t so sad because,most likely, these naysayers have never been self employed and haven’t yet been victim to the mass layoffs of “valued employees”. In the present economy, the only secure job is the one YOU CREATE for yourself.

Yes, I do listen to the news. I know people are losing jobs and retailers are shutting their doors. And I also know that most of my self employed friends with small businesses are  reporting record breaking sales. Because when you’re self employed, you create your own economy. When something isn’t working , you can make changes quickly without the bureaucracy of a board of directors. On the corporate level, by the time reports are generated and changes approved, it is frequently too late. Too much has been lost. Not so in Read more

Lose Your Job, Find your Passion…and Financial Security

In an article in yesterday’s New York Times, reporters Matt Richtel and Jenna Wortham featured several twenty-something college grads who turned what could have been the misfortune of losing previously coveted jobs into an opportunity to make their own fortune. 

Truth be told, I don’t normally read the technology section-for me it would be like reading the Shanghai daily news (and not the English version), but the headline, “Weary of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own” obviously caught my attention. Being an avid self employment advocate, I thrive on any proof that entrepreneurs are more secure than employees. 

Richtel says that Alex Andon, a graduate of Duke University, was laid off last May from a biotech company. After months of looking for work, he started building jellyfish aquariums in his San Francisco apartment. Using new technology to keep the fragile jellyfish alive, he’s already sold some tanks, one to a restaurant for $25,000. He’s also selling desktop versions on his website. 

Four of Andon’s roommates have caught the entrepreneurial fever and started businesses of their own, including laminated, fold-out language guides for travelers. 

The Times article also mentions 25 year old Monica Zaminska who was laid by her PR firm and after meeting with several recruiters and sending out countless résumés, started a restaurant review website for food enthusiasts Zaminska says, “I love working so I made work for myself.”

While the headlines are filled with reports of Doom and Gloom, whether you have been laid off or are losing sleep over the next round of job cuts, you can either join the negativity or see this as the perfect time to get started on those entrepreneurial dreams. If you don’t have any idea what you’d like to do, you probably ought to spend an hour with a  life coach and unearth those interests. If you know what you love, but can’t see how you could possibly make a living doing it, or you know what it is you’d like to do but don’t know where to begin, send me an e-mail at themuse@inspiredlivelihoodcom. We’ll look at your idea and figure out how to make it happen. 

As one of Andon’s roommates, Erin Kitchell said, “This is a good a time as any to try something entrepreneurial. There’s not a lot of opportunity out there right now” (for jobs). And as the self-employment muse, I’m telling you, there sure are lots of opportunities out there to start your own little empire. 

Start Own Business in THIS Economy?

Taking advantage of the lower interest rates, I  am refinancing my home.  Although  being self employed has never kept me from qualifying for mortgages, I am aware that in the current market, “stated income” is a thing of the past. Despite my excellent FICO score and significant equity, I held my breath after answering that I am an entrepreneur.  Rather than the self employment bias I expected, the young woman taking my phone application, on hearing what I do for a living was so enthusiastic. She started telling me how she always wanted to start her own business and her supportive husband kept telling her to go for it, but the time just never seemed right. She was afraid to give up the security of her job -particularly in this economy! I had to laugh. Can you imagine how hard it was for me not to remind her that her industry was the catalyst for the present economic problems and that she probably had the least secure job of all. I wanted so much to rescue this woman from her JOB and show her all the ways she could make a living doing what she loves, but,  keeping in mind the reason for our call, I brought her back to the topic of approving my “Fast Track” refi. 

After we hung up, I just couldn’t get this woman off my mind. I find it so sad that someone will stay in an unsatisfying job when the economy is good because they don’t want to give up the money, and when things are slow, they are afraid to start something new. 

The truth is, right now is the best time to begin taking the steps to financial freedom that having your own business provides. I hear all my corporate friends worrying about layoffs-but they say they don’t want to leave the “security” of a job. How can they feel “safe” in a position that could be eliminated anytime?  In all my years of self employment, it never occurred to me that I might be found to be ”redundant”. I never worried that if the economy slows down, I would have no income. On the contrary,  I had a boss who had my best interest in mind and whose goal was to keep me “employed.” As an entrepreneur, I have ridden a number of downturns in the economy and felt secure n the knowledge that I had control of my own income. I had the freedom to tailor the business and change with the times to keep myself and my family fed, clothed and sheltered regardless of the state of the economy. 

If you are thinking now is too risky a time to start your own business, consider the risk you are taking by putting your livelihood in someone else’s control. Now is actually the smartest time to be planning your escape. IT’s not frivolous -it’s practical to have your back up plan in place. Most successful businesses start small and many entrepreneurs begin building their business while they are still employed. If you start now, you will at least have a plan in place if you are found to be “superfluous”. Should your job prove to be one that weathers this economic downturn, you will still be ready with your dream plan when you choose to pursue your passion full time. Give yourself the gift of job security. Start thinking about what you love to do and who needs what it is you have to give.  The only truly secure job is the one you create and there is only one boss to whom you are #1. YOU!