For Job Security: Should You Start Your Own Business? (3 More Tips)

"I've been out of work for a year, who is going to hire me?" "I'm over 50, are there any jobs for me?" "Will I still have a job in 3 months?" If you've been asking yourself questions like these, you may want to seriously consider starting or buying your own business. Speaking to you as a former founder and CEO of a major company, I would encourage you to become your own boss but taking business risk is not right for everybody. Here are some crucial points to consider:

1) Are you a risk taker? To start or buy a business may require you to risk some of your nest egg. And you may also not receive a paycheck for weeks or months. Assuming you have adequate savings, are you willing to take this risk? Will you be able to sleep at night? 

In 1974, when I launched my computer leasing company, for 9 months there was no income, just expenses. Each day I would make numerous cold calls seeking new accounts, and at other times I called on accounts that said they would do business with me but initially didn't. Anne and I had 3 small children to support and our savings paid the bills. Many a time, I sat up at night wondering if I had made the right decision. But 9 months in, deals began to close and my company began making money. It was a fantastic feeling, one I hope you one day can share in.

2) Can you sell? Without sales, there is no business. If you don't have sales talent, either you must partner with or hire someone who does have that talent. Successful businesses are built all the time by pairing people who can sell with people who can create a great product or service. Consider Apple. Steve Jobs was a great salesman and an extraordinary technology visionary. But he also recruited outstanding technical people that could create the products of which he dreamed and build the quality in them he demanded.

3) Are you well organized? To succeed in business requires being well organized to make the most of your time. In building Wal-Mart, Sam Walton had an incredible vision but he was not well-organized. He overcame that disorganization by having a superb executive assistant who was extremely well organized, understood his needs and could free him to focus on what he did best, while she did everything to support him including setting his schedule, booking his travel to locating brief cases he would misplace.

Dick