Submitted by: Neil T Thompson

“All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.” – Niccol Machiavelli

For better or for worse, modern life requires money. There is no way around that fact. Even if you wish to become a hermit, sooner or later, you will need some money.

For most of us, this means having a job. We can talk all we want about work as fulfillment,

trade your time and skills for money. And looking at it in that basic sense begs the question, if you are going to trade your time and skills for money, why not do so for yourself?

But before we answer that question, let s take a look at jobs and see why they are becoming less and less desirable.

In terms of economics, a Good Job should provide two things: enough income coming to live a comfortable life, and a sense of stability that the job will be there in the future (hence, giving workers enough confidence to take a loan to buy a home, etc.)

However, something has happened in recent times that is undermining this equation jobs that both provide enough money to live comfortably, and also carry the sense of stability that comes from knowing that job will always be there, are quickly disappearing. There are several reasons for this:

Outsourcing More and more, jobs and industries are being outsourced. Why pay top dollar when someone else will do the same job much cheaper? And why pay for a product made in the US when China can make it for one tenth the price? The council of foreign relations estimates 400,000 service jobs have been shipped overseas in the past decade, and more than 2 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past 20 years (and since companies are not required to keep this type of data, these numbers are from 2004 )

Increased Competition So, service and manufacturing jobs vanish . But the workers remain. That means increased competition for any job.

A Faster Pace in Everything This may sound odd, but think about it we now judge a company s financial health not on a decade, or even a year, but on a quarterly basis. Business moves (and changes) rapidly today. One internet story, and a stock price plummets. There is no safe job anymore. Not even Government work.

So what s the solution? Easy take matters into your own hands and work for yourself.

If you break down a job into trading time and skill for money, and add in the fact that no employment is secure, the prospects of working for yourself become a lot less daunting. And ask yourself who better to take care of you than you?

In all honesty, we feel the key to survival and happiness is not to become a wage slave. Taking care of yourself by providing your own source of income is bold, to be sure, but also prudent, given the alternatives.

“?The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.” – Colin Wilson

Some Work for Yourself Tips:

There has never been a better (or easier) time to be your own boss and provide your own income. Many of the characteristics that work against jobs (outsourcing / the fast pace internet) actually can work for an entrepreneur.

The big key with working for yourself is to find a need and fill it. This isn t an article to tell you what to do in this respect (there are four million books out there on starting a home based business). However, we can state that almost any job done at a desk can be done from a desk anywhere. Use your imagination.

Whatever business you choose to start, the key is to start a business with the following characteristics:

No Fixed Asset Requirements (i.e. renting office space/buying expensive equipment/hiring employees).

The ideal business is home based, maximizing fixed costs you’re already paying (which can lead to tax deductions based on the square footage of that space used in your home.)

Area Served

The product or service you provide should be able to be marketed nationally, or better yet, internationally…starting a business with a product or service only marketed locally significantly limits your upside. This is the age of the internet there is no good reason you can t sell a service abroad.

Based in Economic Reality

The product or service must reflect the current and future economic realities of this country. And while we mentioned foreign outsourcing earlier, outsourcing means not just foreign workers, but independent contractors right here in the US (experts think more than 40% of all workers will be contingent-workers in the next ten years ). Also check www.TheDailyMiddle.com for some further information on the economic outlook. Here are some statistics that may give you an idea of the economic future in this country (perhaps think twice about developing a business around luxury products as an example):

The official National Debt has just surpassed $13 Trillion (not including the massive debts of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which are backed up by the Federal Government, estimated at $6.3 Trillion.)

Our Unfunded Liabilities (Social Security/Medicaid/Medicare) are approximately $60 Trillion.

Our National Debt is now growing 3 times faster than decades ago.

We are the world’s largest debtor nation with a National Debt that is 14 times larger and 89% of GDP (not including Fannie/Freddie debts and unfunded liabilities.)iii

The point of the above is not to scare you into starting your own business, but to show you that if you just look at the cold hard facts, taking care of yourself is a very desirable goal. In fact, if you ask yourself the question of how will I survive in the coming years? entrepreneurship is the most logical conclusion one can reach. The simple truth is this: the economic numbers above do not bode well for those in jobs . Plan accordingly.

There s much more to the topic of entrepreneurship (and we ll likely explore it deeper in the future). But we d like to leave you with one final thought: In order to become successful, study success. Hey, this is America! Within a few miles of almost everyone is a bookstore or library (yes, they do still exist!). There are hundreds of books on successful people, successful businesses and business practices, motivation and self improvement, and every success magazine you can think of (Entrepreneur/Inc./Fortune/etc), Audiobooks, DVD’s, and everything else you ll ever need in starting a business.

Take advantage of what s out there, and take control of your future.

Courtesy:

http://www.cfr.org/publication/7749/trade.html

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/01/news/economy/contract_jobs/index.htm

http://inflation.us

About the Author: Mr. Neil Thompson is a professor of economics in one of the famous US Universities. He has interest and a vast knowledge in US economy. He has attended many seminars and conferences on US and World Economy. Daily Middle (

thedailymiddle.com

) is a site where one can get information on US economy.

Source:

isnare.com

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