What Are You Waiting For?

In all this uncertainty about job security why leave it up to chance? How many of you wonder if your job will be there tomorrow, next week or next year? Many people have asked me about how and why I started my own business. I love knowing that the amount of money and success I have will have a direct correlation to the work I put in. I love increasing my business as well as help others in theirs.

Why don’t you do what you love? It’s a simple concept but does it work?

Most people have such skills and they don’t realize how to use them to their advantage. If you have always wanted to venture out on your own you CAN do it. I know this is sounding very infomercial like but it drives me a bit crazy when I see natural talent in people that gets wasted. If you are not a sales person then perhaps a direct sales type business is not for you. Don’t let the lure of a car, trips etc sway you if you really don’t believe in those products. The people that are successful in any direct sales job treat it like a full time job, cold call, work their contacts and sell sell sell. If this works for you that is wonderful but there are options. If you can sew, fix things, can organize, can clean, can cook etc there are also opportunities for you. Skills that you take for granted can be used to earn an income. Also chances are if you are good at them it’s because you enjoy doing them.

In this age of technology it’s become easier and easier to advertise your self with no or very little start up costs and do it at your own pace. This means that you can work on your own business while you are still working somewhere else. Do your friends and family praise the way you bake cakes? Can you build IKEA furniture in 10 minutes flat? Do you help all the neighborhood kids with their school lessons? Realize that you are great at this and turn it into a profit.

So getting back to the fact that you are not a great sales person. U don’t need to be when you do what comes naturally to you. Here are some easy (and more importantly cheap!) ways to start up.

Advertise using free websites such as Kijiji and Used Ottawa – You can advertise for free and include pictures of your cakes, etc. These can also be used to “test your market” See if people respond to your ad.

Create a FB presence for your business. Again it’s free and it can quickly get you people following that are interested in you / your product

Other social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Google + are all ways to expand your reach for no cost. You can add pictures, captions etc and for those of us who are not so technology friendly we can ask our kids for help! ?

Use sites like Vistaprint to give you a brand, website design and business cards and a very low cost.

There are also many government programs that help with startup money. http://www.startupcan.ca/

You can do some training at seminars such as the ones offered at http://investottawa.ca/ such as branding, sales, tax courses and they are free!

So if this is something that’s been in the back of your mind and you want this, you can do it. Small businesses support other small businesses and are the backbone of Canada. Hope to see you there!

Connie