Question:
I’ve had it with employment. I’ve had it with the early morning rush to get to office on time and living by the clock. I’ve had enough of bosses who think they own me because they pay me for work I do.
It is time to be my own boss.
Can SERDEF help me out and give me a short list of business ideas that I can best go into?
Thank you very much.
Chito D., Quezon City
Answer:
Hi Chito.
We’re afraid we cannot help you with “best business ideas” given that you’ve told us very little about yourself – your work experience, your education and training, your interests, talents and skills, and other qualities. .
You see, entrepreneurship involves a careful matching between the business idea and the person who will start and run it. There is no “best business” but rather only some businesses likely to succeed given a set of circumstances, not the least of which is the person who will run it – his skills, personal qualities and motivation.
While we cannot help you for now in terms of identifying the best business idea FOR YOU, we can perhaps guide you in examining whether you have the right motivations for going into business.
It is clear you are being pushed to entrepreneurship or self-employment because you’ve had it with employment and want to be, for a change, your own boss.
The truth is that you will always have a boss: the customer. And you might even find many customers, buyers and clients harder to please than the cranky boss you might be working with right now.
You’ve also had it with the 9 to 6 routine and now want to own your time. Yes, it is true that having your business means saying goodbye to the bundy clock (or swiping machine) and to the boss who constantly monitors your comings and goings. But entrepreneurship does not necessarily mean shorter working hours. In fact, the opposite may be true.
Start-up entrepreneurs, especially those who cannot afford to hire assistants while establishing their new businesses, find they have to multi-task, which means putting in long hours. Ten, twelve, even more hours a day, often with no Saturdays or Sundays off and no holidays. Running your own business involves full-time commitment – especially during the early months (it could even be years) you are trying to develop your product and build your market. If you give less than this, you are bound to fail.
The desire to call the shots and to work easy, unsupervised hours are not the best motivations for starting a business.
Do you know what the best business motive is? It is to make money. If you are triggered by the desire not to lose but rather grow your investments and make profit, then you will do all that is required to make sure your business plan is sound and your product or service excellent.
Photo: “<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/88866656@N02/8662625008″>Bundy Time Clocks</a>” by <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/88866656@N02/”>Michael Stein</a>, c/o Flickr. <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_rights_reserved”>All Rights Reserved</a>