{"id":176,"date":"2009-10-06T04:23:36","date_gmt":"2009-10-06T08:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/example.org\/rule-1-in-starting-your-own-business-revised-and-updated"},"modified":"2009-10-06T04:23:36","modified_gmt":"2009-10-06T08:23:36","slug":"rule-1-in-starting-your-own-business-revised-and-updated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/?p=176","title":{"rendered":"Rule #1 in starting your own business – revised and updated"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

I
\nhave written so many articles about starting a business and striking off
\nin new directions that I can't believe I failed to mention
\none of the most basic rules of them all when it comes to starting your
\nown business. This actually applies to startups of any size.<\/p>\n

\n

Rule #1<\/strong> –<\/em><\/span><\/span> Lower your cost of living to the point where you can pay for rent and food doing outside work while you struggle to generate enough income with your new business.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If
\nyou live in a comfortable suburban house and you bailed out or
\nwere ejected from the corporate mothership, don't expect that you are
\ngoing to develop a viable business in less than six months and a decent
\ncustomer base in less than a year. Many people report that it takes two years or more to start generating decent cash flow.<\/p>\n

During that time you will be laying out money for equipment and
\ntraining and you will still have to pay the mortgage and all the other
\nexpenses for your lovely home. You will burn through your 401K and any
\nsavings faster than you can believe.<\/p>\n

You need to completely
\nrestructure your living arrangements so that your cost of living can be
\ncovered during the startup period and for some time beyond.<\/p>\n

This calls for a great deal of resolve and understanding by all
\nmembers of the family. Life is not going to continue in the same old
\nway.<\/p>\n

Sell the Land Rover and the McMansion and look
\nfor a living and workspace that doesn't leak too badly that you
\ncan buy for cash or on terms that result in a mortgage payment of a few
\nhundred dollars a month. Buy a used van or pickup truck or a used car
\nfor cash.<\/p>\n

Put enough money away to live on for six months and rethink your
\nidentity. You are starting over and you are no longer a senior manager of anything. You need to get busy and learn your new trade in a
\nbig hurry. <\/p>\n

Take classes at a good craft school. Learn the ropes by
\nworking as an apprentice if you can. If your significant other is not
\nengaged in learning a craft, she or he should find work that provides
\nenough income that your bank balance does not dwindle.<\/p>\n

Make everyone part of the new solution. Ideally, your new venture
\nshould provide work for all members of the family, but if the teenagers
\naren't interested in helping with your new venture, they need to find employment
\nand an educational path that fits your new circumstances.<\/p>\n

You don't have to follow this advice of course, because you can
\nalways search for another corporate berth instead of risking
\neverything on your own business acumen. <\/p>\n

However, you will probably have
\nto sell the house and the Land Rover anyway if you are over fifty
\nbecause it may take you a year to find a new job and it will pay less
\nthan your last job.<\/p>\n

This may sound unduly grim, but it has been done by tens of thousands of
\npeople and they have emerged from the experience stronger and more self
\nreliant than ever before. The freedom that comes from managing your own
\ndestiny more than makes up for the temporary hardships of starting your
\nown business.<\/p>\n

Find any successful small business owner, craftsperson or artist and ask how they lived
\nuntil they became successful and you will hear a story much like I have
\ndescribed here. <\/p>\n

Talk to business owners who quit after a short,
\nunsuccessful attempt at starting a career and you will find
\nthat they ran out of money before they could become self-supporting. <\/p>\n

You will also find that their lifestyle had a lot of creature comforts
\nthat did nothing to advance their careers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether this change in life is a forced decision or a free choice,
\nchanging your lifestyle and cutting your costs to the bone will give
\nyou the best chance of a successful transition.<\/p>\n

If you have gotten this far, it has probably occurred to you that
\nthis same advice applies if you are embarking on a career in any new field.<\/p>\n

Your lifestyle has to be leaner and meaner than you ever
\nimagined if you are to succeed. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Wishing you the very best.<\/p>\n

( I wrote the original post in August 2006 and am still encountering people who envision launching new businesses which will provide seamless continuity of their comfortable suburban lives. Get over it. Startups are the most exciting adventure I can conceive of, but they involve drastic changes to your lifestyle.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have written so many articles about starting a business and striking off in new directions that I can't believe I failed to mention one of the most basic rules of them all when it comes to starting your own … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1804,1805,1801],"tags":[300,301,302],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3R4iK-2Q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}