Starting and Minding a Business in a Tough Economy

Welcome back!

One of the things I have always done, whether I was at home raising kids, or at a company working 9-5 ( really 8-7) is mind my “own business.”  Running a business at night and in the wee morning hours has served me well in recent years.  Given discussions I’ve had about the economy and job uncertainty with friends and family recently, I think it wise for more us to consider moonlighting or entrepreneurism as a smart way to equip oneself for what may lie ahead in this economy.

Here’s how I “minded my business” through the years.

I’ve had the entrepreneurial bug since I was a child, but never had the guts to strike out on my own, full-time as a young adult. I’ll blame my stable, government/university employed and pensioned parents for that personality trait.

However, creative ADD person that I am, I found a solution to feed my entrepreneurial appetite and that was to start a business at home.

When my first born came along, I resigned from my job, took the favorite parts of my position and started a freelance meeting planning service. My first contract was to handle the logistics for the planning of a conference around human rights violations in Africa.  That was so interesting and gratifying.  I have fond memories of taking my 4 month old daughter with me to meetings.  Note: In the non-profit sector you’ll find a lot more people willing to accommodate contractors who have “unique” situations like a baby appendage

I followed that up with a few more contracts putting on seminars and conferences in my city.

Then my second child came along and we needed to beef up our family earnings. I actually took a job working nights in a law firm so that I could continue to stay home with my children and meet our financial obligations.

I eventually went back to work but continued to run my writing/PR business intermittently from home. Eventually in 2007 I found a way to really make this business more than an intermittent mad-money venture and actually turn it into a real business.  I did this by joining the mentorship/professional development group for women with online businesses called  Mom Masterminds.

The decisions that really made a difference to my business were the creation of a website for my company and the retooling of my marketing strategy to target online business owners.  Thank you, thank you to the mentors and colleagues that I met at Mom Masterminds – I would have never made the successful transition to becoming an online business owner without their help.

The point of this post is to hopefully give some encouragement to any of you facing financial uncertainty due to this economy or other changes in your life.  Look carefully at your skills and interests – there may be more opportunities available to you than you realize. Then find an established mentorship or networking group where you can learn from members who are successfully doing what you want to do.

Good or bad  economy – having a plan that helps you to generate your own income, independent of an employer, is probablly a good strategy for our times.