Going into Business for Yourself, the Ultimate Business Oxymoron

06 May 2011

Going into business for yourself is strange terminology. Going into business for yourself can mean that a person is indeed working for themselves but they are providing a service or offering a product that meets the needs of others. Therefore, the saying should actually read going into business for others. This makes going into business for yourself the ultimate classic business oxymoron.

Going into business for yourself always sounds so good and in most cases it is great. No more answering to the boss, taking orders from others and having to work a nine to five job. But is it all it is cracked out to be? The answer is quite simply yes it is.This said it needs to be appreciated that although a person working for themselves will not have to answer to the boss they will have to answer to the clients and as for taking orders then this is how they will actually earn their salary, or very much hope to. As for the hours, getting rid of the nine to five routine is great, but it has to be realised that a person working for themselves at the outset of a new business will more than likely have to work all hours, including weekends.

To be successful in business a person must do for others (customers) what they will not do for themselves. To achieve this goal the business man or woman needs to know just what it is that the customer actually wants or needs in their lives that they cannot get for themselves. Once this has been established things can really start to happen.

This step in the process of setting up the new business is market research. It is a pointless exercise, waste of valuable time when a business offers a product or service that nobody is interested in. The business is doomed from the very start.

If possible employ a firm of market researchers who know their job inside out. These firms charge very little for this valuable service and by using them the job will be done effectively. But failing this, get as much advice as possible as to the relevant questions that need to be asked in order to achieve a good result from the survey. Once done it is then a question of marketing the service or product that is going to be offered to the public.

There are masses of marketing techniques around today from the old door to door leaflets that are pushed through letter boxes to modern Internet affiliate marketing or the linking of website to other websites. They all work if the strategies are well planned and the product v market is focussed and well researched.

To be in business for yourself means that a person does have total control but then they also have total responsibility which in itself can be daunting. Gone will be the days of the long weekend or those extended holidays abroad. For a while anyway, just until the business starts doing well that is.