They say ... birth, death, changing ... and changing jobs arefive of the more ... ... that a human being ... all take a lot of courage. Courage, however, does They say marriage, birth, death, changing residence, and changing jobs arefive of the more stressful situations that a human being canencounter---they all take a lot of courage. Courage, however, doesn't paythe bills. To be successful, you not only need courage, but you also need acombination of hard work, skill, perseverance, and several personal factorsthat can ensure your success.I made the change from being full-time employed to self-employed after yearsof preparation. Some people have the time to prepare, while others have tomake an immediate decision. Downsizing and job loss are two major reasonsfor starting out on your own. Other reasons may be that you want to takeadvantage of your talents or simply change careers. There are many reasons.But, if you still have a job, why leave? Right? Maybe not.--- Influencing Factors ---Before you can take the leap into being Gainfully Unemployed, you have tostep back and look at things to make sure you're making the right decision.First, analyze why you want to make this move.The reasons that make people decide can be divided into two categories:"reactive reasons" and "active reasons." Reactive reasons detract fromworking for others---negative reasons that "push" you out. Active reasonsattract you to leaving your current situation---positive reasons that "pull"you out. It is usually better to be pulled out than pushed out as reactivereasons tend to stick with you from job to job. If you're pulled out,you're going somewhere for greener pastures instead of leaving becauseyou've become dissatisfied with policy.In either case, the following list contains some of the more common activereasons that cause people to leave their full-time jobs:* Finances: Get paid for the extra effort you put into your work.* Freedom: Decide for yourself and maintain a flexible schedule.* Quality of Life: Live a better and healthier life.* Family: Spend more time with your family.* Adventure: Break out of the mould and take a risk.* Bureaucracy: Tired of the red tape and political in-fighting.* Creativity: Express your ideas and produce your products withoutinterference.* Control: Take total control of your life and your direction.Can you see any of your personal reasons listed? If so, you're not alone.--- Do I have what it takes? ---Most people do have what it takes, but they don't know it yet. Being able towork independently is not as easy as working for someone else, especiallysince you become the workforce and the management. Once you take the firststep and decide to work for yourself, you then have to make it happen,successfully. That's an entirely different situation.It takes a certain set of characteristics to make an independent endeavorsuccessful. Some of the more common, yet unique, traits of successfulindependents are as follows. Pay attention to them a judge yourself foreach!* AchievementMany people measure their achievement based on income, while others throughtheir accomplishments. You'll need to gauge your success on youraccomplishments and achievements. This means that you must accomplish yourgoals and move forward to the next in an established pattern.* SocialIt's a lonely world out there, and being independent amplifies this issue.To be successful, you can't have a need to be around people all the time,nor should it matter if you're liked. Exercising power is important to manypeople and, in most cases that's all that some people know how to do. You'rein business to achieve your goals, and that's all there is to it. Be anon-conformist!* CommitmentYou have to be able to follow through on a commitment. This means that whenyou sign a contract or shake a hand, you're in to the end.* ObjectivityWith commitment comes the need for an objective view. You need to weighrisks associated with a course of action as well as be realistic about yourabilities.* ExpertiseWith your technical expertise and experiences, you should be able toproperly judge your projects to determine if you can succeed.* AttitudeYou'll encounter strange, new worlds and you will have to adapt, learn, andsucceed under new circumstances. Always be optimistic and always maintainyour emotions when dealing with others. Be positive!* MoneyDon't take money for granted and try to view it as a means to an end. Usemoney as a way to accomplish things and to keep score in your new world.* ResourcefulYou have to think on your feet, have enough knowledge to know where to lookfor answers, have a networking group available, and be a solid problemsolver.* RelationshipsPersonal relationship skills are important, as you will need to properlyrepresent yourself and your company under all circumstances.* Communication SkillsCommunications skills are important, as you will need to provide legiblepresentations, reports, e-mail, and documentation to your clients.* AnticipateBe proactive and be able to anticipate developments before they occur. Ifthe issue is an important one, act on it before the issue requiresattention.* OrganizedBe able to maintain a tight, prioritized schedule and make sure you don'twaste time on items that are better left undone.* Discipline and Hard WorkSit down and do the work. Ignore distractions and make sure you accomplishyour goals.How do your personal traits match up against those mentioned above? Takenote that age, sex, martial status, and education have very little to dowith the actual success of anyone deciding to become an independent. Manypeople succeed as teenagers while many don't feel the desire to even tryuntil they are in their late 40's.If the information doesn't sound like you, then you'll need to think longand hard about your decision. In some cases, you can learn those aspectsyou're missing. In others, your ability to succeed is left up to yourability to adapt. Another option is to hire others to handle those tasks, orprovide those traits, that you're missing. For instance, if you're a poororganizer, hire a secretary to manage your schedule or hire a projectmanager to handle your anticipation and objectivity issues.--- The Bad News ---It's estimated that only about 30 percent of all newly founded opportunitiesin the United States are still in business after five years. The primaryreasons for failure are poor management, from lack of necessary skills, andunderestimating the amount of money it takes to get started. Do you see howthe traits mentioned in the previous section come into play?But, wait! We're not necessarily talking about starting a business---we'rejust talking about breaking away and going into business for ourselves.Well, it's the same thing. When you work for yourself, you're viewed asowning a business. With business ownership comes all of the rights,obligations, privileges, headaches, and benefits of owning a small business.As a small business owner, you're going to have less time for your personallife and you'll probably be using much of what you own as collateral toraise money for the business. If you are willing to make those sacrifices,then let's move on to some of the advantages and disadvantages of owningyour own business.* Pros:- Make more money than you can when working for someone else.- Be the boss and make the business decisions.- Job security.- Put your ideas into practice.- Learn about and participate in every aspect of a business.- Gain experience in a variety of disciplines.- Work directly with customers.- Benefit the local economy.- Personal satisfaction of creating and running a successful business.- Work in a field or area that you enjoy.- Build real retirement value.- Put down roots in a community.* Cons:- May have to take a large financial risk.- Work long hours and may have fewer opportunities to take vacations.- Spend a lot of your time attending to the details of running a business.- Income is not steady.- Undertake tasks you find unpleasant.- Learn many new disciplines.If you haven't closed this article yet, our primary focus is on the businessyou can operate from your home. The benefits of working at home not onlyoutweigh the cons, but, in most cases, completely cancel the negativeaspects of running a small business.* Pros:- Startup costs will be lower.- Operating costs will be lower.- Commute will be shorter.- Live anywhere and still operate your business.- Flexible schedule since your business can be conducted at yourconvenience.* Cons:- More vulnerable to interruptions from family members and neighbors.- May have trouble attracting qualified employees.- May be less accessible to suppliers.- May have an image problem.- May run out of space at home if your business grows.--- Making It Happen ---Actually, once you make the decision, you are already making it happen. Iremember waiting for years deciding whether I wanted to take the leap. But,one thing I found was that I could come up with a hundred reasons why Ishouldn't take the leap, and only a few reasons why I should.I always worked in the ivory tower of corporations and I always worked toclimb the ladder. As I went up the ladder, I missed having my hands in themiddle of the work. I wanted to do the work, not watch the work happenaround me.My mind was racing and playing tricks. I liked the steady trickle of moneyfrom my full-time job because I knew that if something happened, my wifewould be okay. I knew that I would have a job for years to come and I wouldnever have to go on another interview.On the other side, I knew that I could make more money if I went to work formyself. I knew that I would have to find work and try to keep it and I wouldalways be interviewing for new work.I did some self-analysis to determine what my real problems were thatcontributed to my indecision. Stay or go. Do or don't. After some thoughtand realization, I concluded that I was scared. I was scared to death totake the chance at success. Many of the people that go to a psychiatrist'soffice are not failures---they are successes. People have an inherent fearof success. It is easier to wallow in sameness and security than it is tomake a change to set yourself up for success.The way I handled my fear was to start jotting down what I thought wassuccess. I made a long list of the things that I thought would put me in aposition of being successful---by my own standards. Money, home, high-payingjob, writing more books, and numerous other items. The problem was that Iwas not specific in my success list, which left me just as confused andscared as before. So, I sat down and rewrote the list, this time, being morespecific:- $250,000 per year- working in a creative position where I could write and develop ideas anddirection- write and publish 10 books this year covering predefined topics- write and self-publish two books this year covering predefined topics- ...This is something I could work with. Now I can sit down and create the stepsrequired to achieve each item. But, do you notice the inconsistencies in thelist? You can't write creatively and develop your own ideas, write books,make that amount of money, and work for someone else. This list helped medecide, conclusively, that I had to make it happen for myself. These goalswere ones that I decided would make me happy and this was what I had to do. Article Tags: Gainfully Unemployed, Make Sure, Someone Else Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com