Entrepreneurial Itch. David Trahair

      

      THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ITCH

      Don’t Scratch Until You Read This Book!

      David Trahair, CA

       Self-Counsel Press

       (a division of)

      International Self-Counsel Press Ltd.

      USA Canada

       Copyright © 2012

       International Self-Counsel Press

       All rights reserved.

      1

      Why Do You Want to Be Self-Employed?

      Do you dream of saying good-bye to your boss forever? Do you wish for the flexibility of setting your own hours of work in order to enjoy more time with your kids or on your hobbies? Do you yearn to create a business of your very own? Do you imagine taking control of your life? If so, this book is for you.

      There are many reasons why people might want to strike out on their own. Perhaps you simply don’t like working for others. Maybe you even hate your job. Or you might love your job, but your company downsizes or your spouse moves to another city. Let’s explore some of the most common reasons.

      You Hate Your Job

      Two decades ago I was stuck in a job I hated, working for a boss I liked even less. Dragging myself out of bed each day was a chore. Sunday nights were torture. The thought of waking up the next morning and putting myself through another day of drudgery, criticism, and mindless effort was enough to keep my heart racing and my eyes wide open until the wee hours of the morning. I will never go back to that kind of life.

      One thing that particularly drove me nuts was the implication that to be productive, I had to be in the office, sitting at my desk. It was important for the boss to see me coming in as much before 9:00 a.m. as possible and staying until 6:00 p.m. Skipping lunch? Good for you, Dave. It seemed this was more important than what I was actually producing. How useless was that?

      I remember at the time feeling cornered. I couldn’t quit — I needed the money. I started looking for another job, but that took time, which meant many more months of trying to satisfy a boss who never would be happy. It was a relief when I was finally able to leave and start my own business.

      You Hate Aspects of Your Job

      Maybe you like your job, but you hate the commute, or you dislike some of the people you work with, or you realize how much money your employer is making from your work. These reasons may be enough to motivate you to set up your own business.

      The commute

      I have met more than a few people who commute an hour and a half each way to the office — and that’s when there is no traffic jam! That’s a full three hours a day, 15 hours a week, or about 750 hours a year that they could be enjoying with their family or in a leisure activity. In other words, they have a full-time job five days a week for which they get paid, and they have a part-time job approximately two days a week for which they receive no compensation. Obviously some people don’t have a choice — they need the job and don’t have any other options — but it’s going to take years out of your life.

      Annoying coworkers

      Perhaps you don’t like the people you work with. Maybe some of your coworkers would stab you in the back in a second to get ahead. Or you may be forced to work with people who don’t want to do any actual tasks, but who are great at taking credit for the finished project. You may have colleagues who are in the office before you arrive and stay longer than you every day, forcing you to work longer hours to show your commitment. Perhaps other colleagues are naturally miserable and think you should be too. Any of these irritants may encourage you to look for the exit.

      Making money for others

      There are many situations where people are working in a job and making a lot of money — for other people. Take a lawyer, for example. Law firms focus on one key thing: chargeable time. It’s not uncommon for these firms to expect their employees and associates to put in 2,000 or more chargeable hours per year.

      Let’s translate that into days and weeks. Ignoring overtime for a moment, let’s say Lindsay Lawyer works from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch, five days a week. That’s a 35-hour week. She takes two weeks off per year, so she puts in 50 weeks each year. That’s 1,750 hours. To get to 2,000 hours, she has to put in another 250 hours of work. That’s what overtime is for. She’ll need to put in another seven full weeks of work to meet her target.

      Lindsay makes pretty good money for her efforts: $125,000 a year. But wait just a minute — Lindsay’s billing rate is $250 per hour. That means her firm is billing clients a total of $500,000 (2,000 hours at $250 per hour) for her services. Hmmm. The firm bills half a million and pays her $125,000. The firm’s profit from Lindsay’s work is $375,000. Hey, I feel like starting a law firm!

      But what about poor Lindsay? She faces pressure every day to keep her chargeable hours up and keep clients happy at the same time. Something’s got to give.

      You Lose Your Job

      You may be good at your job, but there is a real risk you could be shown the door. Step on the wrong toes once too often and you could be led to the boardroom to meet with a stranger who will help you try and find a new job. An even bigger danger today is that, in response to mergers and acquisitions and pressure to boost the bottom line, more and more companies are laying off masses of people without a second thought. Through no fault of your own, you could be given the boot. “Don’t take it personally — we’re just ‘right-sizing’” is a common refrain. Face it, there is no such thing as job security anymore.

      Your Life Changes

      Perhaps there has been a change in your personal life that opens the door to starting your own business. For example, you’ve just had a baby and decided to become a stay-at-home mom or dad, but you don’t want to lose all touch with the world of paid work. Or, a few years later, your little angel has just started daycare, so you finally have some free time. Or maybe your spouse has had to move to a new city where jobs in your field aren’t plentiful. This is your chance to strike out on your own. Any of these changes may be the boost you need to unleash your inner desire to venture out on your own.

      Maybe You’ve Just Got the Urge

      Maybe there are no outside forces pushing you to start your own business. You actually like your job but would love to try something on your own. You love your hobby and want to turn it into a moneymaker. Or you have great plans to build an empire you and your descendants can be proud of.

      It doesn’t matter what the reason is, you’ve come to the right source — someone who had an urge just like yours, who has gone through it already.

      Why Listen to Me?

      Why should you listen to me? Well, first of all, I am 48 years old and have been self-employed for nearly two decades. I am not some hotshot kid, fresh from school, with ideas about what being self-employed is like. I have lived it.

      I have struggled through growing my own business from scratch. I did not buy a business from someone else.

      My business happens to be a service business. It started out as an accounting practice and has expanded