Living Through an "Economic Crisis" as a Self-Employed
The decade is not over yet and, already, I have lived through three so-called economic crisis: the dot-com bubble in 2000; the 9/11 fallout; and, currently, the credit crisis of 2008. Other past economic downturns (e.g. 1987 Black October) did not have quite an impact on my psychological and financial well-being because, frankly, I was living the life of an aspiring student: no mortgage, very little personal financial investments, and some student debt.
Flash forward to now. While the economy teeters into recession or, would that be depression ... I really can't keep up with media pundits ... I am midway through a 10-week entrepreneurial training program. After going through an application process that forced me to clarify my business vision, I received the call that passed me into the program.
Truth to be told, I felt equivocal about accepting the nod to formalize my entry into the self-employed world. Although I have been independently contracting since my layoff, there was still a side of me that thought that state would be temporary. In this day and age, should I have opted to look for full-time work, hunker down with my constant stream of bi-weekly paychecks and wait out the economic storm? The statistics are against me. Over 50% of new start-ups fail before their fourth year anniversary (source: Start-up Failure Rates).
In an economic downturn, companies are going to reduce their spending, may layoff a portion of their employees, who will then reduce their discretionary spending, which will likely affect my business' bottom line, in my inability to sell my service, because potential customers may defer from buying in order to reduce their spending ... I think you get the picture.
This is my fear asserting itself.
What saves me is the optimism that flows from the participants of the entrepreneurial training program. There is approximately 40 of us in this particular group. We range in age from our 20s to our 60s, a disproportionate of them women, with a wide range of employment history, and a diverse mix of business ideas from e-commerce, photography, crafts, fashion design, music, to business services, just to name a few.
Their stories inspire me. The workshops, given by competent business advisers who themselves are entrepreneurs, motivate me. Yes, I can do this, and be successful at it, as defined by my own terms. I define the success of my endeavor by the values I choose to live my life. In the last few months, they have been time and freedom, not by how much money I make, how much my home is worth, or my net worth. As an independent contractor, this way of thinking provides me with the freedom to choose the projects that inspire me, or to work with people that I respect.
As the economic gloom deepens around me, with family, friends and colleagues fearful of their job or financial security, I look at my entrepreneurial training program as a just-in-time gift that provides me with the skill to thrive (hopefully) in this uncertain time. I know that I am blessed to be surrounded by people - the entrepreneurs in training - with their "can do" spirit.
Flash forward to now. While the economy teeters into recession or, would that be depression ... I really can't keep up with media pundits ... I am midway through a 10-week entrepreneurial training program. After going through an application process that forced me to clarify my business vision, I received the call that passed me into the program.
Truth to be told, I felt equivocal about accepting the nod to formalize my entry into the self-employed world. Although I have been independently contracting since my layoff, there was still a side of me that thought that state would be temporary. In this day and age, should I have opted to look for full-time work, hunker down with my constant stream of bi-weekly paychecks and wait out the economic storm? The statistics are against me. Over 50% of new start-ups fail before their fourth year anniversary (source: Start-up Failure Rates).
In an economic downturn, companies are going to reduce their spending, may layoff a portion of their employees, who will then reduce their discretionary spending, which will likely affect my business' bottom line, in my inability to sell my service, because potential customers may defer from buying in order to reduce their spending ... I think you get the picture.
This is my fear asserting itself.
What saves me is the optimism that flows from the participants of the entrepreneurial training program. There is approximately 40 of us in this particular group. We range in age from our 20s to our 60s, a disproportionate of them women, with a wide range of employment history, and a diverse mix of business ideas from e-commerce, photography, crafts, fashion design, music, to business services, just to name a few.
Their stories inspire me. The workshops, given by competent business advisers who themselves are entrepreneurs, motivate me. Yes, I can do this, and be successful at it, as defined by my own terms. I define the success of my endeavor by the values I choose to live my life. In the last few months, they have been time and freedom, not by how much money I make, how much my home is worth, or my net worth. As an independent contractor, this way of thinking provides me with the freedom to choose the projects that inspire me, or to work with people that I respect.
As the economic gloom deepens around me, with family, friends and colleagues fearful of their job or financial security, I look at my entrepreneurial training program as a just-in-time gift that provides me with the skill to thrive (hopefully) in this uncertain time. I know that I am blessed to be surrounded by people - the entrepreneurs in training - with their "can do" spirit.
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