Comments on David Alison's Blog: Startup 101: Do you have what it takes to fire you...

@Theo: I don't know what your financial situation ...

2008-04-05T15:50:00.000-04:00

@Theo: I don't know what your financial situation is but at 25 if you know what you want to do and can quickly develop a plan to build that business you should do it.

Look at it this way: 10 years from now at the ripe old age of 35 you will be saying one of the following:

"When I was 25 I was laid off from my job and...

I started my own business, went through some tough times but I've been happily self employed ever since."

I started my own business, found that it was too much and ended up going to work for the government doing research. Being self employed just wasn't right for me."

I went to work for Widget Co. and have been there ever since. I wonder what would have happened if I had started my own company back then?"

There are quite a few variations on this but in the end you will have lived a richer life by trying something outside of the norm, even if it means failure. If this is what you really want to do and are passionate about it then now is the time to seriously look at doing it.

You've been given a gift. Open it and see what's inside.

This post comes at an interesting time in my life....

2008-04-05T13:06:00.000-04:00

This post comes at an interesting time in my life. I'm 25, have been at a large internet company for the last 2 years (you've heard of them and likely use them everyday). However, I've recently been laid off.

In a lot of ways the lay off is a blessing, it's forcing me to do what I was too scared to do... leave the job to kick off my financial investment business.

Now I find myself in the position of being "headhunted" by other tech companies and am faced with a tough decision... take the reliability and experience of a corporate or govt research job... or do what I want... finance and renewable energy.

Decisions,decisions...

@Jeff: Great comment man. The concept of job secur...

2008-03-31T19:32:00.000-04:00

@Jeff: Great comment man. The concept of job security is a myth. While there are some jobs that are more secure than others (public service jobs are generally safer than private sector jobs) private sector companies don't provide you nearly the kinds of benefits that they used to. Jobs of every class can be outsourced or sent overseas in a very short period of time. Then there's that glass ceiling that people strike their heads on, especially in stable companies, limiting personal growth.

You are exactly right when you say "If you tell people truth, show up on time, deliver more then you guaranteed and take care of problems when they arise, you can't help but succeed."

Personal integrity and quality of character is an attribute that I probably should have listed!

Hi David,I'm 54 and have been an employee for less...

2008-03-31T14:21:00.000-04:00

Hi David,

I'm 54 and have been an employee for less than three years of my working life. The rest of the time I've been self employed. The reason I started my own business was that I hated applying for jobs. It's such a win lose situation. By having my own business I in affect applied for hundreds of jobs so it didn't have the emotional toll when I didn't get some of them. Here are the main things I've learned.

It helps if you have the proper frame of mind. That is that everyone is self employed (and everyone is in sales). Even your customers are selling you. Remember just because they want to buy from you doesn't mean you'll choose to sell to them. The sense of security you get from being an employee is false and you only have a customer base of one. In truth the bigger your customer base, the more security you have.
Always remember the 'One' thing a business needs. (customers!).
The number one reason that businesses fail is 'Over extension'.
If you tell people truth, show up on time, deliver more then you guaranteed and take care of problems when they arise, you can't help but succeed.
I really like sleeping with the bosses wife.

Yours Truly

Jeff Bellamy
Chief Custodian
http://TimeTravelUniversity.com