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Greater Financial Opportunity
The masses making this migration also have a clear eye on the bottom line: There is far greater opportunity to make money by building your own business than by working for someone else’s. There was an implicit trade-off in the old 40-year plan: Working for a firm typically meant there was a fixed ceiling to the wages one might earn, but the benefits and job security were worth it. Now that the benefits and job security (half of the equation) are evaporating, millions are asking, why settle for that arbitrary income ceiling?
“Everyone has heard the phrase, ‘The American Dream.’ I look at it as ‘The American Reality,’ ” says Jeffrey Gitomer, best-selling author of the Little Red Book of Selling and the Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude. “When you’re in business for yourself, you write your own history, you write your own success story, you write your own legacy and most important, you write your own paycheck. Being in business for yourself gives you the opportunity to work your heart out for something you love.”
A Life of Greater Impact
In the Decipher study, 84 percent of respondents said they would be more passionate about their work if they owned their own business. The No. 1 reason they gave for wanting to work for themselves: “to be more passionate about my work life.”
The nation’s 78 million baby boomers are just starting to reach retirement age, yet they’re realizing that they can’t afford to retire. What’s more, they don’t want to.
Dr. Mary Furlong, author of Turning Silver into Gold, says, “Boomers are looking for ways to give back. They are taking the reins of their own futures and redefining their lives. They want work that reflects their values and identity; they want to make a difference.” A landmark study by MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures found that 50 percent of Americans in their 50s and 60s want to do work “that matters.”
Taking the Plunge
“Leaving the rat race is not as daunting as it may seem,” says author Dan Clements in his guide to worklife balance, Escape 101. “You’ll look back in later years and marvel at how easy it was and how much you gained for so little cost.”
So what does it take? First, let’s look at what it doesn’t take. You don’t need an MBA or high-powered business background, and you don’t need to be rich or to take a second mortgage on your home. Some self-owned business opportunities require expertise, such as consulting, or can take significant capital investment and possibly training, such as real estate investing and franchises; some can be started on a shoestring and prove quite lucrative, including direct selling and online opportunities. Many of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time began with no advanced degrees and hardly any startup capital.
But make no mistake about it: What you save in cash capital you will make up for in sweat equity and passion. The major investment in most self-owned businesses is investment of one’s self in the form of time, focus and persistence. You don’t need to be a genius at negotiation or a whiz at numbers. You need a burning desire and determination fueled by a strong dose of passion!
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