The Right Time

Having wanted to start a business working from home, for a long while now, I choose to pick a time when the British economy is on its knees and making rumblings about following the Americans into a posible double recession. Am I brave or just nuts?!

The truth is, I am grateful to have found a good job with a decent salary after being out of work for a year. Of course I, being Mister Independent, was self-funding and did not draw any state benefit or job seekers allowance. I have always paddled my own canoe but my savings have taken a major battering.

Now that I am back in the proverbial 'pink' I have put my bitter experience of finding out just how tough it is to find gainfull employment to good use - and am taking steps to ensure that I am never out of work - or out of pocket, ever again. But why don't I just count myself lucky and continue to go to work evey day as usual? The answer is - the uncertain British economy.

You may be wondering why, if the economic future is so uncertain, am I choosing such a time to start a business? The reson is that there will always be requirements for certain products and services. But too many large companies all competing for the same market just does not work anymore. Money is tight in this country and will continue to be for quite some time. This is where a low cost, minimum outlay small business comes into it's own.

There is a lot to think about. The first thing is that I will not borrow money to launch and develop my business. With the banks reluctant to lend, many companies are 'going to the wall.' But I have always held the view that a company should stand on its own two feet. If it it is not generating enough cash to support itself, then something is wrong. Indeed, I worked for one company for fourteen years, and they never borrowed a single penny. They grew slowly and every cost had to be jutified and the money found from within. The two directors and founders of the company eventually sold the firm, which started with a desk and a phone and no clients, for several million pounds!

In a cash-strapped Britain we never know what companies will be next to take a dive. In the course of my full-time Senior Credit Controller / Litigation job, I recive a growing number of letters from Insolvency Practitioners every day and get a real flavour of the state of british business. So I will follow that previous employer of mine and start small, and slowly grow - not too big, not too fast, and never borrow a penny. It will take longer that way - but will be safer. And with employment ever more difficult to find, I take nothing for granted. Once my business reaches a certain level, I will then be self-supporting just like the previous company I spoke of. So the right time is now.