Toot Toot Tootsie, G'Bye

It is a time of endings.  2011 is closing its doors, and most sigh a sigh a relief.  Not a lot of us want to re-live the past year.

And it is time of beginnings, and that is a lot more exciting.  Did you know that about 1.2 MILLION people quit their jobs last year to become entrepreneurs?  That really is "quit", not laid off, not fired.  This is probably the greatest news the economy could have.


More than anything else, those quittings mean that we as a society are losing our fear of being on our own, that we are relying on ourselves for our income, not BigCo.  We are telling lousy bosses to shove it.  We are hurtling off the chains of lousy dead end jobs.  And that just could not be better.

What about you?  Now if you really enjoy your job, and you are paid a fair wage, there is no reason to quit.  But when you are far more anxious to leave than you ever were to get there in the first place, well ... maybe it is time to start planning an escape.

Yesterday we talked about all the possible businesses you might consider.  Yours might be on that list, or you might have something totally original.  Whatever your business, keep one BIG thought in mind:  There are far more SUCCESSES in entrepreneurial businesses than any statistic would have us believe.  Truly.

Do you know what statistically counts as a "failure" in business?  Here are a few of them:

• If you change from a sole proprietorship to a corporation, the sole proprietorship is seen as going out of business, a failure;
• If you bring in a partner and form a partnership, the prior business technically no longer exists, a failure;
• If you move your business from one location to another, especially to a different state or a different county, the prior business no longer exists, a failure;
• If you sell your business at a good price, the ownership has changed, a failure again.

You and I know full well that each of these events could mark strong progress.  But statisticians can't count "progress"; they can only count individual pieces of information.  So huge numbers of businesses that actually are very successful are statistically listed as "failures".

Your odds are excellent.  If other things feel right, maybe it is time to start singing that oldie but goodie, "Toot Toot Tootsie, G'Bye" to your boss, and hang up your own shingle.

We're here to help, and here to cheer you on!