Fancy Venus Williams designing the interior of your house or Kevin Costner cleaning up an oil spill?
Sound farfetched?
Well the truth is that these roles are more real than you might think.
The renowned tennis champion has her own interior design company called V Starr Interiors, while The Bodyguard actor began developing oil separation machines in the 1990s which were even bought by BP during the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.
You learn something new every day.
The truth is that it’s not unusual for even famous people to want to start up a business. It is a natural thing to want to be your own boss and for many facing redundancy, the prospect is very desirable. Some may feel forced to do so in their particular circumstances rather than as a result of some serious thinking. For others it is the entrepreneurial spirit inside of them.
But, there are ultimately many different realties to starting a business to consider before making any decision:
Time: You are almost certain to work harder and longer creating and building a business of your own. Seven-day workweeks are not uncommon, particularly during the early years.
Accountability: For many entrepreneurs a key attraction of starting a business is that they are ultimately accountable only to themselves. This means that they can take all the credit for success, but it also means that they accept all the blame if things go wrong.
Risk: People usually only consider personal financial risk, but there are additional ones such as legal risks that may surprise a business owner.
Feedback: In established companies, there are usually feedback systems for acknowledging jobs well done and identifying performance not up to scratch. Entrepreneurs may need to cope for long periods in which they receive limited, irregular feedback.
Support: Corporate employees tend to take the extensive support resources of company life for granted. By contrast, founders of new businesses are likely to serve as everything from CEO to maintenance personnel.
Starting a business is an extremely viable option for those facing redundancy and there have been many hugely successful examples in Northern Ireland.
However, it is not all plain sailing and doing deals with BP, so all realities and eventualities must be considered extensively before taking the plunge.
For more information or advice from Gilpin, please call on us +44 (0) 28 9076 9900
Whether you are seeking small startups and small businesses success or success in other areas of your life one of the keys to success is, very simply, how you talk to yourself. Before I get into self-talk let’s take a look at the bigger picture which is how you relate or associate with yourself.