Start a small business from home
Everybody's Doing It: Starting a Home Business
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My hometown newspaper (The Los Angeles Times) has a regular
business feature called "Career Makeover." The concept is
simple: A reader who is contemplating a change of profession is matched with a panel of experts
which devises a game plan for making the move.
What I always find fascinating is the number of people I
would call "successful" who are not feeling satisfied with
what they've achieved.
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Some of these folks have had life changes that have prompted
them to re-examine their careers. Others are disillusioned
or burnt out. And others simply want to have more fun! I guess I find it reassuring to see that I am not the only
one who has changed my career direction midstream.
One profile that really hit home was that of a doctor whose
earnings were in the low six-figures. He confessed that he
only went to medical school to please his parents and now
that he is in his forties, he yearned to try something
else. He had an idea for a product that could be marketed as a
hangover cure, and wondered if it was something he could
someday generate enough income with it to quit medicine.
A career counselor helped him evaluate his background, abilities, likes and dislikes. Marketing experts advised
him on the pitfalls of bringing a new over-the-counter drug
to market -- such as getting FDA approval and fighting for
retail shelf space.
In the end, the experts concluded that entrepreneurship was not for him, and the good doctor was pointed in another
direction.
I don't know if I would have dismissed his idea so easily.
His instinct to market a product related to what he knows
was a good one. In fact, I've come across several health
care professionals who are enjoying a substantial extra income by doing just that.
Of course, you can't assume that a course of action that
works for one person is the same one for you. An assessment
of your interests, abilities, likes and dislikes is a good
first step in finding your direction... and thanks to the
Internet, you don't have to spend a fortune finding a consultant to do it for you.
Here
Are Some Starting Points:
Professional career guidance counselors swear by the Birkman Method Career Style Summary, part of The
Princeton Review. There's no charge to take the pared-down online version of the test.
http://www.review.com/birkman
The Keirsey Temperament and Character Web Site measures these two components of your personality to give
you a rough indication of where you stand. http://www.keirsey.com
Try running a Self-Directed Search to see if your individual type matches your chosen field. You can take
this professional quality test in its entirety for $7.95.
http://www.self-directed-search.com
Life is too short to spend it toiling away at something you don't enjoy. Sometimes you need to figure out what
your alternatives are. You owe it to yourself to do it!
About the Author
Donna Schwartz Mills writes about the specific needs of
work at home parents at her website, http://www.ParentPreneurClub.com,
"For Parents Who Want Choices, Not Office
Politics." Tools, free tips and support to help
grow your home based business while raising a family.
For more articles like this one, visit Donna's other
site, http://www.Family-Content.com
Additional Resources
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