Chapter 1

Is Small Business for You?

IN THIS CHAPTER

Working for yourself - the good things that make it all worthwhile

Working for yourself - the bad things that no-one wants to talk about

Making sure the time is right (now, where is my crystal ball?)

Figuring out your business strategy

Digging up government advice, free of charge

I love small business. For me, small business is about believing in yourself, being passionate about what you do and creating opportunities. Our culture of getting up, getting out and giving it a go fits perfectly with this entrepreneurial existence, explaining why so many Australians are hooked on the self-employed way of life.

Although starting your own business can be daunting at first, the everyday challenges don't leave you with much time to regret your decision. Besides, being self-employed is a pretty addictive thing: Working your own hours, being responsible for your decisions and raking in handsome profits (here's hoping) are just some of the attractions of being your own boss.

In this chapter, I talk about what it means to start your own business. I take you on a roller-coaster ride over the highs and lows of small business terrain (for every upside to being out there on your own, a downside exists, too), through to making the decision when to actually 'open shop'. After all, the success of any venture depends on timing - the best time for the business, the best time for the economy and the best time for you.

So, put on your Stackhat, hold on tight and get ready for the trip of a lifetime .

Working for Yourself - A Dream Come True?

If you ask most small business people what they like the best about working for themselves, you're likely to get a pretty cynical reply - something about the delights of working for peanuts and the thrills of doing bookwork in the wee hours of the night. But dig a little deeper, and most self-employed people warm to the question.

Doing what you love to do

Doing what you're passionate about has a lot going for it. If you want to play the trumpet day and night, you're likely to be happiest as a professional musician. If you love hanging off cliffs on the end of a rope, you're going to dig being a climbing instructor. And if you've never quite gotten over your LEGO phase, you probably need to go and build houses.

Happy people love what they do for a living. Besides, being self-employed is often the only way you can get to do just that. (Nine-to-five jobs tend to be rather thin on the ground for trumpet players or climbing instructors!)

Earning pots of money (here's hoping)

With many trades and professions, your income always has a pre-defined upper limit, no matter how hard you work - teachers, carpenters or nurses on the regular payroll, for example, are limited in the amount of pay they can get. However, by setting up your own business, whether you're tutoring private students, building house extensions or doing private home nursing, your earning potential immediately increases.

Statistics that compare the taxable income of self-employed individuals with those of employees working in similar industries or professions are hard to come by. However, if you start up a low-risk kind of business - home-tutoring, for example - the financial benefits of becoming self-employed are small but relatively guaranteed. On the other hand, if you start up a high-risk business - say, launching a new invention - you could end up losing everything you have. Or, you could just wind up a millionaire.

Being your own boss

No-one is going to dispute being your own boss is fantastic. And no matter how much you stuff things up, no-one can give you the boot - except perhaps your customers - leaving you with a feeling of security that's hard to beat. Here are some other reasons being your own boss feels so good:

• You get to set your own rules: Your rules may involve anything from setting enormously high standards, to declaring mufti days seven days a week.
• You choose when (and how often) you work: Of course, choosing when you work often means working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, in theory you can pick and choose which hours you work and when you take holidays.
• You follow your own instincts: You can do what you think is right, as opposed to doing what someone else thinks is right. I know firsthand how frustrating it is to be forced to do stuff the wrong way, or the slow way, just because the person who is giving the orders happens to be your boss.
• You can use your conscience: You can afford to make decisions that may not be the best from an economic point of view, but are good decisions in terms of your own conscience. For example, a business colleague of mine who recently purchased an electric car was acting according to her principles, rather than seeking to save dollars.
• You can take risks: When you're self-employed, you can take risks that you may not be able to otherwise take. Thousands of successful businesses have been started by former employees who went out on their own because their employers didn't believe in the viability of their new ideas.
• You can provide employment for family members: Being in a business team with your family, and being able to provide employment when it's needed, can be one of life's most satisfying experiences. (Of course, it can also be one of life's most frustrating experiences, but I'm not going there right now.)
• You can realise your dreams: No business book is complete unless it mentions dreams. Nothing beats putting your heart and soul into what you believe in.

Staying home

I confess that working from home somewhat lost its shine for me during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, over the years I've really appreciated the flexibility that working from home affords. Generally, I love walking to my 'office', ten seconds down the hallway, rather than commuting two hours by train to the city.

GRAB SOME INSPIRATION

A whole business community is out there for you to lean on. These links and sites may have changed by the time you're reading this, but here are some of my favourite sources of inspiration:

• www.flyingsolo.com.au is not just a website for 'micro businesses', but a community as well, with over 120,000 members, hundreds of articles, lots of free tips and tools, and a busy bunch of forum boards.
• www.entrepreneur.com is a website as well as a magazine, and has more of a start-up, corporate bent. I find many of the articles helpful and a bit of nudge to keep my thinking fresh.
• With an upbeat feel and great info, www.smartcompany.com.au is an Australian site dedicated to free news and resources for small- to medium-sized businesses.
• A favourite of mine when I'm in the car is the Goal Digger podcast, hosted by entrepreneur Jenna Kutcher (podcast.jennakutcher.com). This show is all about setting and managing goals, whether for your side-hustle (how I love that term!) or for your main game.
• When I'm in the mood to refresh my marketing, I enjoy the Strategy Hour podcast, facilitated by Think Tank collective hosts (bossproject.com/podcast). These practical podcasts help with the nitty-gritty details of business, with hundreds of episodes covering all kinds of different topics.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), home-based businesses make up over half of all the small businesses in Australia, reflecting part of an international trend towards more businesses operating from home (a trend presumably partly fuelled by improvements in technology). Home business is the spawning ground from which larger businesses are born, including iconic brands such as AirTasker, Billabong, Canva and Salt Gypsy.

Working for Yourself - Reality Strikes

An acupuncturist once said to me: 'When you work for yourself, you work for a real bastard. No holiday pay, no sick pay, no bonuses - long hours, filthy pay and no promotion.' As I lay on the couch, needles sticking out of my ears and my navel, I reflected on my 60-hour weeks and wobbly bank balance. I had to agree with him.

Teetering on the edge

As the years have passed by, I've developed a sniffer-dog instinct for which businesses are likely to succeed, which are going to struggle and which are doomed to fail. Although I usually wish I wasn't so chillingly accurate (especially when I predict failure), occasionally life delivers a surprise - the success of an overpriced French restaurant with a mad chef, for example, or the survival of a bed and breakfast in the back of beyond.

Running a business is an inherently risky game. Sometimes, this risk makes things exciting and, other times, just plain old scary. Of course, business success is a fantastic feeling but, on the other hand, failure can be quite catastrophic. You can lose your house, your job, even your family, all in the one hit, not to mention the disillusionment...