ORGANIZATION-ORGANIZATION-ORGANIZATION  

Organization

Did I say Organization? This is one of the most critical components to small business success. How you spend your time will have everything to do with whether you succeed or not.  If you are working 15 hour days, chances are that you are not organized and are not setting priorities.  Before you retire for the day, set out your calendar for the next day and guard it like a pit bull. Your #1 priority is selling or advancing your product or service every day. Everything else is secondary.  No one can articulate your vision and can represent your company better than you.    

Posted by Paul E. Casey Friday, August 11, 2017 12:30:00 PM

JUDGMENT 

You have good judgment or you don't...It's pretty simple

One of the questions I ask in my self-employment quiz is whether you believe you exercise good judgment. The absolute most important trait for succeeding in business is exercising good judgment, so it's pretty important. . You either have good judgment or you don't.

Before jumping into running your own business, look back on your life.  Are you pleased with most of your decisions?  When you made some bad choices, what happened?  Is there a pattern? If you can honestly say you are satisfied with the choices YOU have made, self-employment will be allot easier. Starting a business is the easy part. Sustaining your business is the challenge.  

Posted by Paul E. Casey Thursday, August 10, 2017 11:58:00 AM

Are Entrepreneurs Huge Risk Takers? 

Some Are...Many are Not

I have heard my entire life that people who go into business for themselves are huge risk takers.  While that maybe true in some cases, I submit that people who go into business for themselves are pragmatic and risk adverse. As a matter of fact, many entrepreneurs view working for someone else their entire career as a much more riskier proposition. I have  interviewed many people who have gone into business for themselves and they know that they are in it for the long term. That is an absolute critical mindset for the self-employed. . 

Posted by Paul E. Casey Sunday, August 6, 2017 10:43:00 AM

Flexibility  

This is not an option

I spoke with Jason Feifer, Editor In Chief with Entrepreneur Magazine a couple of weeks ago.  I asked him what he considered to be some of the most important personality traits regarding self-employment.  Without hesitation, he said that a flexible personality. I concur. One of my self-employment quiz questions, asks if the person has a flexible personality.

As a small business owner, you are juggling many balls at once. You encounter problems almost every day.  Your ability to put out the small fires, so they don't engulf your business is critical to your long term success. Also, Jason said the ability  to change course if something isn't working is a must.

 

Posted by Paul E. Casey Saturday, August 5, 2017 10:59:00 AM

RADIO SHOW UPDATE 

Is Self-Employment for You?

FYI

The Self-Employment Radio show will be  returning to KKNW 1150 AM on Monday, September 11, 2017 at 8:00 a.m.

Posted by Paul E. Casey Friday, July 14, 2017 3:04:00 PM

Radio Show Enters Second Month 

I am really enjoying putting together my radio show on KKNW 1150 AM in Seattle.  The good news is that if you want to take a listen you can stream the radio show from anywhere.  

All you need to do is Google or Bing:  KKNW.  Click onto Archives and then scroll down to Is Self Employment for You?  The show is 26-minutes long.

All I try to do on each show, is to increase your prospects for success if you choose to go into business for yourself.  Take a listen and let me know what you think.  

Posted by Paul E. Casey Monday, May 15, 2017 6:15:00 PM

Myth # 5 

Watch Your Competitors Like a Hawk

 

COMPETITORS ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS

Say you want to start your own accounting firm.  Because of the success of previous  and current accounting firms, you don't have to convince anyone of the value of using an accounting firm.  Your competitors have already done that for you.  All you have to do is carve out your own niche and take it from there. Not only should you not worry about competition, you want them to flourish.  If a scandal and ethics violation occurs in your industry, everyone suffers.     

If your business is struggling, don't blame competition.  Find out what is really wrong and fix it. . 

Posted by Paul E. Casey Saturday, April 8, 2017 6:42:00 PM Categories: self-employment myths

Myth #4 

Self-Employment

The customer is always right.  I'll bet you have heard that a number of times, right? Wrong.  The customer is not always right.  A bad customer or client can cost you your business.  It almost happened to me.  The good news is that 90% of the people out there are a pleasure to work with. Focus on the 90% not the small minority of dead beats. 

Paul  

Posted by Paul E. Casey Monday, April 3, 2017 5:01:00 PM

Paul E. Casey's Self-Employment Tip: Judgment 

Question: Do you exercise good judgment?

Today, I want to address the need for good judgment for successfully sustaining your business.   Nothing has disappeared from the American landscape during my lifetime faster than good judgment. You can read all the books including mine, about starting your own business but in the end your success or failure comes down to whether you exercise good or bad judgment. Unfortunately, like experience, good judgment can’t be taught. By the time you are in your 20’s or 30’s, you have either acquired good judgment or you haven’t.

Unfortunately, like experience, good judgment can’t be taught.

Have you exercised good judgment when you look you back on your life thus far?  Do you demonstrate good judgment in choosing friends and people you like to hang around with?  How about the jobs you have taken or the lifestyle choices you have made?  How many times have your business or personal relationships ended in mistrust or contempt for another person or organization?  We all have some baggage but do you have a history of making bad judgment calls or repeating the same mistakes?

Bottom line: If you feel that you’ve been happy with your choices in life, and if you are a person who has generally exercised good judgment, there is a very, very good chance that you will succeed in self-employment.

If you want to find out about other personality traits that will measure potential success in self-employment, take the 5-minute self-employment quiz.   The higher you score, the higher your prospects for success. Or buy my book "Is Self-Employment For You? 10 Years Later" today.

 

Posted by Paul E. Casey Thursday, November 3, 2016 5:36:00 PM Categories: business tips self-employment tips

Paul E. Casey's Self-Employment Tip: Security = Steady Paycheck? 

Question: Does security equal a steady paycheck?

Today, I want to address the psychological need for a steady paycheck vs. living in fear with the uncertainty of when and where the next paycheck will come from. Many people will not consider self-employment because they live in fear of not having access to a steady paycheck. This is understandable. The prospect of living on a park bench can be daunting.
One of the biggest myths about self-employment is that entrepreneurs are huge risk takers. Most successful entrepreneurs never risk more than they are willing to lose. In other words, we know when to walk away from the Blackjack table. We are prudent with our money and are risk adverse. We keep enough money in our savings account to live on for at least a year, in case our financial projections are off.  If things do not work out, we always have a fallback position.

One of the biggest myths is that entrepreneurs are huge risk takers.

Successful entrepreneurs develop a solid plan of attack (often referred to as a business plan). We keep our overhead low and grow slowly. We are not just trying out self-employment to see if it works. We have made a commitment to a self-employed lifestyle.

Most entrepreneurs are of the mindset that the security of a paycheck or security in life, is an illusion. You can do things to put yourself in a more secure position but none of us knows exactly what tomorrow will bring.

Bottom line: I have interviewed thousands of small business owners. We universally believe that owning your business provides more security than working for someone else.

If you want to find out about other personality traits that will measure your potential success in self-employment, take the 5- minute self-employment quiz.  The higher you score, the higher your prospects for success. Or buy my book "Is Self-Employment For You? 10 Years Later" today.

Posted by Paul E. Casey Friday, October 21, 2016 12:03:00 PM Categories: self-employment success self-employment tips
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