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Now Is The Time To Start Your Own Business

Anytime we’re exposed to a new territory, it can be intimidating. Its like being a kid all over again, and entering a playground that you’ve never been to before. This intimidation factor is not any different when starting your own business. The fear of failure, start up costs, finding business, and many other reasons that come to your mind.

Despite a long list of discouraging reasons for not starting a business, the list for starting a business is equally as long. The time for starting a business is always now, and the longer you prolong starting your business, the more you will wish that you started it earlier when you finally get going in your business.

I currently work a regular job, and have two of my own businesses that I run on the side. My days are full, but I still have plenty of time for my friends and family. As one who put off the idea of starting my own business for far too long, I thought it might be helpful to outline for you some of the best reasons that I see why now is a great time for starting your own business.

Income Without a Second Job

Lets put things into perspective – you will never be motivated working for someone else as you will be working for your self. There are many part-time jobs available, but it could be months before you finally land one. Valuable time will pass you by, which you can put towards starting and growing your business.

Starting your own business allows you to generate more income for yourself without having to send out resumes, fill out applications, and attend interviews. And the best part will be that you can set your own hours, proceed at your own pace, and never have to worry about having another boss.

Strong Job Security

When you’re the boss, the only person that can fire you is you yourself. Starting your own business now can also provide a safety net, or a hedge, against this struggling economy.Back in 2009, I took a 20% pay cut in order to keep my job. It was a scary moment, and one that has lead me into starting multiple businesses in order to bring in more money and security as well.

Today, with my two side businesses producing consistent incomes, this fear is gone from my mind. Sure, I‘d have some rough moments if I were to lost that job tomorrow, but it would be a lot worse had I not had these other sources of income.

Anything Is Possible

We all have a fear of something. Most people have a fear of heights, and fear of snakes. I’m afraid of both. Intimidation comes second to fear, especially when starting a business. You wonder, ‘How will I take on those in my industry who have been around for a lot longer than me?’. But guess what? Fear and intimidation can be overcome.

Everyone can overcome their fears and intimidation if faced head on. We all carry a unique talent that is unique to us. We all perform similar tasks, but everyone does it differently. That’s something that you should never forget. You are unique, and you don’t need to go invent new products or services. Instead find something you’re good at, do it, and ensure you do it differently and better than those who are already doing it. That’s what will make you stand out from the rest.

Final Thoughts

Anytime someone asks me why I’m a business owner, my answer is plan and simple – I enjoy seeing something develop from start to finish. I’m fortunate enough to see a business go from start up, and grow along the way into a profitable venture. I enjoy being part of the different stages of business ownership. I enjoy the touch, feel, emotions, and sometimes smell of business growth.

Readers, what’s holding you back from starting your own business?

Eddie

Photo Credit (jkunz, artnoose)

Is a Commercial Cleaning Franchise Right For You?

Often new entrepreneurs who are looking to start a commercial cleaning business wonder whether buying a commercial cleaning franchise is the right choice for them. There are arguments from both sides on whether joining franchise is the right thing to do or not so much.

Becoming part of a franchise within the commercial cleaning industry definitely has a greater success rate than conventional independent commercial cleaning businesses.Teaming up with a well establish commercial cleaning franchise instantly offers your new business brand awareness, technical support, training, different networks and a partnership. Most importantly though, your return on investment is much faster.

Realistically there are key advantages of buying a commercial cleaning franchise and much like with anything else in life, there is a downside with several disadvantages too.

One should consider a commercial cleaning franchise business only after asking them selves some questions.

Would you be a good manager?

Purchasing a commercial cleaning franchise is essentially managing a pre-developed company. You’d need to hire employees who’d fall in line with your thinking and buy into the concept of the franchisor has already set in place.

How good of a follower are you?

Franchising is all about following an existing set of rules and procedures which are defined by your franchisor. If you are a highly creative person, and enjoy being creative, innovative and open-minded, a franchise environment will only suffocate you as there will be no room for your creativity and ideas. A commercial cleaning franchise is built on the idea that the consumer will the exact same experience no matter which location they deal with.

Do you enjoy hard work?

Even though your partner (commercial cleaning franchise) will give you all the tools to get started, you’re still on the hook to bring in new clientele and build numbers.

The above questions should be taken seriously, and if your answer is “No” to any of the above questions, maybe a commercial cleaning franchise is not right for you. And for those of you who answered “Yes” to all three of the above questions, here are a few truly good reasons to join a franchise.

Proven System

You’re joining a proven system. Most franchise systems are established and tested for operating the business and making profits. Therefore, the probability for success is much higher due to the established support system.

Greater Support

Knowing that you’re not alone in your business can be a good sigh of relief. Buying a commercial cleaning franchise offers you the benefit of not having to start from a scratch. You’ll have the opportunity to take advantage of the available resources and established systems.

Larger Network

By becoming part of a franchise, you’re essentially becoming part of a large network. Your buying power becomes much stronger. Rather than purchasing supplies locally, you can typically buy in volume and at greater discounts that have already been pre-negotiated by your franchisor.

Training & Support

Franchisors provide training programs at new franchise outlets. They are also involved in the promotion of the new outlets. The experience of the franchisor greatly benefits the franchisee by helping them evade common mistakes

There are many advantages of joining a successful franchise. Most importantly the new entrepreneur won’t feel like they’re at it alone. One should always do their due diligence to read, research and ask the right questions before joining any type of partnership with a franchisor.

Eddie

Side Hustler – I’m a Cleaning Geek

When I started my first blog (Finance Fox) , I used it as an online journal to keep my self liable for getting out of debt. I knew the journey out of debt was going to be a long one, so I started with the basics of trimming my budget, putting more money towards my debt and even went cold turkey on shopping which you can read in my post called; It’s been 127 Days Since I Last Shopped.

Eventually the excitement towards debt freedom became tiring. And after months of sticking every last available penny towards my debt, I became exhausted and the road seemed longer than initially planned.

Something needed to be done. I wanted to eliminate my credit-card debt at a faster pace. And after weeks of pondering it, I picked up a part-time cleaning job at the local pharmacy. Fives days a week, two hours every night after working 9 hours in my full-time job. And it was worth it. The long hours and the extra money gave me the opportunity to dump more cash towards my debt, and 347 days later I became credit-card debt free.

This eventually motivated me and I started my own cleaning company called Father & Son Cleaning Services.

One of the biggest reasons for turning my part-time cleaning gig into a part-time cleaning business was due to;

  • Low start up costs
  • I already had one customer
  • I ran it out of my home (invoicing and storage of supplies)
  • Made easily an extra $500/month to start

The above four reasons were enough for me to start my own cleaning company, so without much hesitation I started it.

Low Start Up Costs

When I first started cleaning for the local pharmacy the agreement was that they’d supply all the supplies. All I had to do was show up each evening for 1-2 hours of cleaning.

After a few months of cleaning, they asked for some carpet cleaning to be done and windows washed on regular basis. We worked out a fair price and I did both on top of my regular cleaning.

I got a few extra cleaning supplies for the window cleaning and they cost me less than $40. The carpet cleaning machine I rented from my local Home Depot, and purchased the carpet cleaning solution to do the clean. The total for the supplies for carpet cleaning ran me $150.

Eventually I got around and got my logo designed for $80 and printed 1000 business cards for $75 (shipping included).

I went ahead and got liability insurance and a bond.  This was kinda optional but not only does it protect me and my clients, it also helps me stand out from the crowd.  Insurance and the bond cost me $65/month or $780 for the year.

My total start-up cost for my newly formed cleaning business was less than $1,000. And I didn’t have an issue forking the money out because I’d make it back in less than three months.

One of the best parts of doing cleaning part-time or owning a small cleaning business is flexibility. I control how much work I want to take on. I do the carpet cleaning, window cleaning and general cleaning around my schedule.

I don’t need to work a part-time sales commissioned job, which consists of standing around and if I don’t sell anything, I don’t get paid, but I still stood around for hours and had to be there.

Anytime I’m working, I’m actually making money. Not having a physical place of business also leads me to my next needed quality, running my business out of my home.

Home Business Space

Another amazing part of starting a small cleaning business is that you don’t need any fancy office space. I run my cleaning business out of my home. The second bedroom was converted into an office, which is where I do all my invoicing and customer contact. I’m also fortunate enough to have a large storage in my condo unit, which also happens to be the place where I store all my cleaning supplies and tools. Having a home office helps me keep the costs to a minimum, and therefore profits to a maximum.

My ultimate goal for this business is to eventually turn it into a 5+ employee business that brings in over $100K annually in sales.  I realize that it will take time. If I charge $25 an hour and have costs of $15 an hour (payroll and overhead), then I would have $10 an hour profit.  Which means I would have to work 10,000 hours per year.   This works out to 192 hours per week, or 5 full time employees.  Of course, these are very rough numbers, but it’s something definitely worth striving towards.

Eddie