You’ve been treated like a dog and kicked in the teeth so many times that you wonder what you’re still doing hanging around and hanging on.
But you don’t want to follow those eyeing a job in the Middle East or some other foreign shore.
For years you’ve yearned to start and run something on your own but you’ve held yourself back.
Starting something of your own may seem intimidating when you view the small business Tee Vee celebrities, the shows like “Sharks Tank” or “Dragons Den”.
When the prophets of small business appear on radio stations, your heart drops as they scold and cajole like old-fashioned schoolteachers telling small business owners what to do and what not to do.
These small business gurus know everything and will decide for you what is best for you.
But it’s not like this when you go into the real-world and look at how real people are starting real businesses.
Go visit any small town and you’ll find a range of businesses that have been formed by ordinary folk like you who have come up with something old, something borrowed, something new that serves the local community well.
I’m not saying you have to go start-up in a small town – that’s a matter of choice and let’s face it can be difficult unless you enjoy the community and you have a compelling reason to stay and live there.
What I am saying is that it’s good to get away from the high-cost shopping malls and take a look around to see what’s happening elsewhere.
For example, in a small town in the Northern Cape, I came across a small business woman who started her business after she couldn’t take teaching any more. The pupils were misbehaving, didn’t pay attention and weren’t interested in learning maths. What a tragedy.
Maths teaching was this woman’s passion but after being badly treated in the school system, she started looking around and found something that would express her passion and another interest, her artistic side, that she had suppressed for many years.
Another small business owner in a small town started a small hamburger joint with burgers far better then you could get from the giant national chains, which have reduced portion sizes, jacked up their prices and squeezed out the taste of real food with mass food processing.
I could tell you about a whole lot more small businesses that have been started by ordinary people. But the point I’m making here is that you don’t need to be some kind of genius, whizzkid, over-qualified professional or doctor in small business to start something of your own.
If you feel it in your bones that you long for independence, freedom, control of your own destiny, then you can do it as long as you do so with your eyes wide open and understand the hard work and risks that are involved.
