Investing in Your Own Career: An Alternative to Starting Your Own Business
If you've spent any time reading small business publications or attending seminars on career success, you might have gotten the impression that starting your own business is a great route to take for everyone.
However, this simply is not the case.
Some people are better off remaining employees and investing in their careers instead of starting their own businesses.
There are a number of characteristics that most entrepreneurs share.
These include the ability to work independently and with little supervision, the skill or willingness to perform many different tasks in a given day, as well as a long-term view of success.
Entrepreneurs will normally have to give up short-term profits especially if they participate in a true startup company with very little capital.
If you start your own business, you may be risking your life savings, and you may have to go for many months (or even a few years) without seeing a substantial profit.
There are of course, many benefits to becoming an entrepreneur, including the potential to make a lot of money in the long run.
However, many people would be much happier if they remained an employee and dedicated themselves to investing in their career.
How can you improve your income-earning ability by investing in your career? Here are a few ideas.
Work This isn't a very exciting option at first glance, but taking the initiative to work a little harder and longer than most of your coworkers can do wonders for your career.
Obviously, you have to be reasonable and not work yourself to death, but working some extra hours and taking on some more responsibility can help you stand out in a company where most people can't wait to run out the door at five o'clock.
Obviously, if you take on these responsibilities, you need to deliver, which is why you should be careful not to take on too much at any given time.
Read You can gain a tremendous amount of knowledge by reading in your field and about business in general.
Your local bookstore is open to anyone, regardless of previous educational experience.
This is an excellent long-term investment if you wish to improve your career performance and business skills.
Study In addition to simply reading on your own, you may choose to complete your college degree.
You may work in the field where it is difficult to advance if you do not have a university degree, in which case you may want to go back and finish your formal education.
It may also be helpful to obtain graduate degrees such as a Masters in business administration or a similar degree in order to improve your career outlook.
However, this simply is not the case.
Some people are better off remaining employees and investing in their careers instead of starting their own businesses.
There are a number of characteristics that most entrepreneurs share.
These include the ability to work independently and with little supervision, the skill or willingness to perform many different tasks in a given day, as well as a long-term view of success.
Entrepreneurs will normally have to give up short-term profits especially if they participate in a true startup company with very little capital.
If you start your own business, you may be risking your life savings, and you may have to go for many months (or even a few years) without seeing a substantial profit.
There are of course, many benefits to becoming an entrepreneur, including the potential to make a lot of money in the long run.
However, many people would be much happier if they remained an employee and dedicated themselves to investing in their career.
How can you improve your income-earning ability by investing in your career? Here are a few ideas.
Work This isn't a very exciting option at first glance, but taking the initiative to work a little harder and longer than most of your coworkers can do wonders for your career.
Obviously, you have to be reasonable and not work yourself to death, but working some extra hours and taking on some more responsibility can help you stand out in a company where most people can't wait to run out the door at five o'clock.
Obviously, if you take on these responsibilities, you need to deliver, which is why you should be careful not to take on too much at any given time.
Read You can gain a tremendous amount of knowledge by reading in your field and about business in general.
Your local bookstore is open to anyone, regardless of previous educational experience.
This is an excellent long-term investment if you wish to improve your career performance and business skills.
Study In addition to simply reading on your own, you may choose to complete your college degree.
You may work in the field where it is difficult to advance if you do not have a university degree, in which case you may want to go back and finish your formal education.
It may also be helpful to obtain graduate degrees such as a Masters in business administration or a similar degree in order to improve your career outlook.
