Recently Matriculated or Graduated? Unemployed? Create Your Own Job...

The doom and gloom prophesies of last year (and this year) all illustrate that the South African job market isn’t as buoyant as a couple of years ago. Statistics reveal shocking revelations of high percentages of retrenchments, redundancies, and of a greater concern – in 2009 and beyond, thousands of school leavers and graduates will find themselves unemployed under the current economic conditions. 

So, you find yourself fresh out of university or school and have already started applying for every job vacancy you can find. You may have attended a few interviews, or perhaps you are unfortunate in that you are still waiting for that 1^st invitation to attend an interview. All the while the concern remains that “What if you are one of the individuals that find yourself on the wrong side of the statistics?” What if you remain unemployed for weeks, months, or even years to come?

Creating your own job at an early age is an alternative that is not greatly explored by teenagers and young adults. The decision to start your own business is probably one of the most difficult decisions you’ll ever make, even if it is merely a micro business that will only generate enough income to cover your monthly living expenses. But starting small is better than not starting at all! Generating some income is better than sitting at home and waiting for that phone to ring. There are so many unknown factors to consider, most of which you won’t even think of during the early stages of your decision-making process. A key component to your decision is establishing whether you have the characteristics and “heart” to start and successfully run your own business. Not all new business ventures require thousands of Rands to establish. Most textbooks define entrepreneurship as the “use of personal initiative, through engaging in calculated risk-taking, to create a new business venture by raising resources to apply innovative new ideas that solve problems, meet challenges, or satisfy a need of a clearly defined market” Determining the meaning of the word “entrepreneur” takes us back more than 400 years to the 16^th and 17^th centuries, where entrepreneur were described as a “Flag Bearer”. During battles, this was the unfortunate soldier that had the responsibility of carrying the flag at the forefront of the battle. Not only was he singled out by standing in front of his army, but he also had the highest likelihood of being killed.  To be honest, not anyone’s ideal job!   In today’s terms, being “killed” takes a different meaning. As a new entrepreneur, you bear the flag of your new venture out into the battlefield of society, customers, competitors and business, with the hope that you won’t be “killed”.  Being “killed” on this occasion will mean a business that fails.  

So, how do you reduce your chances of being “killed” in the business world? Planning, preparation and in-depth research are in all probability the first steps you will have to follow. But, how do you plan? What do you plan for? How do you prepare? What do you need to look out for? How do you conduct research? And the list of questions will just go on and on and on... These are all daunting questions, enough to make you think twice if whether starting your own business is really such a good idea. There are many critical questions you need to ask on your road to becoming an entrepreneur. The first step is to ask yourself whether you have a hobby or interest you could turn into an income-generating business. 

Secondly, you need to seek valuable advice and partner with family members, friends, individuals and specialists that have your best interests at heart and would like to see you succeed. Being an entrepreneur is not just a job.  If you want a Monday to Friday, 8 to 4 job, you are in the wrong place. Failure in most instances is inevitable. It is anticipating the causes of failure and successfully planning for it that will increase the possibility of success. And besides, if you weigh up your two options you may realise that starting your own business (even if it is only small) is much more productive and rewarding that sitting and waiting for that phone to ring. 

Future Flag Bearers

www.futureflagbearers.co.za