FEATURE

Qualifying for personal loans when you are self-employed can be very difficult, especially in today’s economic climate.

Despite some seemingly “too good to be true” perks, establishing, maintaining, and working from a home office can have its challenges. Knowing what your needs are will help you navigate these issues and have a productive and pleasant workspace.

When the frustration of the daily grind or the thoughts that “I could do this and be my own boss” start to cross your mind, then it is time to sit down and plan how to get from the “here” of a job to the “there” of starting your own business.

Somewhere between that “ah-ha” moment of a great business idea and cashing your first paycheck should be a lot of research to determine what the market is like for your idea. Many entrepreneurs are very good at coming up with services or products that sound like they fill a need, but fall short in how to enter the market. Often they will blindly jump into the business arena, only to find that they either failed to do any market research or grossly misunderstood the market.

Career setbacks and restarts can be particularly challenging for the self-employed. Rather than just focusing on updating one’s resume and strategizing on whom to send it to, the self-employed often have to reinvent their brand, find a new way of doing business and uncover a fresh customer base. This can be a gut-wrenching process requiring a lot of introspection, faith, courage, and above all, confidence. Learn from the stories of three NASE Members who weren't afraid to reboot their businesses.

Have a great idea or product that you think will make you money? Or do you already have a small business that is ready to grow? Where will you get the money you need to start up or grow? Many forms of financing are available, but few business owners are aware of the potential of crowdfunding.