Could Redundancy be the Springboard to Success as Your Own Boss?
by Rob Kerr
Not so long ago, if you were made redundant your response was to look for a similar job. If you were feeling adventurous you might look for a comparable role in a different industry or sector.
Today, though, many of those businesses are in the same position — reducing their staff numbers or desperately trying to accommodate the people they have. The competition for the small number of vacancies available is fierce. And the ongoing economic uncertainty means this situation may not improve for many months.
So how about starting your own business instead?
If you’ve been made redundant and have received a severance package, you could use part of it as start-up capital. You don’t need a huge cash investment to start a business these days, and you can leverage powerful, affordable, cloud-based technology to reach customers worldwide.
You can use that same technology to find freelancers to help with the aspects you’re less confident doing yourself, to nurture your network of supporters and interact with prospective customers.
Redundancy can give you the time you need to develop and trial a business idea without irretrievably committing yourself.
It doesn’t have to be a hugely complicated; in the UK a company can be registered for as little as £12 and be listed on Companies House within 24 hours.
Starting a business isn’t right for everyone. It can be hard, lonely and will take clarity and perseverance from you to make it a success. But for many people, the rewards are very worthwhile, not just financially but personally.
You need to think carefully before deciding to become your own boss. You might start by working out the costs involved and who you’ll eventually sell to, but thinking about the impact on the key people in your life and the personal satisfaction you’ll gain from starting a particular business deserves are just as important.
In my FUTURE Method, I lay out the 6 steps to success as your own boss. Implementing this approach, which is laid out in my book, Project Future, could lead you to start a business that solves the problems you most care about for the people you most care about helping. It could lead to a balanced life, where alongside work you lock in time for self-care and for the other important things, and people, in your life.
You might just look back one day and realise that being made redundant was the best thing that could have happened to you.
Rob Kerr is the author of Project Future: 6 steps to success as your own boss and host of The Project Future Podcast. Project Future publishes 5 January 2021 - the Kindle edition will be just 99p for prelaunch on 4 January.
