You’ve been laid off, downsized or restructured . You can’t find employment or you are just not happy with what you are doing. Have you considered starting your own business?
So you have been laid off, let go, downsized, or however you want to put it, once someone has been out of work for any amount of time it can be difficult to get back into the workforce.
People with the best chances of landing that new career tend to find new opportunities quickly. Those who come from industries that are downsizing or who have outdated skills can wind up unemployed for months or even years.
When older workers lose their jobs they are out of work for a long time, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute.
Nearly two-thirds of unemployed workers age 55 and older say they have been actively searching for a job for more than one year, compared to just one-third of younger workers, a recent survey by the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University found.
“When there’s a large supply of unemployed workers, employers can afford to be choosier, and they’re opting for workers that are less expensive or more recently trained,” said Sara Rix, senior strategic policy advisor for AARP’s Public Policy Institute.
If you can’t find a new career, does it make sense to wait months and months and use up your resources or make a change and start your own business.
Starting a business can be risky. First, unless you have credibility, an unfair advantage in your market or a proven, profitable business model, you’re most likely going to have a hard time showing your value. So you’ll be unpaid for some time. Secondly, no matter how much you have a vision and passion for your start-up, you have to face the very sobering statistics that 70% to 80% of start-ups fail to see their return on investment (source). So, in some sense, starting a business is risky. However there are options that decrease this risk greatly such as franchising.
