Laid Off? Want to Start a Business?

[99socks Profile]

Laid Off? Want to Start a Business? At Last, Uncle Sam Gets a Clue

At last! The U.S. Labor Department is retooling jobless benefits so that laid off workers can do something better than collect 99 weeks of handouts in a futile wait for their old jobs to reappear. Bolder souls who want to start their own business are finally getting proper support.

To appreciate the significance of this overdue boon to would-be entrepreneurs, consider the dysfunctional way that jobless benefits work today for most people. Claimants get their maximum benefit only if they are actively hunting for work but earning nothing in the process. If they happen to collect some side income, their unemployment compensation is automatically shrunk, dollar for dollar.

That rigid system might have made sense in the 1960s, when most layoffs happened because big companies in cyclical industries got in the habit of idling workers during downturns. When the economy hit a bump, Bethlehem Steel or Chrysler handed out layoff notices. Idled workers were expected to contact other mills or factories that might sign them on. If no one else was hiring, checks from Uncle Sam would keep food on the table until Bessie or Chrysler was back in a hiring mood again.

It’s a totally different story today. When old-line jobs disappear, they don’t come back. The relentless efficiencies of automation and offshoring mean that when factories, mills, call centers or offices shed jobs in the U.S., those positions are gone for good.

Rehiring in the same or similar industries is rare. Idled workers who try the 1960s-style approach to getting rehired are distressingly likely to end up in the ranks of the long-term unemployed. They may collect as much as 99 weeks of jobless benefits, only to be broke, out of work, and not very employable when the handouts end.

Last summer, I wrote about a few states’ efforts to give laid off workers a better shot at a new career. Walk through any small town’s business district and you’ll notice a profusion of sandwich shops, bookkeeping firms, property-management offices and the like. Nobody running these outfits is pretending to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. But people who start such businesses create sustainable jobs for themselves, and often for other workers, too. And in some cases, last year’s layoff “victim” becomes this year’s mini-entrepreneur.

How can the unemployed make the transition to being gainfully self-employed? Most of the drive to do so has to reflect self-motivation. But a well-designed government program can encourage that transition — or at least not stymie it. As it happens, the tiny but productive Self-Employment Assistance Programs offered by a handful of states have been doing so since the 1990s.

The key: self-employment programs provide some basic training on how to work up a business plan, accompanied by jobless benefits that don’t shrivel when your new venture starts bringing in its first dribbles of income. As anyone who has ever started a business knows, the first few months usually involve a lot of sweat — and not much income. But then it all starts to get better.

Look at the track record in Oregon, New Jersey and Maryland. By offering self-employment assistance, those states have allowed the newly jobless to take a shot at something entrepreneurial — without feeling that the government is outright punishing them for those first few, sputtering weeks of trying to get a solo business off the ground.

The result: participants in these programs have been able to chase their dreams. Not all have succeeded, but the best of the lot have rejoined the productive economy with a bang! They have set up bakeries, accounting firms and the like that have become mini-magnets for new jobs.

SEAP is about to get bigger, thanks to the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, signed into law a few months ago, which allocates another $35 million for the program. My FORBES colleague, Tom Post, has weighed in as a SEAP opponent, in a blistering post that calls the program “the dumbest idea of the month.” I’m going to take the other side of this debate.

Tom argues that such government support instills bad habits. From my reporting, it’s just the opposite. People in their 40s and 50s — who might face overwhelming difficulties trying to find new work that didn’t involve a huge pay cut — gain a shot at building a robust income again. If self-employment assistance can revive enough careers, then the extra $35 million that’s being targeted for this program is money well spent.

[Seahawk Profile]

Yes! I do! I'm tired of the whole j.o.b. (just over broke) mentality, and of making huge profits for other people. It's my turn. If I'm gonna work hard anyway, it might as well be for myself.

I decided that the time to stop moaning about loosing my job, and fearing the future, is now.

This past weekend, I took some decisive steps- finally- to make this happen.

I moved my savings and checking to a credit union.

I began the process of creating a corporation for myself, and I took my 401K and transferred it to a self-managed IRA, so that I, and only I can decide when, where, and how, I will invest my own money.

I have a plan for that- specifically- that I have been researching for a few years now, and find that NOW, is the time for me to act on it. Instead of making measly and meager miniscule percentage returns on my money, I have the potential to increase those percentages to 40- 50% yearly returns. I now know the loop holes and the risks- inside and out- and have learned how to avoid them.

My second business-which I will run concurrently- I will not talk about just yet, but It involves the knowledge, experience, contacts, and clientele, in the industry that I have spent the last ten years of my life in.

I'm am going into this fearlessly, with confidence, a product of top quality, and the tools that I listed above.

Cross your fingers for me- for a minute- and wish me luck!!!


If you have any additional ideas for passive income, Socks, fill me in. The more, the merrier- imo.

Have a great day, all.

[CyberHobbit Profile]

Yes! I do! I'm tired of the whole j.o.b. (just over broke) mentality, and of making huge profits for other people. It's my turn. If I'm gonna work hard anyway, it might as well be for myself.

I decided that the time to stop moaning about loosing my job, and fearing the future, is now.

This past weekend, I took some decisive steps- finally- to make this happen.

I moved my savings and checking to a credit union.

I began the process of creating a corporation for myself, and I took my 401K and transferred it to a self-managed IRA, so that I, and only I can decide when, where, and how, I will invest my own money.

I have a plan for that- specifically- that I have been researching for a few years now, and find that NOW, is the time for me to act on it. Instead of making measly and meager miniscule percentage returns on my money, I have the potential to increase those percentages to 40- 50% yearly returns. I now know the loop holes and the risks- inside and out- and have learned how to avoid them.

My second business-which I will run concurrently- I will not talk about just yet, but It involves the knowledge, experience, contacts, and clientele, in the industry that I have spent the last ten years of my life in.

I'm am going into this fearlessly, with confidence, a product of top quality, and the tools that I listed above.

Cross your fingers for me- for a minute- and wish me luck!!!


If you have any additional ideas for passive income, Socks, fill me in. The more, the merrier- imo.

Have a great day, all.

Young man, I admire you, for I ran my own publishing business for some thirty years, and the lesson I learnt from all those years?

Believe in YOURSELF and what you can offer.

People (your customers) will buy the person (you) and stick by you, if you have it right.

I really wish you well - the road you have decided to walk is a very hard one. But worth every step!

[Seahawk Profile]

Thank you, Hobbit. I appreciate your words of encouragement- who ever you are.

[99socks Profile]

Yes! I do! I'm tired of the whole j.o.b. (just over broke) mentality, and of making huge profits for other people. It's my turn. If I'm gonna work hard anyway, it might as well be for myself.

I decided that the time to stop moaning about loosing my job, and fearing the future, is now.

This past weekend, I took some decisive steps- finally- to make this happen.

I moved my savings and checking to a credit union.

I began the process of creating a corporation for myself, and I took my 401K and transferred it to a self-managed IRA, so that I, and only I can decide when, where, and how, I will invest my own money.

I have a plan for that- specifically- that I have been researching for a few years now, and find that NOW, is the time for me to act on it. Instead of making measly and meager miniscule percentage returns on my money, I have the potential to increase those percentages to 40- 50% yearly returns. I now know the loop holes and the risks- inside and out- and have learned how to avoid them.

My second business-which I will run concurrently- I will not talk about just yet, but It involves the knowledge, experience, contacts, and clientele, in the industry that I have spent the last ten years of my life in.

I'm am going into this fearlessly, with confidence, a product of top quality, and the tools that I listed above.

Cross your fingers for me- for a minute- and wish me luck!!!


If you have any additional ideas for passive income, Socks, fill me in. The more, the merrier- imo.

Have a great day, all.

Well, I do do it for a living, so keep in touch.

I am also tickled pink that after over 2 years of dropping gold bars all over the place in this forum, at least ONE person has finally decided to pick one up!!!

[Seahawk Profile]

Thanks, Socks!

[Spock Profile]

My second business-which I will run concurrently- I will not talk about just yet, but It involves the knowledge, experience, contacts, and clientele, in the industry that I have spent the last ten years of my life in.

I'm am going into this fearlessly, with confidence, a product of top quality, and the tools that I listed above.

Cross your fingers for me- for a minute- and wish me luck!!!

Catering?

[Seahawk Profile]

Event planning, and management. Why? You hungry?

[Slith Profile]

My second business-which I will run concurrently- I will not talk about just yet, but It involves the knowledge, experience, contacts, and clientele, in the industry that I have spent the last ten years of my life in.

I'm am going into this fearlessly, with confidence, a product of top quality, and the tools that I listed above.

Cross your fingers for me- for a minute- and wish me luck!!!

Catering?

I was thinking that too. Pretty challenging to say the least, but also a very rewarding enterprise.

Everyone has to eat after all.

Good luck Hawk!!!!!!!