What if…

How will you live your life after being made redundant? It may not be a question that applies to you at this point of your life, but it certainly can happen.  Sometimes we have to stop and say what if?  Well what if…?

Hi, my name Allie and I’m a prime example of the type of woman, who thought it would never happen, so why even stop to think about it. Like most women I did dream of being an entrepreneur one day, maybe after I struck it rich from being the winner on the Apprentice. Donald Trump could take me under his wing and teach me all the tricks. Hello… wake up, that was definitely a dream.

I am a mother of two adorable children, we all say that right? I am truly blessed! Before they were born I was a full time nurse. I went on maternity leave with my first child only to find when I returned they no longer needed me. I know what you’re thinking they can’t do that. But ah yes they can, and they did. They had to make financial cut backs and I was one of them.

I have to say at first it wasn’t that bad, I got paid to stay at home and enjoyed learning how to be a mother.  But then, what in the heck was I going to do with my life after that? Would I just find another job, taking care of patients? I was pretty good at it, and I loved doing it, or would I test the waters and find something new to do?  Or maybe it was finally time to contact Donald.  Well, when I couldn’t get a hold of him, I instead thought long and hard, about what I could do with my new start!

So first I made a list of interest. I had to go back to a time in my life where I thought of dream careers. When I grow up I want to be… a teacher, singer, movie star, or maybe a waitress. Well, I loved to play restaurant.  But that’s what we as women have to do. We need to go back to that period in our life as a child to see if those interests still make us smile. I have to say the teacher thing was out. I could barely teach my son to walk let alone talk. How was I going to teach other kids? Sing?  Ha, I am no Diana Ross!  I definitely didn’t want to be a waitress, taking orders from demanding people.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I do not deal well with people barking orders. Even though none of those childhood dreams are what I wanted to do now, it was still a useful way to help think of what could empower me.

You need to think what about your last job did you like? Did you like it? And if you did like it was it the original career choice you had in mind? If so, is what it was about that job that you didn’t like? That is truly a key question when deciding your niche.  Often more time than none, it’s not the actual job we don’t like but our co-workers, boss or clientele. When you have your own business YOU are in control and decide who you work with, you’re the boss and choose the employees. You can even choose the type of clientele.

You also need to establish how much it will cost to start this dream business. Everyone has to start off somewhere.  Do you have severance pay from your last job that can that be used to start up a new one? Starting up a new business can be tricky and very costly.   Sometimes you just have to start out little, like doing side jobs for other companies or individuals instead of rushing out and leasing the first space in a strip mall. With that said though the saying is true, you have to spend money to make money. But that doesn’t mean you have to invest your life savings or your children’s college fund.

As women we are at an advantage, we are compassionate, intuitive, and creative. Those are key elements of an entrepreneur. You have the biggest tools that you need to succeed. Success does not define who you are as a person. In fact success is a great feeling but often hard to find. But you can do it, and if at first you don’t succeed (oh come on you can say it) try, try again.  That doesn’t always mean keep trying the same business mistakes. Take a new stab at success. You may even have to be start all over again with a new idea. Do you think all fortune 500’s became successful off of their first idea? No, half of them didn’t. They started out with one idea, didn’t succeed, but they didn’t give up, instead they kept brain storming.  They learned from their mistakes and made bigger and better business decisions. 

So what if?  Well now’s your chance to make that “what if” a reality.   When redundancy strikes, be ready and leave with a BIG, Huge Smile on your face!