Frankly for financial reasons it is a lot more ideal if you can develop a part-time business when you still have an income to support yourself. However if you are not prepared when you lose your job, you can still work it out if you are really focused, disciplined and determined to land on your feet.
You have to be realistic, no matter how shocking it is to lose your job unexpectedly. Take a few days to digest the information and get your bearings. If you are being laid off in a workforce reduction the theory is to let you know on a Friday. This is so it doesn’t disrupt your job performance during the week and so that you will have a few non-business days to get used to the idea that you have nowhere to go on Monday.
Typically they have known about this for some time but do not let you know because they want to lessen the chances of sabotage or other problems. This let’s you know that where your employer is concerned, you are not a person, just a position. They have their bottom line and it is nothing personal, so don’t feel bad if you can help it. It may seem brutal and it is, but that is reality.
However the better companies would at least give you severance pay based on your length of employment with them and pay your for any unused vacation time that you have. The fact that you are being let go without cause in most states automatically entitles you to unemployment insurance. So all that together with anything you have saved is what you have to work with.
Start right here with creating a budget and a plan for how you will survive and pay your bills until you find another income. You might be very surprised if you take stock in how much you have been spending just to go to and from work. You can factor that in to money you now have available that you didn’t have before. This refers primarily to transportation – gas expense or mass transit costs, bridge tolls and parking; and it also can include child care, grooming and wardrobe costs, lunches out, etc. It really adds up when you start to itemize it.
If you have little or no employment severance benefits and no savings, then your first priority is to find a job at least part-time or temporary. If you are looking at the job boards online you will invariably start seeing ‘business opportunities’ and ‘earning money from home’ etc. Be careful here and do not ever feel that you are desperate and need to take unnecessary risks or compromise your identity. However you can start to do a little research – but again, focus on getting an income coming in the fastest way you can – and that is usually another job. One very good way to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ is to work for a temporary agency.
Starting a business takes time – there is a learning curve and you need time to implement what you learn. Then of course contrary to what it may seem you are reading, it does take time to produce results. So you are a ways away from an income. That is why you first need to ensure your survival so that you can then focus on doing everything you can to build your business.
Besides your financial budget, you should also schedule your time each day, because you need to see your actions to find an income as the job that you have now. Don’t get lost on the Internet – focus only on seeing what jobs are available, get the contact information and make an appointment for an interview if possible. Of course you will need to create a decent resume for this purpose going in. Just make a note about business opportunities for starting a home business and refer back to them later.
So say out of an 8 hour day you spend 2 hours on the Internet and because you have an interview, with travel time etc you want to schedule 3 hours to get ready and go. That leaves 3 hours in your workday and you can spend this time researching starting your own business. Once you determine what you want to do then you can spend the time implementing that (… and this would be another plan you need to create).
You will be so productive and busy that you will not have a minute to regret any doors that have closed and can really see your new life as an exciting adventure that is so much more stimulating than the ‘same-old-same-old’ rut you were in. If you focus you will not only survive nicely but you will find that your former employer really did you a favor by letting you go!
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