The concept of being in a secure job for even a moderate portion of one’s lifetime is non-existent or rapidly slipping away for many. Long gone is any expectation of a factory job that might last a lifetime. Those mostly went away to the Far East a generation ago. Even a person who is successful can expect to change career paths multiple times during a 50-year working life.

  A realistic plan if you are young is to first formulate a business about about  age 16 while in High School, grow that business into early maturity during the college years, fully flesh it out while working for someone else  and finally break it out as a mature business when you are in your mid-30s. IF YOU ARE BETWEEN 16 AND 96, YOU CAN POTENTIALLY BE YOUR OWN BOSS AND RUN A SUCCESSFUL  BUSINESS .  Something like this can work regardless of where you are in  life.

  None of this is guaranteed. This will not be an easy or simple process for most people. However, this is something that has been done by many in the hunting-fishing-outdoor world that I work in and write about. In my August 15 radio show, “Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures,” I tell how Bill Jordan started a multifaceted outdoor business selling T-shirts out of a cardboard box at the SHOT Show and grew this into a multi-million dollar business that  includes a video production section, licensing section, design section and product sales.

 There are many others who have done the same. Some of these original concepts were very simple. What it took to make their inventors successful was drive, proper planning and the will to stick with their vision through some very lean financial times and other unforeseeable difficulties. These are the differences between businesses that are just so-so, and those that are really successful.

  Most new start-up businesses fail. There are many reasons for this. Some are market forces that move against the business that the owner can do nothing about. Sometimes natural events, earthquakes and floods, can do it. A truism is that WITH EVERY ECONOMIC OR NATURAL DISASTER THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SOMEONE TO PROFIT.  The successful business man, or woman, will look for these opportunities and grasp them as they arrive.

 It is also very likely in the U.S. today that  THE MOST UNDERRATED ASSET THAT MOST PEOPLE POSSESS IS KNOWLEDGE. This knowledge has cash value. The trick is discovering a business model that will enable you to capitalize on your personal knowledge and strengths by forming a successful business model and acting on it. KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT ACTION WILL NOT PRODUCE PROFIT.

 Already in just a few paragraphs I have outlined both a product-based and a knowledge-based business. There are also opportunities in the creative arts, in retail sales and in a concept that I will call bundling where different products are gathered and sold together. EVERY ONE OF US IS DIFFERENTLY GIFTED AND DIFFERENTLY CHALLENGED.  A successful business person is able to recognize his abilities and strengths and shore-up his weak points with new knowledge, a partner or more education.

 Provided that at least a rough business concept has been shaped out early, the path towards obtaining  useful business knowledge is much clearer  and less expensive, than the usual shotgun approach offered by a college business degree.  These COLLEGE DEGREES HAVE VALUE IF YOU CAN GET THEM, BUT ARE NOT A REQUIRMENT FOR SUCCESS. This knowledge can often be obtained on-line, from mentors, partners or even contracting out services to accounting firms, lawyers, writers and others as you need them. IT IS TOO MUCH TO EXPECT ANY ONE PERSON TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT MODERN BUSINESS PRACTICES.

  BUSINESSES CAN BE STARTED WITH A LIMITED KNOWLEDGE BASE THAT IS SUPPLEMENTED AS NEEDED. To wait until you have the blessings of a college degree to start a business is to waste years while your business could be making money and starting you on the way to being a successful CEO.

 FREE RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE.  For example, I have 21 videos on YouTube that take a person through all the steps of conceiving of an outdoor-based business (That is the ocean I swim in,  so that is what I write about.), taking it through its growth stages and even how to dispose of it when you die. On AUGUST 18 AT 5:00 AM, I WILL HAVE AN HOUR-LONG TELESEMINAR ON “STARTING YOUR OWN OUTDOOR BUSINESS.”  Although I will use outdoor-related business as examples, this information will be applicable to any business.

 FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE SEMINAR GO TO www.hoveysmith.wordpress.com.

TO SIGN UP FOR THIS FREE EVENT, SEND YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS TO ME AT:  hoveysmith@yahoo.com and I will reply with the telephone numbers for the teleseminar. This will work with any telephone. You may also send me one question that I will answer on the air. I will take the first questions received first and answer as many as time permits. There will also be a period available for on air questions that will be answered live during the teleconference.