Self-Defense When Punches Are Flying

There’s no gentle way to put this: if you’re working for someone else right now, you are in harm’s way.

The casualties are everywhere.  You probably know someone who has been laid off, or (and I hope this isn’t the case) you’ve been laid off yourself.  Add to that the status of “underemployed,” as more and more people see reductions in their hours, unpaid “furloughs,” or outright pay cuts… well, the punches are really flying.

The message has never been clearer: when you work for someone else, you are at their mercy.  And these days, no matter how much you bob and weave, chances are you’re in for a pummeling sooner rather than later.

So how do you defend yourself?  You do it with something no one else can touch: a business of your own.  You rely on yourself, and build something that gives you the ability to roll with the punch that might otherwise be a knockout blow.

You’ll hear people say that this is a tough time to start a business.  Maybe.  But in my view there’s never been a more important time, because the best defense is a good, strong offense.

 Famous Quotes

“I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”— Thomas Jefferson

“The man who does not make any mistakes does not usually make anything.”— William Connor Magee

“Make a customer, not a sale.”— Katherine Barchetti

“There are risks and costs to action.  But they are far less than the long-range risk of comfortable inaction.”— John F. Kennedy

“Why not go out on a limb?  Isn’t that where the fruit is?”— Frank Scully

“The most unprofitable item ever manufactured is an excuse.”— Brad Butler