So You Think You Want to Be Your Own Boss?

By JENNIFER OLDHAM

May 19, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Gentle reader:

While an employee with character will devote himself wholeheartedly to his company’s success, it is no longer considered unethical to be prepared to leave the employer at a moment’s notice. Today’s worker is “eager to stay and ready to go,” says one Fortune 500 executive in describing the new social contract. In this section, we explore ways to evaluate your skills and improve them on your own.

Ms. Work Wise

Readers of the Careers section first met Ms. Work Wise last November when the etiquette-savvy fictional character created by our readers joined real-life columnist Judith Martin (a.k.a. “Miss Manners”) to address problems related to rudeness in the workplace. Ms. Work Wise returns in this issue to introduce stories on different types of training and will continue to appear as a voice in careers.

Studies show that one-third of adults give serious thought to escaping the politics and constant interruptions at the office by working at home.

But turning that vision into reality can be tough. Experts say it takes a self-starter with strong self-esteem to overcome the hurdles that face those who strike out on their own.

Those who do succeed can cash in on a piece of the $25-billion home business market, but they had better be prepared to compete, said Ray Boggs, director of home office research at the New York-based research firm IDC/LINK.

“A home-based business owner has to watch out both for the guy next door and for the guy in the corporate high-rise tower,” Boggs said.

So what personality traits are essential to conquering this potentially lucrative but challenging market? What skills are necessary to ensure that your venture is a success when you join the one in 10 Americans already working for a home-based business?

Take the following quiz to see whether you’re ready to be your own boss. If you agree with the following statements, mark true; if you disagree, mark false.

QUESTIONS:

1. Working at home is great for those who have a tough time getting out of bed in the morning. Now I’ll also have time to water the garden and take the baby for a walk.

2. I am good at getting what I want from others, such as a refund at my favorite clothing store or a raise. These communication skills are a plus in moving my business plans forward.

3. I hate computers, but I figure that if I own my own company I can get by with my old DOS-based system and my dot-matrix printer because I’ll be the only one who needs to use it every day.

4. I’m a loner who has a hard time empathizing with colleagues. Being on my own would be perfect for me because I won’t have to listen to other people’s problems.

5. I plan to use accounting software to keep my books, even though I don’t quite understand the difference between debits and credits. I don’t need to take an accounting class to run my business.

6. I know a strong marketing program is essential to my company’s success, but I don’t have time to read up on how to do it right. I’m a good observer, however, and I think I can learn a lot by watching how people around me react to junk mail and other advertisements.

7. I plan to turn my hobby of building model trains into a business. Because I’ve been doing this in my spare time for years, I can’t help but succeed.

8. I can’t possibly drum up clients, keep my books, market my company and keep my sanity. I’m going to subcontract some of this work so I can concentrate on the things I do best.

9. I always act on my gut feelings. My intuition has never failed me, and it is something I can rely on when I get my business license next month.

10. I’ve assessed which business skills I excel at and which ones I lack. I fall short in several areas, but I’m willing to educate myself to make my dreams come true.

ANSWERS:

1. False. Those who operate a company from home must be diligent in organizing their time and exercising personal discipline, experts say.

“You have to approach your work just like you would if you are in an office,” said Glenn Poy, an Agoura Hills-based management consultant and co-author of “Entrepreneur or Employee: Should You Get Out or Stay in Your Current Job?” (Vanalden Press, 1997).

“It’s easy to get carried away with getting a snack or turning on the TV. You will always find something distracting.”

In fact, some home-based business owners joke about strict routines they forced themselves to follow to get into the work-at-home mind-set. Some quip that they put on a tie with their shorts and tennis shoes and walk around the block first before they start work at 8 a.m.

2. True. Entrepreneurs must be able to resolve conflicts and solicit business over the phone without hesitation--efforts that require superior communication skills, said Paul Edwards, a Santa Monica-based home business consultant and co-author with his wife, Sarah, of several books on home-based business, including “Working From Home” (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putman, 1994).

A good test of your communications skills is to be aware of how you react in stressful situations, such as getting bumped off an airplane flight, Edwards said.

3. False. Home-based business ownership is not for the technophobic. In fact, technology is one of the drivers of the 5% annual growth rate experienced by the home-based market.

Those who own their own companies must adapt to ever-changing technology to meet customers’ expectations and to take advantage of the numerous advances in hardware and software that make it easier to conduct business from home, experts agree.

4. False. Those thinking of starting their own company shouldn’t confuse the ability to work alone with a wish for a solitary lifestyle. Successful home business owners are community-minded and have the ability to comprehend what others think and feel, said John Knowlton, editor of Business@Home, a Portland, Ore.-based quarterly publication.

5. True. Taking a course in bookkeeping is unnecessary for future home-based business owners, Edwards said.

While you can rely on software such as Quickbooks to pay your bills, you should purchase a financial primer to make sure you understand how to read a cash-flow report and can decipher accounting terms, he added.

6. True. If you are thinking about opening your own company, you should also attend conventions held by your industry to see which exhibits are effective and which aren’t, Edwards said.

“When you are in the business of selling yourself, it’s important to open your eyes to things you have learned to ignore,” he added.

7. False. In most cases, hobbies are enjoyable because they are things you do for fun. To discover whether a hobby is something you could be passionate about on a full-time basis, work with someone who turned a hobby similar to yours into a moneymaking venture, Poy said.

“It’s the emotional side that gets people to jump into a hobby-based business,” he added. “This way, they can gauge whether it will have the chances for success so they don’t lose the business and end up hating their hobby in the process.”

8. True. Subcontracting is often the wisest course and isn’t always expensive. A lot of bartering goes on among those in the home office market. For example, a business owner who is good at public relations may offer to do promotions for another firm that has something to offer in exchange, Knowlton said.

9. True. If you trust your intuition and creative hunches, they will go a long way toward helping your business become a success, said Al Siebert, a psychologist and author of “The Survivor Personality” (Perigee Books, 1996).

10. True. Successful home-based business owners are perpetual students who seek out information presented in courses at community colleges, books or seminars given by home office associations, experts say.

“They want to know how things work and have an inculcated desire to learn,” Knowlton said. “They are, in reality, learning at living at the same time they are earning a living.”

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Personality Profile

Take a look at this list to see if you possess personality traits that psychologist Al Siebert says may indicate that you have a good chance of establishing a successful home-based business:

* You find that for things to go well, you must do a lot of little things yourself.

* You have a complex, paradoxical inner nature. You are creative and well-organized, relaxed and intense, logical and intuitive, optimistic and pessimistic, calm and emotional, task-oriented and people-oriented.

* In a previous job, you attempted to explain how something could be done better and felt frustrated because no one understood or followed your suggestions.

* When working on a project, you get so involved you work late into the evening and much of the weekend.

* As an employee, you felt you were underpaid for the many contributions you made to the main purpose of the organization, while others were overpaid for contributing little that was very useful.

To see the complete list compiled by Siebert, author of “The Survivor Personality,” go to https://www.thrivenet.com/hbiz.html