by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

I just got my hands on the results of a new survey from Quickbooks that shows small businesses owners remain optimistic and driven despite the shaky economy.

 

The survey asked small business owners about their thoughts on surviving and thriving in a recession (thanks to Kira Wampler from Intuit for sharing the hot-off-the-presses results with me and the other attendees of the fabulous BlogHer Business Conference in New York this week).

 

What Recession?

 

The results of the survey are encouraging:

 

• 91% of U.S. small business owners see opportunities for their businesses in the current market.
• Close to 80% expect their businesses to grow despite the stagnant economy.
• 50% think that the playing field can be leveled for small businesses as big businesses make budget cuts.
• 65% have owned a small business that has weathered a recession.
• To recession-proof their businesses, 63% are making customer retention their top priority and 52% are focusing on reducing costs.

 

The survey also found that the passion that drove small business owners to start their own companies will also help to get them through the downturn: 70% said that personal passion motivated them to become entrepreneurs and 86% said they are still as passionate today as they were the day they started. 

 

About the survey: The Get Back to Business Survey was conducted from March 7-11 and sampled 751 small business owners with fewer than than 100 employees.  A summary of the survey findings is available at www.quickbooksgroup.com/getbacktobusiness.

 

 

Popularity: 14%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

I am very excited to report that Publishers Weekly has reviewed Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams (which will be published on May 13).

 

If you click through, you’ll see that my write-up comes right after reviews for two other very interesting-sounding May titles — Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever by Joel Derfner and Sex: How to Do Everything by Em & Lo.  It’s hard to compete for attention with titles like those, but here’s what PW had to say about Escape from Corporate America:

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Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams

Pamela Skillings. Ballantine

 

Journalist Skillings aims to rescue Americans from corporate tedium in this entertaining and informative guide to walking away from an established—albeit stultifying—job and forging a more rewarding career. With insight and humor, Skillings enumerates the stages of “Corporate Disillusionment” and the features of the “toxic workplace”—the bullying bosses, moronic co-workers, “terminal boredom” and rampant racism and sexism. A multitude of questionnaires, exercises and worksheets helps readers determine their dream job, assess expenses and assets, and plot an escape plan to break free of corporate life without going bankrupt. Skillings also provides pointers to those readers who simply want to be happier in their current jobs—including negotiating for more flexible hours, telecommuting and taking sabbaticals. Vignettes of successful fugitives from the corporate world populate the book and an extremely useful “Escape Tool Kit” supplies information on where and how to find career coaches, health insurance, job listings and a wealth of other much needed resources when embarking on career change. Comprehensive, informative and witty, this book will be indispensable to those looking to start new careers with concrete plans and well-defined goals. (May)

 

Popularity: 23%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

Delta Airlines is offering voluntary severance packages to thousands of employees, according to a recent AP story. Higher fuel prices and a weak economy have prompted the move, which aims to cut 2,000 front-line, administrative and management jobs. 

 

Employees who accept the offers will receive severance payements as well as travel privileges and additional benefits to help them with managing their career transitions.

 

While the announcement of job cuts is rarely good news for a company, the offer of voluntary severance packages can be a fantastic opportunity for those who are contemplating a career change or a complete escape from Corporate America. Most voluntary severance packages come with at least a couple of months of salary and benefits and often other perks to sweeten the deal. 

 

Several of the corporate escape artists that I interviewed were able to jump start their new careers or businesses because of voluntary severance packages. I remember a time when I fervently prayed that I would be laid off with severance. There may be some risk involved in "taking a package" in an uncertain economy, but it may also be too good an opportunity to pass up.

 

If you’re tempted by a severance package offer, take the time to sit down and do the math:

• With severance payments and any savings you’ve socked away, how long will you be able to pay your bills without additional income?
• How long is it likely to take for you to find a new job or get a new income source up and running (like your own business or a freelance career)?
• Is your job likely to be at risk if you DON’T take a package? If it seems likely that there will be additional  non-voluntary job cuts at your firm and that your job could be vulnerable,  you may be better off leaving now (assuming that it’s financially viable). Voluntary severance packages are often sweeter deals than the standard packages offered to downsized employees.

 

If you’d like to leave, but have concerns about finances or benefits, it may help to consult a financial advisor and get some expert guidance. If you are struggling with other issues — like whether you really want to leave or what you’re going to do next — a career counselor can help you to evaluate your options and do any necessary research.

 

In any case, it’s important to look at the potential opportunities represented by a voluntary severance offer  After all, it would take you months to save up  enough money to equal a generous severance payout. That cash can provide a nice safety net while you get a new business up and running, look for a new job, or navigate a career change.

 

 

Popularity: 23%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

The battle for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States is almost over. It has been a tight race, but one of our esteemed candidates will soon have to admit defeat and, as they say in corporate resignation announcements, “explore other opportunities.”

 

Just in case Hillary happens to be that candidate, I have taken the liberty of brainstorming some fall-back career ideas for her. Sure, she’ll still be a United States senator regardless of her delegate count, but we can hardly expect Hillary to stay satisfied with that job for long. Besides, it’s pretty clear that a couple of years as a U.S. senator is not enough to get you into the Oval Office. Maybe it’s time for Hillary to try some more adventurous career paths that will position her better for her next presidential campaign.

 

(I will helpfully provide the same service for Mr. Obama, Mr. McCain, and Mr. Huckabee in future blog posts)

 

1) Become a Fashion Icon

 

 

Nobody rocks a pantsuit like Hillary Clinton. Now is the perfect time for her to launch her own line of fierce but professional pantsuit ensembles for the modern gal on the go.  When you need to look authoritative yet approachable, you need to wear Simply Hillary.

 

2) Follow Al Gore’s Lead

 

 

 

No other failed presidential candidate has managed to reinvent himself (and until now, they have all been hims) like Mr. Al Gore. The man has an Oscar, a Nobel Peace Prize, and lots of fawning celebrity friends. If Hillary can find her own Inconvenient Truth, she might just be able to parlay it into similar icon status. There’s no need for Hil to gain forty pounds and grow a lumberjack beard like Al did, though it wouldn’t hurt to try out an edgier look to go with her new image as an activist.

 

3) Team Up With Rudy

 

 

 

Who needs politics when you can make a lot more money as a consultant? Just ask Rudy Giuliani. After leaving his post as mayor of New York City, Rudy established Giuliani Partners to provide high-priced consulting services to companies and governments. If Rudy can do it, why not Hillary? In fact, why not team up and do it together? A little bipartisan bridge building would make for good press for both of them and Hillary’s stake in Clinton Giuliani Partners would earn her plenty of green to pay for future campaigns.

 

4) Make Lattes

 

 

 

If Hillary really wants to know what makes Americans tick, there’s no better way to learn than spending some time behind a Starbucks counter. Shaking hands at American Legions on the campaign trail is no substitute for really getting your hands dirty at the espresso machines. Just ask Michael Gill, the author of How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else, who says his time as a barista taught him valuable lessons about race relations and the life of the working class.

 

5) Get Lost

 

 

 

What better way to connect with that key youth vote than by playing a featured guest star role on a popular prime time TV series? Hillary’s recent appearance on Saturday Night Live showed she’s not camera shy. I’d love to see Hillary show up in a recurring role on Lost –- perhaps as Mrs. Alvar Hanso or as a new Mrs. Robinson love interest for Sawyer. Then again, according to a recent New York article about Chelsea Clinton, Mrs. Clinton is a big fan of Gray’s Anatomy, so maybe she’d prefer to trade lines with McDreamy.

 

6) Get Real

 

 

 

If Hillary’s acting chops aren’t ready for prime time, there’s still a way to get TV attention and develop a following with younger voters. She can follow in the noble tradition of so many others with little performing talent and make an appearance on a popular reality show. After all, maybe Hillary’s tired of acting like a dignified, trustworthy public servant and is itching to bust loose. Maybe she’s ready to throw all of that dignity out the window and put on a show. She could strut her stuff in a sequined pantsuit on Dancing with the Stars or even mud wrestle for the affections of 80’s hair band stud Bret Michaels on Rock of Love.

 

7) Start a Magazine

 

 

 

If she opts not to rock Bret’s world, Hillary can always follow the example of the richest woman in entertainment and extend her brand by launching her own magazine. Hillary can become an even bigger household name by putting her smiling mug on the cover of H Magazine every month.  She can even use the magazine as a platform for talking about important issues. Of course, if she wants to land the big advertisers, she’ll probably have to throw in a few features about her favorite lip glosses and Lindsay Lohan in order to keep things interesting.

 

Do you have thoughts on other alternative careers for Hillary Clinton? How about ideas for Obama, McCain or Huckabee? Which candidate hast the most promising career alternatives outside the Oval Office?

 

 

Popularity: 86%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

Do you have a business idea or career fantasy that has stalled because of lack of capital? Would a big check for $50,000 give you the cushion you need to quit your day job and go after your dream? While I’m sure you’d like $100,000 to start that new home-based business, this would still make for a nice deposit in your Escape Fund.

 

The Intuit Just Start Contest is giving one lucky person a $50,000 grant to strike out on their own and follow their passion ($5,000 prizes will also go to each of two runners-up). Just tell them what it is that you want to "Just Start." Your submission can be in writing or on video and will be judged based on your clarity of expression and the feasibility of your idea. Entries are due by December 15, 2007.

 

Who will be sitting in judgment of you and your dreams? Columnist and small business expert Anita Campbell, author and marketing guru John Jantsch (the man behind the awesome Duct Tape Marketing blog), and technology consultant Ramon Ray.

 

And while you’re online, you might want to check out JumpUp, the free online community for entrepreneurs that was started by Intuit. Life as an aspiring entrepreneur toiling in a day job can be lonely and isolating. JumpUp is a great place to connect with a community of like-minded people who can share advice, ideas, and opportunities.

 

Popularity: 16%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

When I decided to "be my own boss," I had no idea what a slavedriver I was. I haven’t had a spare minute to blog (or do laundry) in days because I’ve been working myself half to death.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I love working for myself, but there are plenty of challenges. Right now, I have a good problem. I have lots of work from lots of clients. That means I’ll be able to pay the bills and maybe even splurge on a new pair of shoes this month. But because the consulting life can often be "feast or famine," I may have taken on a bit more work than some would consider reasonable. That has meant working nights and weekends and saying no to lots of fun invitations.

 

When you work for yourself, you have to learn when and how to say no. I’ve gotten better at it, but I still miscalculate on occasion. I don’t mind because there are plenty of worse problems to have. When I first started out on my own, I had to scramble for work and often worried about making ends meet at the end of the month.

 

I’m not afraid of hard work, especially if it means I don’t have to punch a corporate time clock anymore. But I’m happy to have a few hours to relax today for the first time in a while.

 

Popularity: 6%