3 Reasons to Start Your Own Business Following a Setback in Your Career

This is a guest post from Jenna Sherman. Opinions expressed by Engineering our Future contributors are their own.

Whether you’ve lost your job, can’t find suitable work opportunities, are having trouble choosing a college major, or you're unsatisfied with your current career, it may be the perfect time to transition from an employee (or student) to entrepreneur. According to recent statistics, approximately 25 percent of U.S. entrepreneurs are between the ages of 20 and 34 — and plenty of businesses can be started while you’re still in college. Some of the best business ideas for college students include tutoring, consulting, coaching, editing, photography, web development, and dropshipping. Whatever the reason may be for the setback in your career or college education, this article from Engineering Our Future will convince you to launch your own business and make the switch from employee to entrepreneur. As long as you’re motivated to succeed and have a great business idea, you can become an entrepreneur at just about any age.

1. You’ll Shape Your Career

People start their own businesses for a variety of reasons, but one of the best benefits of entrepreneurship is the ability to start from scratch and shape your career journey. Starting a business allows you to pursue your passion and launch a career you’re truly excited about, whether it’s art, philanthropy, health and fitness, technology, teaching, writing, or music. If you’re unsure of where to start, make a list of the projects you’ve worked on and enjoyed. Which of your skills came in handy as you completed these projects? What can you do to improve these skills and build new ones?

2. You’ll Qualify for Tax Breaks

Getting a business up and running is hard work, but as an incentive, you’ll qualify for various tax breaks as an entrepreneur. New small business owners can deduct as much as $5,000 in startup expenses during their first year of operation, and other tax deductions pertain to education expenses, charitable contributions, travel costs, and home offices. If you won’t work from home as a small business owner, however, rental payments can also be deducted.

3. Financing is Available

Bootstrapping and crowdfunding are two common financing strategies used by new business owners, but additional funding may be available to you depending on your situation. A few places to look for small business grants include:

• Grants.gov
• GovLoans.
• The Economic Development Administration (EDA).
• Local Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs).

Business Startup Tips for Young Adults

If you’re ready to overcome your career setback by starting a small business of your own, the website of the Small Business Administration (SBA) has everything you need and more. You’ll learn how to conduct market research, write a business plan, secure funding, structure your small business, and choose a unique business name. Other tools and resources for learning, organization, finance, and knowledge are also available to business owners. If you need to hire employees after launching your new business, you can start by posting open positions to online job boards like Indeed, Google, ZipRecruiter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Or if you wish to hire freelancers, you can find them on freelance job sites such as Upwork, Guru, and SimplyHired. Once you have staff, online accounting platforms can help you to run your business smarter and more efficiently. The right platform will provide real-time financial reporting, it will automate payroll and timesheet calculations, provide cash flow insights, integrate with other software systems, and even help you manage inventory. Plus, applications like QuickBooks can be used on mobile devices, laptops, and desktop computers — making it easy to have all of your finances accessible anytime, anywhere.

In Conclusion

You may be young and early in your career, but early career setbacks can actually make you more successful in the future. So don’t give up now: Use your skills and passions to launch a small business, build your own career path, and experience the many joys of entrepreneurship! Looking for tips and advice to help you find your passion, grow as a young professional, and expand your knowledge? Visit Engineering our Future to find business tools and resources, blog posts, podcasts, and so much more!   Jenna Sherman is a mom of three (two girls and a boy). She hopes to help other parents acquire the skills they need to raise future leaders by providing a collection of valuable, up-to-date, authoritative resources. She created parent-leaders.com as an avenue for parents who want to make sure their children grow up to be strong, independent, successful adults.