In this Issue:
Think Outside the Box
The first thing that must happen is for you to “check your ego at the door.” You will no longer be a corporate executive. As humbling as that can be, it can also be financially and personally very rewarding.
Volunteering
- Attend trade association meetings, make presentations at a trade show, or write an article for a trade magazine, get published and get noticed.
- Work with your local chamber of commerce in business development or with their business incubator to help others with your area of expertise. They have access to a lot of interesting alternative opportunities.
- Want to work in healthcare, volunteer in a hospital. Get noticed and get a job. Volunteer somewhere and you will have the inside track on what’s available.
Start a Business
- Consulting keeps you current and can provide a series of temporary assignments leading to full-time employment. The challenge with consulting is marketing to find your next client, not doing the work.
- Start with product knowledge and a relationship with a customer, fulfill a need then find or create a source of manufacturing.
- Become a manufacturer’s representative – safer than a startup. Start with product knowledge and a customer relationship and find a reputable source to handle infrastructure needs.
Buy a Business
- Use your knowledge of the industry and network to find a small division of a larger company to be spun off or a small business where the owner is ready to exit the business. Many of your peers have made this strategic alternative work.
- Look at http://www.franchising.com for a huge variety of franchise opportunities. You will discover a great many choices on how to earn a living and build wealth.
- Look at http://www.businessbrokers.com for identifying business brokers representing an endless variety of businesses for sale.
- Contact local lawyers, CPA’s and bankers who work with closely held private companies and have knowledge of a hidden market that is not posted anywhere.
Success Stories
Your peers have often times left the Fortune 1000 and found success in alternative careers which include: business owner label company, packaging broker, business broker, succession planning consultant, factoring, healthcare supervisor, recruiter, college professor, novelist, retail packaging/shipping store owner, tax agency owner, financial services, real estate, insurance broker, window washing franchisee, gas station owner, Quiznos owner and more.
Think outside the box and surprise yourself with a new career.
Bob Harrington Associates 