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Self-Employment in the Age of the Computer, or: Using the computer to create your own income.

I believe that there is a huge market that is not widely recognized but, available right now for people to create their own careers. I approached Human Resources, E.I., and Canada Manpower in Canada, and Government Unemployment and Employment agencies about advertising this particular avenue of self-employment, but they will have nothing to do with it.

It seems odd to me that with the number of people out of work that these government agencies (supposedly geared to helping people find new careers) will only deal with employers that deduct taxes from an employee's wage, and will not work with employers that pay by commission or allow their employees the benefits of claiming self-employment. I feel that someone has to inform people in need of help that there are alternatives out there.

My name is Richard Moore. I own and operate an online business aimed at and designed to teach people how to start, build, run, maintain, advertise, manage, and market an online business. I see a trend towards more and more people getting away from having to go out of their homes to work or have a career. I predict that within 20 years, close to half of the working population will be working from their own homes.

O.K, I am not a psychic but I definitely talk to more and more people every day who have made this transition or are thinking about doing it. I have talked to employers who have realized the benefits of allowing their employees or associates to work from the comfort of their own homes, or are considering doing this. They tell me that in most cases they get better productivity and have people stay with them longer by letting them work from home. There is a very high turn around of employees these days, more than we have ever seen before. There are many factors to consider when dealing with this high turnover problem.

*It costs employers extremely high amounts of money to have an employee work in a building that is owned or leased and have them spend 8 hours a day there doing their job.

*Consider the overhead. Mortgages, utilities, taxes etc. All of which are higher than ever before. Everything costs more, but we bring home less money. Even if you rent or lease an office, store, or building of any type for your business, rents are constantly increasing. Then you have all the other expenses; benefits (if you offer them), advertising, packaging, shipping, and the list goes on and on. For an employer it makes sense to get rid of the high overhead costs and let people who can, such as office staff, sales, personnel, payroll, secretaries, or data entry as a few examples, work at home.

*As far as employees go, I am told there are many factors that contribute to better productivity. The main reasons being that when they are working from home there are fewer distractions and they are more comfortable, therefore they can get more work done in less time.

*Also, they do not have the expense of transporting themselves from home to work and back again. Messing around in traffic these days has got to be the most stressful part of anyone's day. Do you really feel you can get the best performance as an employer or give your best as an employee after fighting your way to work through an all-out war zone? I don't care if you drive, ride the bus, take the subway, or fly to work, I do not believe you can give it your best when you start your day off with stress.

*And you can eliminate the need for and cost of babysitters. People have been asking for years how they can earn a good income and not have to give up precious time with their children. (This used to be impossible. Well, not any more)

A trend I have noticed coming on like gangbusters is the self-employed approach to earning income. More and more people are being laid off, let go, or cannot find work, than ever before. There are massive numbers of people that seem to be stuck in a gray area or a void and can't seem to get out of it. Everyday I talk to someone who gets laid off due to lack of work or gets replaced by high tech machines, or, more often then not, their employer has to close the doors. They try to collect the little bit of Government dole which they may or may not be entitled to, and, when that runs out, then what do they do?

I do know how tough it can be to find a job, any job, at any age these days, however, try to find a job at forty or fifty-something. It is all but impossible. One choice you have, is to set yourself up in a business and be self-employed. A lot of people either do not think of this or cannot see themselves as being their own boss.

Some people that try self-employment have an extremely hard time doing so. Again, there are all the costs and time and effort involved with setting up and starting a business. So, we talk ourselves out of something that all of us have probably dreamed about at least once in our lives. Being self-employed. Being our own Boss. Being able to say those immortal words "Take this job and..."

Here's a fairly new idea that is catching on very quickly, and it is an inexpensive and relatively easy answer to the problem. The Online Business. If you have a computer and are hooked up to the internet you are half way home to being your own business owner/operator. If you do not have a computer you can purchase a good used one for about $800 to $1200. A new one will run you about $1800 and up depending on how much power or how many toys you want, or need, to have. But, this is a lesson for another article.

Here's my story. I had never used a computer before in my life until about a year ago. I got hurt at work and had been off for about a year when the company let me go. You see, I had only been with the company for about three weeks when I got hurt and apparently they had the legal right to lay me off. There I was getting a small disability claim. Not knowing how long that would last and not being able to do the physical type of work I was used to any more. I had to think of some way to earn a living. I bought a used computer, paid $900 for it. I had never used a computer in my life and it scared me to death. I thought if I did something wrong, I might destroy Japan's economy with one hit of a key! BOOM!

But, the more time I spent on the internet, the better I got at it; and the easier it became to navigate. Soon I was seeing that having a business on the net (an online business) was making a lot of people very rich. I know that just because you start a business you are not going to get rich, but I did see a chance to make a good living working from home and being my own boss. I learned everything I could, and am still (and will always) be learning, but I learned what I needed to know to get started as quickly as possible.

Ask my wife. I think she got jealous of my computer.

I got hooked and spent more time with the machine than I did with her. (I've since made up for that!). Within two months I was on the net and had launched my business. I now earn money from selling on the internet with my own web site. I decided that this could be done by anyone, so I developed a company that teaches people to be in business for themselves, and you use an existing business to do it while you learn the ropes.

I found that there are a few other companies on the net that offer affiliate or associate programs however, one has to be very, very careful about who you sign up with or give your money to. I have started many programs, one of them is a program called the Guardian Online WatchDog. I help to keep an eye on the scams and investigate.

In spite of this, an online business can be a very satisfying and rewarding career move for anyone. Finding the right business to be associated with and getting the best support possible is crucial to learning how to start your own online business. With the proper help and good information you can be up and running in a day. Like anything else though, don't expect to get rich overnight. Although it can be a fairly simple matter to start your business it takes effort, motivation, and dedication to succeed. I recommend finding a business that you can sign up as an Affiliate, Associate, or Partner to start with. It might cost you a small up front fee, or monthly partnership or membership fee (a whole lot less expensive than a franchise), but this will give you an existing business to learn with and, if you work at it, make some money.

Once you are comfortable with the whole process of marketing and advertising on the web, and you feel you have a good idea for your own business, Go For It!

Great Success to you all!