Written by Napoleon Boneparte is said to have dismissed the English as a “Nation of shopkeepers” (“L’Angleterre est une nation de boutiquiers”). In fact it probably isn’t true. The phrase first appeared in a publication by Adam Smith in the seventeen hundreds but for some reason the dishonour attached to this remark seems to have been with us over the decades . The question remains why? There has never been anything wrong with owning your own business and surely there has never been a auspicious time than now.
More and more people look at beginning their own business. It’s become part of the culture at least in part due to the fall of the British Manufacturing Industry. This demise does mean that complete populations centres and villages are no more largely employed, and cared for , by a single gigantic industry . Examples are plain to see . The coal mining industry , the steel and metal processing industries, the car industry, well the list continues .
The job for life situation is practically not viable anymore. We have recently had an emergency budget and though we do not know the nature of the job cuts in the public sector , it’s a fair assumption that things can’t be the same from here on in. But this makes sense and it’s plain to see than the economy can only afford so many public sector workers who use up the public purse.
This then leaves everyone with a general . No more manufacturing, well not on the scale we have since the end of the last world war, and no more public sector jobs! What are we all going to do?
Norman Tebbit once uttered a famous statement:-
” I grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father. He didn’t riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking ’til he found it.”
Its given that these were the Thatcher years and unemployment then was coming up to 3 million. But so it is now. My point is, what’s wrong with being a shopkeeper or a barber or a self employed plumber? Or any one of a horde of other professions that don’t rely on the traditional factory or office work type of model .
I predict a rise in the number of people who are preparing themselves for self employment in on form or another. Whether it be an expansion in the Franchise For Sale area , or freelance contracting in one field or another people just cannot rely on the jobs for lives that we saw in previous decades . It may be that someone turns to a Home Based Franchise, or one of the mobile Franchises , of even go it alone without any help at all. Franchises in general give you a bit of a helping hand but you do need to do your finances before looking at this as a business.
If you do get made redundant then take a bit of advice. It really is quite possible to set out on your own and make a go of it. A good beginning is to look through the Yellow Pages and see which way your skills fit into the existing business market. Possibly consider purchasing a Home Based Franchise or look at the Franchise For Sale market in general for owner operator Franchises.
And also possibly look at opening a shop! The retail market is always there and despite what Napoleon may or may not have thought people are always going to buy merchandise ..
