Self Created Jobs

Everyone has dabbled in entrepreneurship. Often, we don't recognize the earliest forms of ‘being our own boss.’ As a kid, perhaps you cashed in on hot days with a lemonade stand, got paid to eat other people’s food as a babysitter or made collections on your newspaper route.

Given these early experiences, it’s not so surprising that entrepreneurship is such a hot career choice. Today, small business drives the Canadian economy, and experts project that 20 per cent of working Canadians will be self-employed by the end of this decade. Young people are a huge part of that trend, with 30 per cent of all new small businesses in Canada started by people under the age of 30.

The English word ‘entrepreneur’ comes from the French word ‘entreprende’, which means ‘to undertake.’ An entrepreneur typically has a strong vision they wish to develop and an overwhelming desire to work their own way. While most entrepreneurs create their own businesses, there are also ‘Intrapreneurs’ who use their talents from employed positions within companies.

What’s it like to be an entrepreneur? You can make your own decisions, set your own schedule, work with people you actually like, create your ideal lifestyle and enjoy the sheer satisfaction of doing something you love.

However, self-employment is not for everyone. It’s a life full of twists and turns, long hours, uncertainties, and endless multi-tasking. Before you plunge, test the waters with these exploratory steps:

• Take Training. Entrepreneurship programs will help you understand what’s involved in running a small business.
• Day in the Life. Arrange to job shadow an entrepreneur for a few days to make sure it lives as well as it reads.
• Get Tested. Online self-assessment tools will explore your aptitude for entrepreneurship.
• Be Paid to Prepare. Before launching into your own business, take a job in that industry. You’ll make valuable contacts, understand the competition, wire into customers and make sure the work truly suits you.
• Identify your Passion. Most entrepreneurs don’t do it for the money; explore a business idea that combines your personal passion with marketplace opportunity.

In Canada, there’s plenty of strong support for Young Entrepreneurs from educational institutions, business associations, non-profit organizations and all levels of government. Search out resources such as training, mentoring programs, loans, grants, workshops, conferences, peer groups and online communities in your area to help you explore entrepreneurship.

Where to Explore Entrepreneurship:


Hineni Media Workshops. Marisol's mission as an author, columnist and seminar leader is to help people make a living doing what they love. You can contact her @ hinenisyndicator@gmail.com

The Canadian Youth Business Foundation is the national leader in youth entrepreneurship through mentorship and financial support. Loans up to $15,000 are available. Also visit their resource site for young entrepreneurs, www.youthbusiness.com. www.cybf.ca

Canada’s largest business information website, Strategis is produced by Industry Canada to provide business and consumer information to all Canadians to help grow the economy. www.strategis.ic.gc.ca

BusinessGateway.ca is the main Government of Canada portal for Canadian businesses. It is designed to provide easy access to relevant, frequently used services and information offered by federal, provincial and territorial governments. www.businessgateway.ca

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is a financial institution owned by the Government of Canada. Canada’s ‘small business bank’, the BDC offers unique loan products and consulting services, with a particular focus on technology and exporting. www.bdc.ca

Active within university campuses, ACE (Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship Inc.) is a national, not-for-profit organization that provides and promotes education, training and instruction to Canadian youth on entrepreneurship and the formation and operation of businesses. www.acecanada.ca

For Love or Money? Entrepreneurship in Canada

For Love or Money? Entrepreneurship in Canada

Do what you love and the money will follow? That’s been true for some in their life but no for others because the money won't just take care of itself.

People need to learn business literacy and finantial business basics in order to succed and have better chances, pursue and apply that with passion. I believe what makes entrepreneurs so special is their ability to pursue with it. Whether that passion revolves around a particular talent of their own or is directed toward improving the quality of life for others, it takes a tremendous amount of courage, confidence, and determination to follow a dream and turn it into a career.

People driven solely by money rarely find true happiness and fulfillment.in the other side we know that the Love of Money has always been in more or less disrepute with moralists and to love a hobby is to muster life. If you love doing something and if you intend to reach for a goal so to speak, you need to go for it and try to prepare as much as you can.

Here some encouraging quotes:

"Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use."

"We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise; And then, if we are true to plan,Our statures touch the skies." —Emily Dickinson

"You can learn new things at any time in your life if you're willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you."

Online Journalism & Tourism

With the decline of newspapers there's been a lot of talk about online journalism being the future of the news business. But what exactly do we mean by virtual journalism?


According to About.com

Web journalism actually encompasses a whole range of different kinds of sites, including:

Newspaper Websites:Websites run by newspapers are basically extensions of the papers themselves.

Independent News Websites:
These sites, often found in larger cities, tend to specialize in hard-news coverage of municipal government, city agencies, law enforcement and schools.

Hyper-Local News Sites
These sites specialize in coverage of small, specific communities, right down to the individual neighborhood.

Citizen Journalism Sites
Citizen journalism sites run a wide gamut. Some are basically just online platforms where people can post video reports or pictures on virtually any subject. Others focus on a specific geographic area and provide more targeted, specific coverage.

Blogs
Blogs are known primarily for being platforms for delivering opinion and commentary, but many actually do real reporting as well. Bloggers have varying degrees of journalism experience.

Citizen Journalism for me is a concept that advances the idea that consumers or everyday citizens take a more active role in the news. It is often referred to as the “new media” and includes everything from passionate letters to the editor and comments on blogs and news sites, to bloggers scooping stories or exposing doctored or omitted facts from mainstream media reports. They do need writing, photography, communications, research, curiosity, a sense of humor and a passion for the subject you're writing about as veteran citizen journalist Sue Frause once said.

I personally love the Citizen Journalism type: here is a list of my faves:

Website: www.ushahidi.com: is mobilizing citizens to report and map conflicts.

Reporter.co.za is a news website written entirely by its readers, and publishes articles, images, audio and video they send in.

Newspaper http://www.ohmynews.com/ is proving these 'dinosaurs in digital denial' wrong, with a vengeance.

All mention in the wonderful Springwise newsletter.

The great thing is that journalism requires that stories been constructed, facts be tied together, narratives presented, and context created. In short, journalism is the big picture and can go hand in hand with tourism or travel. There is your blog, twitter and social media.

Do you like a Citizen Journalist report? send comments please

Getting a proper job

It is said that if you engage yourself in the job you love then you will never work a single day of your life. If you find your dream jobs then it will not only provide bread on your table but it will also give you emotional stability. It is important that you design the proper job category for you to get your dream job. Although there are employment agencies to help you get work opportunities, it still lies on you to obtain the career that suits you and that you will love.

The most important thing about working is to find something that your really enjoy doing, instead of just wishing your working days would be over and you could retire.

If you have a regular job, you have a boss and company making the rules and telling you what to do, but it might not actually be as much work (depending on the job) as working for yourself. If you work full time, hopefully you have some nice health benefits. However, you could get fired or downsized, and then where would you go?

If you work for yourself, you may be your own boss but you might work longer hours and work harder than if you had a regular job, and the money may or may not be steady. You might have to work up to the point where you can work for yourself while holding a regular job.

but transitioning to online work can be a lot like starting your own business, because in many ways, that’s exactly what you’re doing. You have to be discipline. Part of that means expecting and preparing for an unprofitable period while you get your footing. Even if you do line things up and you actually don’t experience any lag time between your old job and your new career, having the peace of mind that comes with making sure your finances can take a hit will help during dry spells.

You should also take a good look at your lifestyle and think about your goals in pursuing a remote career. If you want to do it to make your schedule more flexible and balanced, take some time off work and see if flexibility and balance is actually something you value. It may be that routine suits you best, which might change the type of web work you target.

What's up with answering the question about getting a proper job when you are struggling as freelancer or working online? Be positive and that will take you to a proper job.

I think one needs to find a good solid drive first before they even jumpstart on a venture. So, what’s your drive?