Home Run Business Special Article:

The Home Business Adventure

Still Looking for a Job?  Maybe it's Time to Hire Yourself

There are, of course, thousands franchises out there, if you simply want to  give your money and your trust to someone else.  The franchise path has worked well for a great many people who just wanted to get into business quickly, without a lot of guessing and trial and error.  I have no doubt that many franchises provide good and solid opportunities for people willing to work hard and follow the directions.

But I can't do that.  I am too independent by nature.  It's not that my ideas are any better than someone else's or that I am just a better judge of how to discover and build a successful business.  I tend to be about as slow as the average guy, about as lazy as most, and about as stupid at times as anyone else I've ever met.

So why do I always insist on finding out the hard way what works for me and what doesn't?  I guess I am as gratified by the adventure itself as I am by the discovery of something great, something that proves successful.  I want to know for myself, to find my own way, to put different ideas to the test, and see what works the very best.

It's more than that, of course.  I believe that some things are more important than simply drawing a paycheck.  If all I wanted was good pay, I would have trained for any number of good jobs with large and proven corporations in industries that will be around for a long time.  Assuming that there is such an industry.

I believe in America.  I believe in starting from scratch and returning to the roots of what makes any enterprise great.  Certain things will always be true in this world.  We all need to eat.  We all need decent clothing: shoes and boots and pants and shirts and gloves and so on.  We all need chairs or stools or benches, tables and desks (of some kind) and shelter and tools and various forms of transportation.  Some things simply will not change all that much so long as people live on this planet.

No matter how low a society falls, technically or economically, or how bad circumstances become, we still need certain basics in order to survive.  This is a fact that no one in need of an income can afford to forget.  We do not necessarily need to go out each day in search of a kind and merciful employer who will give us a chance, a paycheck and some benefits.  What we need to do each day, if we are looking to make a living, is to find a real and basic need of some kind that we can meet.

Our ability and willingness to meet some need of society is our social value.  Whether we write books or sing songs or build houses or paint walls or pave roads or carry water up from a river (or dig wells to bring water to a dry place) or grow food or cook food or make shoes or catch fish, etc. and so on, makes not so much difference as the fact that we do something useful for others and for ourselves.  A man who can grow a garden can not only help to feed himself, he can also help to feed others.  Feeding himself keeps him from becoming a burden to the rest of society.  Helping to feed others enables him to barter, trade or buy the things he cannot do for himself.

My Own Story

I've never had a class in computers, art, or anything else that I do for a living. I just decide what I want to do and start trying to figure out how to get it done. It isn't the best way, I guess. But my income has been going up while the rest of the economy is going down, so it hasn't been all bad.

I am in my late 50's. I've worked with computers since 1988 or so. I've worked with computer graphics since 1990, but didn't begin doing my own graphics until 1994, when I started a small newspaper and had to build ads.  I discovered that enjoyed the creative process.

I never thought of creating my own custom art until about 2002 or maybe 2003. I already had a small Christian website and had built a few graphics for it, and thought that if I made a few pages of Christian art, it might bring additional traffic. And then, after doing a few things, I thought about creating a whole site dedicated to just Christian art. That meant, of course, that I would have to generate a lot more art, and each graphic took me hours, and sometimes days to produce. But I got better with time, and faster. Then I decided, a few years ago, to place some Google ads on my sites. After doing that, I also built a few other websites, offering free business information, etc.

During my first months with Google, I had days that earned me 17 cents, 2 cents, 35 cents, and so on. After about 5 months, I finally got my first check. It was for $159. I was really proud of that check and wanted to save it, but I really needed the money. During the next year I would get a check every month or two. I won't say how much I make now, but I will say that I have been able to pay a lot of bills.

Interestingly, the websites offering artwork (my primary interest) does not produce the biggest share of my income from the Internet. Competition for everything on the Internet is huge. Various kinds of graphic art is offered by a lot of people, including some very large corporations. The huge sites dominate the web. But last month, my graphics sites brought in over $500. So far this month, they've earned over $400. Even if that was all I earned with Google, it would certainly help pay monthly expenses.

My point is this: Whatever it is that you or whatever you really want to do, that is where you should start when trying to create a new source of income for yourself.  Why look to some corporation, to some other business to hire you and give you benefits when you may be able to do better than that for your own self.

Here in America, where I live and work, we make a lot of noise about freedom and liberty.  And then we want the government to take care of us.  We want a corporation to take care of us.  We want a union to fight for our rights.  Maybe what we should be doing is making something of our own. 

Instead of looking for a job, go to work for yourself.  Find a genuine and ongoing need and devote your time to meeting that need.  Build chairs and tables, something that will always be in demand (at least in the West).  Make boxes, leather pouches, tools, garden materials, kitchen utensils, parts for automobiles, bicycles, trains or airplanes.  Build ads, print flyers or newspapers, design musical instruments, develop a new way to produce heat or electrical power, make water purifiers, build houses from waste materials. 

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