Back in the 1990s, my friend Paul told me about the beauty of a side business. If you get something up and running, even if it provides a small income, you have a hedge against losing your job. Paul has always had a knack of seeing the worst so, as a natural optimist, I did not fully embrace his message.
But since he also happened to work at the Federal Reserve Bank, was a former Marshall Scholar, with multiple degrees from Penn (The Wharton School of Business), Cambridge (where he was a Marshall Scholar) and is one of the only people I know who understands monetary policy, I took him seriously.
That he knew the impending Internet crash was coming and that a lot of people would be out of work was unnerving since his subsequent warnings to me about the economy have made me stay up at night.
Paul’s current message: tell your career counseling clients to develop a side business. I’ll spare you the intricacies of his argument related to monetary policy and while I dread his general message that there will be a another “upheaval that will make 2008 seem small” I do feel the obligation to spread his view.
If you are interested in starting a side business, now is the time to do so. If you need help, let me know.