ke decisions.

Anybody can go into business for themselves. If you decided what courses were the best to take. If you bought a car, decided where to live, or bought a house, you learned how to make decisions.

Understand yourself, start letting everyone you know that you want to be in business for yourself. Start looking at every opportunity that interests you and learn how to analyze what you see and hear. Then identify your resources, understand the different ways you can get started like buying a percentage of a business, taking an

The first in a series

Besides being a car made by General Motors, Cadillac was once an adjective used to describe the best. Times change, people change, things change; now maybe more than any other time in history we have to deal with more important, future impacting changes than we can possibly imagine.

Our security is being threatened on all fronts. Corporations look at employees as checkers to be moved around on a checkerboard until they are no longer of any value. Decisions about our money, either to help us grow or to fund retirement are made mostly by people who are motivated by how much money they can put in their pockets. Often it seems that everyone is focused on the transaction, not the relationship; that they have to get theirs as fast and as much as they can before anybody else.

How do you protect yourself in such an environment?

You need to get control over your future. You need to make informed decisions and you need to use your resources, your skills, your experience, your desire -- to make whatever it is you want -- happen.

You need to consider going into business for yourself.

I remember when I did. I was located in Phoenix and was the Vice President in charge of the western states for a company based in New York. One pay day back in 1973 a couple of employees came back from lunch and told me that the bank wouldn't cash their checks, there was no money in the account. I called the accounting department and was told that the company had filed bankruptcy that morning, that all the accounts were frozen. I was also told that most of the checks cashed in the last five or so days would bounce. This was a big problem for me. I had recently received and deposited a bonus check, my salary, several months of expense reimbursement checks (totaling about $50,000 in 2006 money) and had spent it. When I told my wife, she asked, "Where are you going to get a job?"

I said. "I don't have time to get a job, I have to make some money -- now."

Most of us think that our security comes from who we work for. It doesn't. Our security is what we have in our brains, what we are willing to do with our time, and our ability to make decisions.

Anybody can go into business for themselves. If you decided what courses were the best to take. If you bought a car, decided where to live, or bought a house, you learned how to make decisions.

Understand yourself, start letting everyone you know that you want to be in business for yourself. Start looking at every opportunity that interests you and learn how to analyze what you see and hear. Then identify your resources, understand the different ways you can get started like buying a percentage of a business, taking an o

ement are made mostly by people who are motivated by how much money they can put in their pockets. Often it seems that everyone is focused on the transaction, not the relationship; that they have to get theirs as fast and as much as they can before anybody else.

How do you protect yourself in such an environment?

You need to get control over your future. You need to make informed decisions and you need to use your resources, your skills, your experience, your desire -- to make whatever it is you want -- happen.

You need to consider going into business for yourself.

I remember when I did. I was located in Phoenix and was the Vice President in charge of the western states for a company based in New York. One pay day back in 1973 a couple of employees came back from lunch and told me that the bank wouldn't cash their checks, there was no money in the account. I called the accounting department and was told that the company had filed bankruptcy that morning, that all the accounts were frozen. I was also told that most of the checks cashed in the last five or so days would bounce. This was a big problem for me. I had recently received and deposited a bonus check, my salary, several months of expense reimbursement checks (totaling about $50,000 in 2006 money) and had spent it. When I told my wife, she asked, "Where are you going to get a job?"

I said. "I don't have time to get a job, I have to make some money -- now."

Most of us think that our security comes from who we work for. It doesn't. Our security is what we have in our brains, what we are willing to do with our time, and our ability to make decisions.

Anybody can go into business for themselves. If you decided what courses were the best to take. If you bought a car, decided where to live, or bought a house, you learned how to make decisions.

Understand yourself, start letting everyone you know that you want to be in business for yourself. Start looking at every opportunity that interests you and learn how to analyze what you see and hear. Then identify your resources, understand the different ways you can get started like buying a percentage of a business, taking an

ider going into business for yourself.

I remember when I did. I was located in Phoenix and was the Vice President in charge of the western states for a company based in New York. One pay day back in 1973 a couple of employees came back from lunch and told me that the bank wouldn't cash their checks, there was no money in the account. I called the accounting department and was told that the company had filed bankruptcy that morning, that all the accounts were frozen. I was also told that most of the checks cashed in the last five or so days would bounce. This was a big problem for me. I had recently received and deposited a bonus check, my salary, several months of expense reimbursement checks (totaling about $50,000 in 2006 money) and had spent it. When I told my wife, she asked, "Where are you going to get a job?"

I said. "I don't have time to get a job, I have to make some money -- now."

Most of us think that our security comes from who we work for. It doesn't. Our security is what we have in our brains, what we are willing to do with our time, and our ability to make decisions.

Anybody can go into business for themselves. If you decided what courses were the best to take. If you bought a car, decided where to live, or bought a house, you learned how to make decisions.

Understand yourself, start letting everyone you know that you want to be in business for yourself. Start looking at every opportunity that interests you and learn how to analyze what you see and hear. Then identify your resources, understand the different ways you can get started like buying a percentage of a business, taking an

would bounce. This was a big problem for me. I had recently received and deposited a bonus check, my salary, several months of expense reimbursement checks (totaling about $50,000 in 2006 money) and had spent it. When I told my wife, she asked, "Where are you going to get a job?"

I said. "I don't have time to get a job, I have to make some money -- now."

Most of us think that our security comes from who we work for. It doesn't. Our security is what we have in our brains, what we are willing to do with our time, and our ability to make decisions.

Anybody can go into business for themselves. If you decided what courses were the best to take. If you bought a car, decided where to live, or bought a house, you learned how to make decisions.

Understand yourself, start letting everyone you know that you want to be in business for yourself. Start looking at every opportunity that interests you and learn how to analyze what you see and hear. Then identify your resources, understand the different ways you can get started like buying a percentage of a business, taking an

ke decisions.

Anybody can go into business for themselves. If you decided what courses were the best to take. If you bought a car, decided where to live, or bought a house, you learned how to make decisions.

Understand yourself, start letting everyone you know that you want to be in business for yourself. Start looking at every opportunity that interests you and learn how to analyze what you see and hear. Then identify your resources, understand the different ways you can get started like buying a percentage of a business, taking an option on a business, or trading your service for ownership and get started.

Certainly you will need help and information. Continue to look here for more articles taken from my book, How to Evaluate and Profit from a Business Opportunity -- The Entrepreneur's Guide. And check my web site for more information.

The rate of change isn't going to slow down. There's no sense worrying about something you can't fix -- like Social Security, or if GM will file bankruptcy, or if the people who run your company will outsource your job. Instead concentrate on how to get more people to buy the products and services you provide from your business.

The author can be reached at www.businessstrategyartconsoli.com