Lost your job and not having luck finding a new one?

Oregon’s unemployment rate has now risen to 12.9%, and the national rate is 8.6%.  Many economists expect this to get worse before it gets better.  If you’ve lost your job and have been searching for a new one, you are likely experiencing a very frustrating and unproductive job search.  If you are like many job seekers you may have resorted to applying for jobs that aren’t even what you really want to be doing simply because you can’t get any interviews or offers for positions that you do want.

May I make a suggestion:  why not consider buying or starting a business?  While it is a tough business climate, and I’m not suggesting that it is an easy time to be a business owner if you are going to put time and effort into a job search that may or may not lead to a productive outcome, why not take more control of your life and utilize your time and energy to build a business?  

There are some very positive aspects of a down economy for an entrepreneur or business buyer including:  1, excellent well-qualified employees can more easily be found and hired for modest wages; 2, employee retention tends to be significantly higher than in good economic times; 3, advantageous real estate leases or acquisitions can be structured; 4, equipment can be acquired for a more moderate price; 5, the cost of debt is at an all-time low; 6, many professionals have put their work on sale (website designers, ad agencies, consultants, attorneys, etc.); 7, many sources of advertising are extremely inexpensive; and 8, most business sellers are more flexible on price and terms than in a strong economy.