American Morning
Commentary: No job? Create your own!
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/26/art_peter_bregman.jpg caption=" Peter Bregman says the best strategy in the downturn may be to create your own work."]
By Peter Bregman
Special to CNN
Editor's note: Peter Bregman is chief executive of Bregman Partners Inc., a global management consulting firm, and the author of "Point B: A Short Guide to Leading a Big Change". He writes a weekly column, How We Work, for HarvardBusiness.org.
NEW YORK (CNN) - Madame Alexander was one of the great innovators in the doll industry.
According to the company that bears her name, she made the first doll with moving eyelids, the first doll based on a licensed character (Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind), the first doll fashioned after a living person (Queen Elizabeth) and many others.
But what's most interesting is how and why the company got started.
Beatrice Alexander's father owned the first doll "hospital" in New York City, where broken porcelain dolls were sent to be repaired. That got her thinking. Maybe porcelain wasn't the best material for a doll. So she sat around her kitchen table with her four sisters, and they started a business sewing dolls out of cloth.
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I agree in this economy, people should be finding their passion then act on it. My associates & I have developed a low cost way to let people with services present them to the public with little or no other overhead. Just like you stated this morning on CNN, the internet is a great place to market yourself. The site that allows such risk. I would advise folks to try mybiztogo.com. The site is in its beta phrase and it is free for all that want to stipulate their terms to do business. Select mwas1 from the drop down referral box for entrance into the site. Over time, We will have an sales force that will be directing buyers of all types of services to the site. The customer-based site will allow people to search for the right service provider for their area. This site can put a dent in anybodies recession issues. Like all plans, a sense of vision can help increase chances that their passion can be more than just an idea. How could anyone pass up an opportunity to test drive how their passion can produce a more prosperous future for them?
First of all I agree that it is much better to start your own company than to be another highly skilled job seeker.
Having started me own consulting company (Headway International Consulting: http://www.headwayconsult.com) just recently, I have made the experience that some of the self employment support programs of the DOL do not cover the extended period for unemployment benefits and that you have to be approved for the program prior to registering and starting to promote your business; otherwise there is a good chance that unemployment benefits will be disapproved.