- Top 10 Cost-Related Questions Associated with Changing Careers
- Top 10 Cost-Related Questions Associated with Starting Your Own Business
- Top Five Strategies to Address the Costs Associated with Changing Careers
- Conclusion
Like this article? We recommend
Like this article? We recommend
Like this article? We recommend
Top Five Strategies to Address the Costs Associated with Changing Careers
When you are changing careers and looking at all of the associated costs, you have to have a strategy that works for you.
Here are five strategies you might want to consider.
- Research ways to meet the costs.
Consider the following:
- Grants
- Small business loans
- Student loans
- Credit cards
- Family assistance
- Accumulating some debt that you can pay down in the short term
- Savings
- Partnership with venture capitalists who think you have a good idea for a business or enterprise
- Home equity loans
- Go slow.
Be gracious with your transition period for both financial reasons and emotional reasons. Notice I am emphasizing the word transition.
Unless you have been fired or laid off, you should methodically work toward your new career without burning any bridges. For strictly money-related reasons, go slow.
If you can come up with a way to transition from your current job to your new career without sacrificing income and lifestyle, you should be at the head of the class.
Too many folks just throw caution to the wind and suffer for it. If you go broke making a career change, you will probably be miserable.
Remember the article 3 options: happy and comfortable. That is what you are aiming for. So GO SLOW. Don't do anything impulsively if you can.
As I was recently telling a friend of mine who is looking to make a change, there is a field that he could start out in that will give him what he is looking for while he is still working full time. He can get his training and some experience off hours, and still support his family. He will also find out if he really likes the new career without losing his current job and benefits and be able to supplement his current income. That was really attractive.
- Get good advice and then make your own decision.
Don't let a so-called expert make your decision. Listen to what s/he has to say and then you make the decision that is right for you.
In the same way, seek out others' advice, but when you have all the advice you can stand, you make the decision. That way you will never have regrets.
- Invest with your head, not with your emotions.
Just as we are doing in this series, think about what you want and like and how much it will cost. Do the research and come up with answers that work for you.
Where strategy 3 emphasizes seeking others' advice, this strategy puts the burden on you. If you go broke because you did not research the cost-of-living adjustment when you move to another market, no one is to blame but you.
In short, think, do research, and answer the questions asked in this article honestly. This is not the lottery! It is your life and career.
- Never invest in a career with scared money.
If you do not have the money to make a career change now, don't do it. Accumulate the resources you think you will need and then make the move.
And once you get started, especially if you opt to go into your own business, work off of your profits, not your principal. Use your profits to grow your business.