This week I am starting a new business. Late last year I began attending auctioneer school, and last week I passed our state exam and earned my license. This week I will begin the process of starting an auction business. This will be a very part-time career as I continue to serve in my calling as a minister, but I am excited about it just the same. Although there are many licensed auctioneers in the state, many of them are not very active. It seems that only a handful in most of the counties near me handle most of the auction business, and some of them are ready to retire and have already started cutting back on their work-load. I believe this is a good time for a new auctioneer to enter the profession even if it will just be part time.
Auctions have long fascinated me. As a young boy I was taken to a farm auction by my father who asked me to buy a corn planter he wanted. He also worked off the farm and could not attend the auction, but he wanted to buy that planter. He explained the strategy I should use in bidding and gave me a maximum amount to bid. I ended up buying the planter for less money than he was willing to pay and found the process enjoyable. In recent years I've been attending a number of auctions which led me to pursue my own auctioneer license.
Like many business people today, I also believe this is a good time to start a new business. There are tax advantages to owning a business which could be helpful depending on how the tax laws change over the next year or two. This is also a good time not to depend on just one source of income. There remains much uncertainity in the financial and economic worlds due to the leadership failure that exists in Washington. While some politicians try to convince the American public that our economy is coming back, most of us in the real world do not see much evidence of that. Multiple streams of income provide the average American a safety cushion that is more preferable than hoping our government leaders will find a solution to the economic problems our nation has.
My previous experience at owning a business came from obtaining ownership of an existing business. This one I will be starting from scratch, and already I feel an excitement as I begin that process. I learned so much from our previous business that I will apply to this start-up which should help me avoid many of the mistakes I made the last time. I'll keep you posted at how this business progresses.
If you would also like to learn from my previous mistakes you can find those discussed in my book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.
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