Mercado accionario o renta variable

Individuals choose to pursue self-employment for many reasons. The GATE application asked applicants to give their most important reasons for starting a business. Focus group respondents also offered insights into their motivations for starting small businesses and applying to Project GATE.

Why Start a Small Business?

• Tom had taught for nine years at an alternative education program in an inner city high school. He also pursued a metalwork hobby by creating arms and armor for an opera company. He left his teaching position when his wife received a job offer in another state. Tom decided that this was the perfect time to shift careers and make his hobby into a career. His goal was to make small products for retail sale, work on large metalwork programs for contract, and teach his craft to others.

• Megan had been a manager in several companies, but her work was stressful and she felt underappreciated. After leaving her last position, she decided to develop her own company as a “virtual human resources department” for small businesses. “Starting a business has been the best thing for me…It’s just I was never satisfied going to the nine to five job. I was in the human resources department but this had no meaning because nobody would listen [to my advice.] Now people listen; they contract for my services and they want my advice. [My services] remove a large burden from small companies.”

The most common reason GATE applicants gave for being self-employed, given by 84 percent of all applicants, was: “To be my own boss” (Figure IV.2). Other reasons given by more than three-quarters of GATE applicants included a desire to use specific talents, to obtain more income, and to realize a long-held dream. Approximately 9 percent of all GATE applicants said that they wanted to help others or to give back to the community.

Many focus group participants reported that they had thought about self-employment for quite some time but were hesitant to commit their time, energy, and resources toward developing a small business without knowing how to do it. Several focus group members felt that Project GATE had given them the extra boost they needed to take concrete steps

Chapter IV: Who Applied to Project GATE?

toward self-employment. According to one focus group member, “I was really looking for something that could reduce the risk associated with this activity.” Several others stated that they would have been unlikely to move forward with their business ideas if they had not heard about Project GATE. Many also felt that the availability of “free services” was a huge incentive to participate. Many unemployed focus group members also noted that becoming unemployed was an impetus to pursue self-employment. Without this full-time work commitment, they could focus all of their energies on business development.

Figure IV.2. Reasons for Starting a Business

84 77 76 76 70 59 44 33 9 11 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Be O wn B oss Use Ta lent s More Income Real ize Dream Pursu e Int ersts Flexi ble S chedu le Avoi d Une mploy ment Work a t Ho me To h elp oth ers/ commun ity Other

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ust as there are diverse businesses, so there are diverse aspiring entrepreneurs. Each GATE participant had different needs and goals. The GATE assessment, the first service provided by Project GATE, was designed to ensure that the services participants received were tailored to their needs and goals.

The assessment had two key goals. The first goal was to provide a professional appraisal of each participant’s needs. The assessment counselor determined whether the participant needed training, and if so, what would be the most appropriate training program. He or she also assessed whether the participant needed technical assistance, and whether that should occur before, during, or after training.

A second goal of the assessment was to make a referral to the most appropriate GATE provider in the community. This kind of referral is a unique feature of Project GATE. More typically, people interested in receiving assistance with starting a business go directly to a training and technical assistance provider. That provider would be unlikely to refer the participant to another organization.

This chapter describes the GATE assessment. It begins by discussing issues involved in scheduling an assessment (Section A). It then describes in more detail the purpose of GATE assessment sessions (Section B). Finally, it describes the process of making referrals to service providers (Section C).