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I am 42 and have always wanted to own my own small business. However, my husband has discouraged me from doing so. I work a boring job, wondering if my life will ever be exciting again. What do you think?
Have you researched what it would take to begin a business? What experience do you have with running a business? Will you need a loan from a bank? Have you laid your business proposal before an advisor at the bank? Are you all ready to go except for your husband's approval, or are you expecting him to financially support your business while you get it up and running?
If you haven't done all those things yet, then I'd be inclined to agree with your husband. I have seen people not do their homework before they began their businesses and end up financially bankrupting their families. But I have also seen women do great when they have properly prepared.
My advice would be to take a course on setting up and running a business. Do some research on what kind of business your community needs. See what else has been tried and why you think it has failed. Decide how you can finance this operation without your husband's investment and talk to one or more business consultants. If you show all of this preparation to your husband, he may be willing to discuss it and may even get interested enough to help.
Dr. Ginger Gabriel, Ph.D., M.F.T., is an author and speaker as well as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. With Master of Arts degrees in counseling and missions and a Ph.D. in psychology, she has traveled to Asia, the Middle East and throughout North American giving her four-to fifteen-hour relationship and counseling skill-building seminars.
Her favorite pastimes are kayaking, quilting, hiking and reading novels. She is married to Dr. Stan Gabriel. They have three children and three grandchildren.