{"id":20479,"date":"2024-01-16T14:42:32","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T22:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=20479"},"modified":"2024-01-16T14:43:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T22:43:01","slug":"pursue-ones-dreams-and-become-a-business-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/pursue-ones-dreams-and-become-a-business-owner\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursue one’s dreams and become a business owner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by: Sierra Porter | Staff Writer<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the greatest attractions Oregon has to offer is its large variety of unique, locally owned, creative businesses. These include businesses like food trucks, soap companies, haunted tours, bake shops, handmade items like clothes, jewelry and so much more. With a little bit of incentive and a lot of determination, one can turn their biggest passions into a career. Who wouldn\u2019t want to be their own boss?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the benefits of starting one\u2019s own business is having full creative freedom and connecting with the community through that creativity. In recent years, there have been increasing opportunities for those who have a passion for arts and handmade crafts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though one may not have their own store or permanent location to sell their products, there are numerous options to put oneself out there. Oregon has many seasonal\/holiday markets, sporting events, local events and festivals that are open to local artists that allow them to get a chance to sell their wares.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting a business on its feet can be a daunting task and renting out a spot in these types of events may not be accessible to all; don’t worry, there are ways to get one\u2019s business out there without worrying about the starting costs. For example, the <\/span>Oregon State Fair <\/span><\/a>offers various types of competitions that do not require an entry fee and can provide an opportunity to get one\u2019s name out there. Competitions like these create an opportunity for the public to learn how businesses are made and how they work \u2014 it can even give one an opportunity to sell their products to locals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Arts and crafts are not the only self-made business that is popular right now. Food trucks have also been increasingly popular throughout the years. It\u2019s not necessary to go to culinary school or train under a star chef to be an amazing cook with creative ideas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, with a little initiative and determination one can take their favorite cuisine to the next level in their own food cart. As someone who personally works for an artisan grilled cheese truck, believe me when I say it is possible to do anything one loves to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of what business one would like to pursue, there are many opportunities and benefits that come with all of them. Being one’s own boss means having the ability to create a schedule that is flexible and caters to one\u2019s needs. If additional funds are needed, one can book more events; if one needs a break, they can give themselves a grace period that won\u2019t affect any fiscal earnings. Overall, running a local business has so many positives for the owner and those working for the business, as well as the people in the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t just take it from me\u2014 hear some insight from the real self-made business owner of <\/span>SoCheesy<\/span><\/a> food truck, Gary Cooper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper created his food truck business, So Cheesy, in 2016 and it has done nothing but grow since then. The best part, Cooper says, is \u201c…putting a smile on customers’ faces \u2013 with the abundance of negativity in today’s society being able to provide a moment of comfort, peace and joy is rewarding.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper gave the Howl some valuable tips to share with those wanting to start their own business. He admits it can be scary and, \u201cYou never know what tomorrow will bring (so) move forward with courage.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper also recommends that it\u2019s helpful to maintain a traditional job to cover financial needs \u2014 a young business has financial pressures so having another source of income in the beginning will be beneficial in the long run. His final tip was a simple but important one:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cConstant reinvestment is a key to growing your business.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The longer one has a business the more changes will come related to trends, increasing demand, increased opportunities as well as learning what customers preferences are. Reinvestment to cater to changes like these will guarantee your business to grow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper encourages students to pursue their own businesses after college and says it’s a \u201c…wonderful opportunity to exercise your potential.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The ability to create a career of one\u2019s own, based on individual creativity and passions, is something most desire in life, and it may not be as impossible as one may think.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Figuring out what to do after college is extremely intimidating and many students have an innate fear that they\u2019ll be stuck in a job they hate for the rest of their lives. Starting a self-owned business has many responsibilities but the benefits are all worth it. Doing something that\u2019s easy to love every day, creating connections with others, and having the freedom to make all the decisions sounds pretty awesome to me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Contact the author at howlstaffwriter@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":20480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[597,577,1805,1803,1804],"class_list":["post-20479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-business","tag-food-truck","tag-locally-owned","tag-passion","tag-self-made"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}