Nix and Mike

A quick question for those of you that live in Perth.....

I know the job market is quite "open" and there are opportunities there. But my husband and I have been self employed most of our business lives. I have a corporate background, so for me to re-enter the formal job market would be much easier. My OH is "unemployable" as he loves to term it !
So, when we first arrive in Perth, there is the option of me getting a job whilst my OH reviews the opportunities and sees what excites us and where the gaps are. Each country and place has it's own dynamics, and you need to learn the culture and the country before you can see what the opportunities are. We have been living on a Caribbean island for the last 7 years, and here the opportunities are different to a more "formal" market like Perth.

I have no problem getting a job, but now that I have a young child, I would prefer the flexibility of self employement so that I could design my hours and schedule a little. She is used to having both parents in and out her life all day as we have an office at home and both of us are involved in different parts of her day. I would hate to loose that. I would hate to have to leave home, travel to an office and stay there for 9 hours, travel home....and not see my child for the best part of 10 - 11 hours.
My OH and I work extremely hard (that is the nature of being self employed), but it is around our child.....so she is involved in our life and we in hers. (We have a nanny).

So, my question is, what are the entrepreneurial opportunites REALLY like in Perth.
Is it realistic to think that we could both be self employed from Day One?
We are bringing some cash, but as we are both a little older (I am 40 in 2 weeks, and OH 56), and this is the 2nd time we will be starting again (first was the SA - Aruba move 7 years ago), we are reluctant to use too much of our assett base in supporting ourselves in the first year. We would like to buy a house cash, invest a little, and then set up a business and start rebuilding for the future and earning a daily living.

Am I smoking my socks if I think this is possible? Realistically?

Is there too much "legislation" and "licensing" and "read tape" in the more formal Perth market to earn money from the go get?
Are the opprotunities all very specific or more generalistic?

Quite a broad question, but interested to see if any opinions from those of you already in Perth and preferably those of you that are self employed....


Cheers!
Nix

Jackier

As in everything in this life, don't listen to the negative, have confidence in yourselves.

This is gold country - be prepared to work hard, take a few risks & go for it!

astonmartinv8

I just wanted to mention that I think this is a great post. My wife and I are in a similar situation and would love to understand the potential for developing our own business in Perth.

we will be arriving on the 21/10/08.

I look forward to responses.

Cheers,

Marcus.

GinaUK

You may want to look for a poster called "julesandco" and send her a PM. They came to Perth on a business visa 2.5 years ago with three children and I think they were self-employed from Day One.

Good luck.

Gina

jensteve

Hi
Australia is certainly the place to do it. When we came over Iwas the self employed one and hubby a roofer, we switched roles here and he went into retail when we bought a business and I went back to train as a vet nurse, we where in business a little over 2 years and realised a nice niche in the market for a rather unusual business and are in the process of setting it up, I think we are the first in WA, something to do with the pet trade and will explain more as it starts properly as a business but really we only could have done all this by moving here, so give it a go, there are plenty ideas out there, my personal favorite would have to be a cheap card shop chain, something like the 3 cards for 2 quid sort of line, there is nothing like that here, no giant valentine cards, I paid $10 not so long back for a decent card, its truly shocking the prices of a family birthday card! Well nice ones anyhow.

Jenny

Hutch

Can't help re: Perth specifically - but me and the missus are in exactly the same situation (self-employed) and I too would class myself as unemployable . My missus brought her web design business with her and that has kept us afloat while I try and build up a computer repair business (going great so far). I'd say whatever you turned your hand to, you'll have a problem building it up rapidly enough to support you immediately. Cash flow will definitely be an issue to begin with.

Nix and Mike

Thanks for the opinions guys....guess this one is simply a case of jumping in and getting on with it !

Nix

jensteve

There is bound to be something you can do, if you can I would suggest living here a bit first, see whats going on with other local business owners and do your homework on areas, you may have a wonderful idea which has been in the UK for ages but not here yet.
Shop rents here by the way are huge in comparison to the UK, as most shops are within shopping centres they have a flat rate per square metre, I guess we where paying the same per metre as woolworths, does seem harsh but if its the right centre and business it may be an idea, take into account though sunday trading is rumoured to kick in next year, so glad no longer in retail or we would be all working 7 days.
Good luck finding something to do here, sure you will.
Jenny

fly2hi

Know just what you mean Nix, and when Mike says 'unemployable' i can just about relate to that. He's the same age as me. I did 30 years retail in the UK running my own business. It's not really that you feel 'unemployable', you just know you wouldn't sit through a 'modern' interview. I think if someone said to me "Where do you see yourself in 5 years" I'd say "same place as usual...in the friggin mirror". But hey..there are still loads of opportunities and there are still people who value experience and 'know how' as opposed to a gold edged CV.
Had a conversation today about a guy who's working for himself doing something really simple, no experience required and taking home over 2 grand a week. Granted, these things are few and far between but if you look hard enough..who knows

stariston

http://www.aussietycoon.com/

worzel

Lots of businesses work on a franchise base over here so that might be the way to go. I even heard of a company that runs franchises selling franchises last week!

Amazulu

Even banks are franchised, ie Bendigo.