Laid Off From a Business? Start Your Own

"Would-be Entrepreneurs Are Using Their Severance Pay to Start New Businesses"

America may be in a recession, but that's not stopping thousands of would-be entrepreneurs from using their severance pay or savings to do something they've always hankered to do: be their own boss.


Even as more and more large companies hand out pink slips, budding do-it-yourselfers are starting new businesses – some of them far different from the jobs they used to hold.
A former Wall Street executive now is walking dogs instead of making deals. A laid-off banker is offering soothing massages. Earlier this month, a former marketing executive – and mother – started a business that helps other moms find work.


Small businesses have long been a key part of America's economic makeup, representing the majority of the jobs created in the country.