He found that sex had nothing to do with it. Both required the same five traits, which are:

- Desire for control

- Strong self-motivation

- Problem-solving abilities

- Flexibility and lateral thinking

- Willingness to take risk

Look around you, at the proactive spouses in your community, whether they are working for wages or not, and you will see that they possess similar traits to those above.

Meet the expat entrepreneurs

Emma Bird first went to Milan to work as a journalist but before long had tired of the long hours. With a desire to be more in control, which also demonstrated her flexible thinking, she trained as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), took a risk and changed career. When she met Mario, Emma took another risk and moved to Sardinia with him. Here she found few work and networking opportunities solved the problem by deciding to start her own network, at www.weaveweb.it. Now that she has been self-employed for several years, yet still in her 20's, Emma's self-motivation can be seen in the fact that she has continued to add more skills to her portfolio and to spot opportunities. She still works as a freelance journalist, is writing a book on living in Italy for How To Books and now runs a second website offering advice to those who are thinking of coming to live in Italy, at www.howtoitaly.com.

Emma is perfect illustration of the kind of expatriate, female, entrepreneur that we are seeing these days. Over in Dubai, Maria McMahon began life in marketing, moved into business services and has now jumped on the recruitment band-wagon, where she runs Elite HR Services from her own villa.

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About the Author Jo Parfitt is an expatriate partner, who has lived and worked overseas for almost 20 years, in five different countries. She makes her living from writing, speaking and teaching about what she has learned along the way. Find out more at her websites career-in-your-suitcase.com and summertime publishing.com, where you can sign up for her free ezine, The Inspirer.

Summary: Do you have what it takes to be an expat entrepreneur? Work abroad has its challenges, but about starting your own business? Have you considered other international jobs, but keep dreaming about working for yourself.

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