Your pink slip may turn you into an 'unintentional" entrepreneur

With 14.7 million unemployed Americans, along with the millions of underemployed and people giving up on finding work altogether, there is one positive outcome for a lucky few -- becoming an entrepreneur without really setting out to be one.

Losing a job and being unable to find a new one leads some people, myself included, into freelancing, consulting or maybe even turning a hobby into a way to make money.

We've become unintentional entrepreneurs, which is the name of a new Web site -- unintentionalentrepreneur.com -- that is kicking off a small nationwide tour on Wednesday night in San Francisco to help unemployed people start their own business.

"There are a lot of people out there who are hanging out their shingle for the first time," said Kevin Reeth, co-founder and CEO of Outright.com, a free online bookkeeping site that co-sponsors the program with Network Solutions, which helps small businesses with Web solutions.

The free event at 6 p.m. Wednesday in San Francisco will have free beer and pizza, and will feature topics such as advice on managing financial transactions, bookkeeping basics and small business tax tips, building your Web site, and marketing.