Business
Your Dream Job
Why do we keep trying to land jobs the way we always have, submit a résumé, wait by the phone, hoping someone will call. It’s a nice idea, but not good use ones time, especially if you’re desperate to make ends meet. Sure you could collect Unemployment Insurance (in Canada), that takes at least 6 weeks to get, it might be called something different where you live. But these social programs rarely pay all the bills, and you don’t get them the day you need it, they might help or buy you some time, but it doesn’t get you out of the hole your in.
Times have changed dramatically, for me, when I was a young teenager, there were no computers, not for public consumption anyway. We had no choice but to pound the pavement to find our dream job(s). It sounds weird when I say it like that, it was the only way to find work back in my day. Sure you might have a friend of a friend, who knows someone who knows someone else to help you land your dream job. Who invented the saying, “Dream Job”? It sounds great doesn’t it, utopia! The term dream job means that you love what you’re doing, in my humble opinion. You could get hired into it, if you’re lucky, or you could invent it, which is most likely to happen today and for sure in the future. The future of business is just that, innovation, you will invent, innovate your job, your work, a way to pay the bills, get used to the idea, you won’t have a choice. The day of getting full-time work is gone, those full-time gigs are few today.
So, instead of waiting to be picked from a pile of resumes, but do submit to help your cause, but don’t sit around, go and invent your ideal job while you wait. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll discover your dream job, and it could more than pay the bills.
Too Fickle?
One of the major challenges with some entrepreneurs is, they get bored easily and want to move on to the next thing, that is also a red flag that you might not be the entrepreneur you think you might be. Why? One of the primary characteristics of an entrepreneur, is that they are persistent, and see things through, until it’s time to hand of the project / business to those who manage the day-to-day details or a CEO.
If you change your mind too often, it’s crazy making for those who work directly with you, and make’s it more difficult to actually complete projects. Also, moving to fast or being to far ahead of the team doing the work means you must have great communication channels. If you’re too far forward, and the team can’t see what you see, they’ll never be able to catch your vision, or get the work done the way you see it.
Don’t be a fickle leader, be predictable, and have good communication, fickle will only leave you by yourself, which means….your probably not leading anyone.
The Most Asked Question
We are a curious lot, we’re hungry for information & knowledge, we want to know what to do next, always looking for that nugget, that one thing to put us on the right track. We spend hours searching the Internet for a shortcut, are we join groups or businesses thinking it will shortcut success. The shortcut, should you find one, usually doesn’t have staying power, it has a short life span. It’s not because the deal, or whatever it is you decided to join is bad, the common denominator follows you every where you go, it’s why you either quit or hop aboard the next best thing.
I spent years trying to get that shortcut, thinking I could get rich, I could do something where I really didn’t have to work that hard, and make piles of money. Most of us are lazy, we want it all without having to pay the price to get it. There are two things required to succeed in business, one is to hard work, and the other is persistence. The combination of those two brings about life abundantly, growth, excitement, reward, enjoyment, and feeling of doing something special with your time, or your life.
I meet regularly with young people wanting to start their own business, they already know they don’t want to work for the man, they want to do work on their terms. The energy is overwhelming at times, but fun to be around. The conversation always starts with, I want to start a business, or I want a job, but I don’t know what I want to do. Every time, I’m dumb-founded by this, the answer to me is simple and as plain as the nose on our faces. I always say, if you don’t know, don’t worry about it, just go do something. I tell them to go and do something, anything, and they’ll find out what they like, love or hate. The problem is they haven’t done anything, so they have nothing to measure, nothing to compare. The old guard call it experience, I don’t look at that way, I want you to get used to the idea that you will have to do hard work before you discover your passion, the thing you really want to do.
The second thing I tell these young eager minds, go home and write, write down what you love doing. It could be a hobby, it could be music, it could be painting art, it doesn’t matter, just write it down. Once they figure it out, once they see something they are willing to invest their time and no money into, they always get to the most asked question. How do I do it?
This question comes from two things in my humble opinion. One, they haven’t worked for anyone else before, and they don’t learn how business might work. Two, they haven’t learned that building a business is hard work, and they don’t have that long old age thing called experience, they haven’t failed.
The younger generations have two choices to make when they decide to start a business, they can plan with a tradition business plan and funding, or they could just start. The later brings with it failure, and that is uncomfortable, and painful. Failure tends to squash that drive, that passion, that energy to build a business. The other failure is, the business isn’t profitable the first day they start telling the world about their new venture.
There are over 100 questions a business consultant would ask new business owners, and if they answered to many questions wrong, they would tell the young entrepreneur they shouldn’t start the business. I say, don’t listen to them, just go and do something and measure what’s happening as you go. I’m not saying you should ignore certain indicators, the business should be viable, not just a pipe dream.
First young entrepreneurs aren’t sure what kind of business to start, and secondly, they always ask, how do I do it. The most asked question in my business of helping business owners.
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If You Must Write A Business Plan
If you must write a business plan, you just can’t move forward without one, keep it simple. Don’t think in traditional terms, just do a simple business plan, something you can refer to as a guide. Here are 8 points to consider if you MUST write a business plan:
- Executive Summary – I would write it after you’ve done the next 7 points. Keep it short, one page.
- Company Description – Legal establishment, history, start-up strategy, etc.
- Product or Service – Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.
- Market Analysis – You should know your market, customer needs, is there a need, where they are, and how to reach them.
- Strategy & Implementation – Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budgets. Make sure you track results.
- Internet Strategy – For E-Commerce, include development costs, operations, and sales & marketing plans.
- Management Team – Describe the organization, and the key management personnel.
- Financial Analysis – Include your projected profit and loss, and cash flow tables.
You could have someone review this plan to ensure it’s a viable business, be sure this person or firm is capable of doing so. Be careful here, you could get stuck trying to make it perfect, don’t, just write as briefly as you can, unless you’re applying for funding, they want all the details.
Take The Drive
Last night while I was driving home, I couldn’t help notice the different types of businesses there were along the way. There were hundreds of buildings, warehouses, and mini-malls, not to mention the large storage centers and big box stores, and that was on one highway! I was wondering how much all the bricks & mortar leasing, rental and mortgage payments might be, I know it’s an odd thing to ask yourself while driving.
When you think of starting a business, or maybe taking over an existing business, do you consider buying, building, or leasing? Or do you consider building something that doesn’t need the large asset, and the huge debt attached. As Bricks & Mortar becomes more and more Clicks & Pages, how do you see the future of these monstrosities?
If you truly want to start a business, take the drive. Drive down main street, drive down any highway or street that has businesses on them, ask yourself one question….what’s missing? Then ask yourself if it can be built with Clicks & Pages rather than Bricks & Mortar, the traditional business building model. How would your idea make your communities life easier, what problem would you solve, and does it need to be solved. Once you know the answer, don’t wait, just start making it happen.
