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Seeds For Thought
Seeing Time As Your Asset
As we learned from Lesson 1, George, our bus driver, would make a solid living working for the city. He would receive a secure weekly paycheck. He would receive health care and pension benefits and overtime and paid holidays and paid vacation time. To walk away from this, especially if George were a family man and especially if George had some years on the job (seniority), would be difficult. George is almost trapped by his "not so bad" job. However, our George is a risk taker. He is a man with good ideas and a willingness to work hard. He is an Action Principles Champion. He starts a small transportation business and in a few years is prosperous enough to leave the bus company. On the upside, with his own business, George has the opportunity to be his own boss with unlimited financial potential. And on the downside, like George, if you are going to achieve financial independence, you're going to have to assume the risks and take action for yourself. This is called being self-reliant. Nobody is going to just walk up to you and give you all of the money that you want. You have to give people a very good reason to part with their money. You need a quality product or service. You must offer this product or service at a competitive price. You have to smile and appreciate your customers. You have to make the sales experience enjoyable enough that your customers will give you future business without your having to ask repeatedly or without extraordinary sales incentives. You'll want your customers to be satisfied enough that they will become your sales ambassadors and recommend your product or service to others. Help others and help yourself. Give and you shall receive. Before we leave George, can you think of other options that George might have had to promote his interests besides giving up his city job? Maybe George could have gotten involved with his union and risen up in the union ranks while still driving the bus. Maybe George could have cultivated his own political contacts to get a better city job. If George were faithful to the Action Principles, he would have been thinking "What can I do to improve my life for myself and my family?" The main point to learn from George is that "where there is a will, there is a way." If George wanted more from life he would have found a way to get it. Very simply, George is a take charge man of action. Will George get what he wants? He is trying. He just may. Do You Have What It Takes?Remember that the first high hurdle that you may have to surmount is the overly cautious advice, the outright rejection or the ridicule of those with whom you share your dreams. Yes, you've got to be tough to get to most places worth getting to. Joe Demanbro will someday own a large successful landscaping company but day one, he may hear from his girlfriend, "You graduated from high school to cut grass?" Malaika Mullen will someday own a string of corporate day care centers but day one, she may hear from her grandmother, "Don't most girls give up baby-sitting at age sixteen?" Scott Dyer will someday own six quick-lube and auto detailing centers but day one, he may hear from his best friend, "Haven't you got something better to do than work on that car?" Actually, the more you've accomplished in the eyes of others, the less support you may receive for your entrepreneurial venture. If you were a good student and a good all around person, people are apt to encourage you to be a lawyer, a doctor, or an accountant and not a pet store owner or a house painter. On the other hand, if you were a complete disappointment to everyone and were considered a loser, then other people are going to look for anything positive in you. If you said to them that you intended to straighten yourself out and open a pet shop or paint houses, they'd probably be very encouraging and say that either choice was an excellent idea. The status quo is always going to be resting on your shoulder like a bad little angel saying, "Relax, sit back and wait until tomorrow". Procrastinate. You don't have to decide now. This is your own mind trying to protect you from making a mistake. But, as an entrepreneur, you must accept that you will make mistakes. Let there be no doubt. You will make mistakes. You will do stupid things. As you learn your new business and constantly try to improve your new business, you will waste some time and some money. On occasion, you may lose a lot of time and a lot of money. Yet, you will learn from your mistakes. And, tomorrow you will try again as a smarter person. You can't live an active, accomplished life by just sitting back waiting for tomorrow to happen because it will always be tomorrow and tomorrow. This is your one life. Persist and find success. Start thinking for yourself. You certainly want to find mentors. You want to find people who have done or are doing what you plan to do. These are people to whom you must listen. They have been there. They have done that. Get ready. You may need a thick skin because everyone in whom you confide or who just happens to hear about your plans, may feel very free to venture an opinion on what you should or shouldn't do. They may be informed. They may know nothing. They may have your best interests at heart. They may have their own personal agenda. Of course, again, it's human nature. People are going to give you advice based on their personal feelings and experiences, even if they know little about you and nothing about what you intend to accomplish. Their perception may be that 90% of dentists make a good living. Their perception may be that 90% of pet shop owners are a little strange. Why would you want to groom a puppy when you could be cleaning plaque off a patient's teeth? Are most dentists happy being dentists? Are most pet shop owners miserable being pet shop owners? Do all dentists make more money than all pet shop owners? 
How many people do you think commit themselves to careers without really knowing what those careers are about? How many people do you think commit themselves to careers without exploring the many career options they may have? How many college students waste time majoring in subjects in which they actually have little or no interest? BOTTOM LINE. You may be getting honest, heartfelt career advice from well meaning people who have no idea what they are talking about. And, you may waste your life fulfilling someone else's idealized dream for you rather following your own instinct. In ten years, you may regret that you caved in to someone else's advice because you did not want to be a disappointment. In those ten years, you may have become a chiropractor when you really wanted to become a jewelry designer. Somebody is going to be a famous jewelry designer. If you love designing jewelry and are talented and have good people and business skills, then that person could be you. It will be someone. Why not you? Be self-reliant. Do your own investigating. This is your life. You have the Internet. What could possibly be your excuse? Following your investigation, you may find that the advice given to you by others was valid and a good choice. Or, you might avoid taking six college courses in microbiology if your real life's ambition is to travel the world as a successful yacht broker. Or you may not have to spend ten years working for a computer company, when what you really wanted to do was to breed horses. Life is too short. Be an independent person of action capable of making up your own mind. Many colleges and private agencies have Career Resource Centers offering counseling and placement services. If you are unhappy in your present job or unsure of what direction to take, shouldn't you avail yourself of these services? But, do you really need someone else to tell you what kind of work you would love doing every day? What does your heart tell you to do? Start doing the research today. Many well meaning people will advise you against starting a small business because they have a sense that these businesses have a high failure rate. And, they are correct. About 55% of all new small businesses fail in the first year. There is an old story about a glass filled to the midpoint. An optimist sees it as being half full. The pessimist thinks that it's half empty. An entrepreneur is probably going to look at the odds for small business success from a more optimistic "the glass is half full" perspective. "What you really mean to say is that 45% of new small businesses are successful after the first year." With the Action Principles as your guide... With your focus on your customer... With your thirst for knowledge... With your willingness to word hard... Do you have any doubt that you will be in the winning 45%? Even if the worst happens and she fails in a venture, the entrepreneur will have gained something. She will be satisfied that she will not have seen her life pass without having given her dream of success a serious try. And, of course, there is always a new tomorrow. You can try again, only this time as a seasoned veteran. Dora The Meat Cutter Dora Johnson is thirty-five years old and has worked for twelve years as a meat cutter at Friendly Fred's Supermarket. She does the job. She doesn't love the job. Dora loves portrait photography. Portrait photography has always been her hobby and part-time business. Dora is an excellent portrait photographer. Graduates and brides and business people seek her out. As Dora carves meat, hour-by-hour, day-by-day, she dreams of someday opening her own full-time portrait studio. This won't be easy since she's divorced with two kids to support. Dora continues to procrastinate in making her decision. Not making a decision is easy for Dora. However, one day, her working world changes and not for the good. Friendly Fred retires and hands the store over to his son who is anything but friendly. The son's name would more accurately be Little Ferocious Freddie. Now, Little Ferocious wants to make money and he wants to make money now. Forget the family atmosphere. Little Ferocious sees that his number one expense after inventory is the salary for all the coddled, lazy employees that his father has tolerated for years. Immediately, Little Ferocious can make more money by cutting payroll. Heads must roll. In the very short term, he's right. To explain the firings, Little Ferocious uses the excuse that the economy is bad. He demands that anyone interested in a future with Friendly Fred's will have to start working a lot harder. If someone doesn't like the changes, Little Ferocious suggests they quit. Little Ferocious puts the entire staff on edge. Each employee's focus shifts from doing their jobs well to keeping their jobs. In the meat department, Little Ferocious replaces one of the full-time people with a part-timer. He tells Dora that to compensate for the lost man-hours, henceforth all cold cuts will be cut in advance and not custom cut to order. Dora tries to explain to Little Ferocious that one of the main reasons that people buy deli meats rather than pre-packed meats is because of the freshness that comes from on-site custom cutting. Little Ferocious tells Dora to do just what she is told. "Get with the program, Dora." Little Ferocious goes through all the departments in the store like a tornado. He saves money quickly and loses customers gradually. As business drops, he becomes more and more tyrannical, blaming the world, national, state, regional and local economies. He blames the parking. He blames the local government. He blames the employees. Finally, he blames the customers. As his customer base shrinks and profits fizzle, Little Ferocious starts to lose interest in the supermarket business. Philip Wong, who owns the Honda dealership next to Friendly Fred's, is interested in the supermarket building. Mr. Wong wants to tear the building down for more parking. He makes Little Ferocious an offer for the real estate. Little Ferocious accepts Mr. Wong's offer and all the employees are out of work. Do you feel sorry for Dora? How many warning signs of impending doom do you think she ignored? Why did she stay? Was it wishful thinking? Any employment is better than unemployment? Maybe Little Ferocious will be born again and become a better person? This company has been here for fifty years! This company is an industry leader! If you work for someone else, your financial future is in someone else's hands. Awareness on the job is your responsibility. If business failure is possible, have options and an exit plan. If business failure is probable, be ready. If business failure is imminent, get out first. Dora had plenty of warning signs. Perhaps, she is ready. Maybe this will be a positive development for Dora. Maybe she will be forced into entrepreneurship and live happily ever after. We hope so. At least, Dora, has the possibility of a fall back plan. Most of the laid off employees at the supermarket are probably wandering around in a daze, "Gee, what happened?" It can happen at Friendly Freddie's Supermarket. It can happen at Enron. It can happen at Polaroid. The first rule of combat for a soldier is "Cover you own butt." If you are working for someone else, then you are working at the whim of someone else. You could be a loyal employee working for Arthur Andersen, one of the largest accounting firms in the world, and one-day one idiot screws up and the entire empire begins to crumble. Say your prayers. Cover your own butt. Why Some Businesses Succeed While Others FailAre you willing to put your savings at risk? Are you willing to work 60, 80, 100 hours a week? Is your attitude, "I will do whatever it takes?"  If you are going to start your own business, make sure that this choice is your first choice and not some kind of last resort. You can't expect to be successful if your attitude is, "What the heck, I'm unemployed. I'll give this a try." You must possess a burning desire to succeed. Starting a small business presumes a willingness to listen to and learn from others. At least in the beginning, you will probably find yourself being much more imitative rather than innovative. This is actually a tough business concept for many new small business owners to accept. They are new business owners. They want to be in charge. They have lots of NEW ideas and very often they are overly innovative. Find out what has worked successfully for others in your industry and do what they have been doing. This is worth repeating. Find out what has worked successfully for others in your industry and do what they have been doing. At least in the beginning, you will probably find yourself being much more imitative rather than innovative. Don't let your ego get the best of you. Unfortunately, some new business owners will plunge forward with arrogance and unwarranted conceit. "I know perfectly well what I'm doing and I don t need any help, thank you." Everyone may not like a restaurant that serves eleven kinds of pumpkin soup. Everyone may not like a lawyer who wears Hawaiian shirts and sandals. Everyone may not like to patronize a karaoke bar/laundromat/barber shop. On your way to your first million, there is nothing wrong with being a copycat. In fact, being a copycat is the smartest route you can take to success. Let somebody else use trial and error to find a winning formula and then you copy the formula. This is not a bad thing. This is a good thing. Copy success. Starting a small business must relate to market demand and not just your wishful thinking. It' s not what you want. It's what the market wants. If you want to fail quickly, just say something like, "I just had this fantastic idea about how wonderful it would be if everyone could speak Latin." Starting a small business must be done from a realistic perspective. Talk to other people in your industry who have started businesses similar to yours. How long did it take them to get established? You probably shouldn't say, "In a month or two when I've got this place up and running, I'm going to treat myself to the best vacation I've ever had. I've earned it!" The wrong people for the wrong reasons start many small businesses. There is a payback for the arrogance. There is a payback for ignorance. It is failure. Business is about identifying a consumer need and taking appropriate actions to fill that need. Successful businesses must evolve to match a changing marketplace. The entrepreneur must be completely open minded and flexible. The entrepreneur must continually monitor and survey his or her customers' attitudes to better ascertain what it is that the business is doing right and which products, services or attitudes might be added, corrected or deleted. Have patience. The renowned management guru, Peter Drucker cautioned, "For the first four years, no new enterprise produces profits. Even Mozart didn't start writing music until he was four." It may not take you four years to get established but all new business will need some tweaking and fine-tuning. Your successful business will take shape around the wishes of your customers. Don't worry, your customers will be giving you feedback. They will come back smiling or they won't come back at all. The successful entrepreneur does not take any of his customers for granted. The successful entrepreneur is always ready to show sincere appreciation for the customer's business. Remember. It is only the buyer of your products or the user of your services who will give you the money to repay your loans, pay your bills and give you a working salary while you figure out a way to get rich. Love your customers. Do your best and consider the motto of Gucci, "Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten." The entrepreneur must be devoted to continuing education by reading and studying materials of both a general business and specific business nature. The entrepreneur must have a willingness to associate with others in his/her industry and the general business community, in the hopes of sharing ideas and keeping in touch with new trends and developments. Can you be subservient to your customers or to your bosses? If you can't, if you must always be right and always do things your way, then, your road to success is going to be a really long road. Here again are our three rules for business success. The Three Rules Of Business Success
Lesson Two ResourcesGo to Lesson Three1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6Index
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