Time for Entrepreneurial Exploration?

Self-employment may not be for everyone, but I’ve discovered that it’s also not for as few people as one might think, either!  One of the amazing things that’s taken place over the last decade or two is the explosion of different entrepreneurial avenues that have become available in the marketplace, thanks to the Internet and other game-field-leveling technologies.

Back in the day, it seemed as if only a select few individuals with piles of cash sitting around could afford the luxury of launching their own company or being in business for themselves.  You typically had to rent a brick-and-mortar facility, after all, and plow thousands of dollars into fancy marketing materials, inventory, and support salaries.  Or if you were interested in franchising, your options were pretty much, well, buying a McDonalds outlet for the paltry sum of a million bucks or so.

These days, however, the barriers of entry are so low they’re nearly non-existent.  Service-based companies basically just need a website, a firm grasp of Internet marketing methodology, and a commitment to providing off-the-charts customer service to get their referral network fired up.  Product-based companies also have all sorts of new options they can draw upon, as well, in terms of contract manufacturing and outsourcing.  They also can now raise money through venture capital firms and a variety of other innovative sources that weren’t around a while back, at least in the quantities they are today.  And as for those interested in buying a business or a turnkey franchise opportunity?  These options now come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from part-time businesses you can run out of your house to larger, more mainstream opportunities that cut across virtually every industry niche in existence from cattle farming to catering to child care.

The key development that inspired me to write this post, however, is the fact that the average job search (especially for senior-level positions) is now taking many months longer than usual.  As a result, the “scary” risk/reward curve of self-employment doesn’t seem quite as daunting as it seemed before, at least for many people I’ve encountered.  These folks seem to be making the logical deduction that as opposed to taking their chances on being out of work for a full year or more, they might just as well invest this same amount of time and energy trying to get their own enterprise off the ground, instead, where they’ll likely feel a stronger sense of purpose and a greater sense of control over their own destiny.  Food for thought, at the very least.  And in some cases, the very process of launching a business proves to be a killer networking and job hunting strategy, since it imbues people with a sense of confidence and a concrete “reason” to be out and about, meeting with people each and every day.

As for the role Career Horizons can play in the process, we’re admittedly more of a “midwife” than anything else.  Perhaps the greatest value we can bring to the entrepreneurial exploration step, directly, is to help people conduct a careful analysis of their career wants/needs and decide whether the self-employment or traditional employment route would be the most effective path toward achieving these goals.  We’re also fairly well-equipped to advise people on the tactical steps involved in launching a small service business or consulting firm, since that’s a journey we’ve taken these past six years, ourselves.  Beyond that, we start referring people out like madmen and helping people connect to just the right resources to help them explore — or take — the entrepreneurial plunge.

On that note, we’ll cite a few of our favorite sources of assistance for those who might be interested.  As a starting point, we’d encourage would-be business owners to explore some of the many government-sponsored programs out there such as the Small Business Administration or the Small Business Development Center.  These institutions represent your tax dollars at work, so take advantage of them!  There’s also the fairly new Self-Employment Assistance Program offered through WorkSource, where eligible candidates can apply to take entrepreneurial training classes in lieu of job hunting, while still receiving unemployment benefits all the while.

On the non-governmental front, those interested in learning more about franchising options or entrepreneurship, in general, should definitely get acquainted with our good friend Jeff Levy at The Entrepreneur’s Source.  Jeff is a walking treasure-trove of information about the self-employment world and can offer extremely wise counsel for those considering this option.  In addition to his franchise coaching services, which are largely underwritten by the franchise companies, themselves, his programs include a highly-regarded AIM for Success program (details here) that qualifies for the WorkSource SEPA program mentioned above.  You might also touch base with John Martinka, a locally-based business broker who offers individual consulting, as well as workshops, for those thinking about purchasing an existing enterprise.  In fact, John recently released an e-book called “How to Get All the Money You Want for your Business Without Stealing It” and is giving away free copies to the first 100 people who comment on his blog, which you’ll find here.

How else can we help?  Do you need referrals to some superb accountants, attorneys, graphic designers, or legal professionals who can help get your new business off the ground?  Or folks who can help you write a great business plan?  Or perhaps you’re a current business owner who needs an executive coach to help keep you “sane” or a dynamite marketing consultant, such as Lenora Edwards, who can teach you how to sell and market your services in a highly effective way?  While we don’t offer these types of services, ourselves, we’re in a great position to refer you to experts in the local area who do!

We even just heard from an acquaintance of ours, a former attorney and HR executive, who is offering to coach a few fledgling business owners at a ridiculously lowball rate as part of a formal “executive coaching” program she is currently enrolled in.  Any interested takers?

Again, self-employment may not be for everybody, but if you’ve ever had an inkling to explore the possibility, now is a great time to seriously investigate this potential option — and we’d love to help!

Entrepreneurial Decision-Making: One Great Tool!

Quick item to blog about today, relevant to those of you out there who might be considering “taking the plunge” and starting/buying a business venture of some kind.  One of my local business allies, John Martinka of Partner On Call Network, shared a handout with me that cross-references 26 business factors against three typical entrepreneurial avenues: 1) Starting a New Business; 2) Buying a New Franchise Site; and 3) Buying an Existing Business or Franchise.

As an example of the types of factors discussed in the handout, the chart ranks the availability of bank financing for each of the three types (low, medium, and high, respectively) as well as the possibility of strong growth potential (medium, low, low-medium) and the ultimate chances of ongoing success (low, medium, high) for each venture type.  Granted, these rankings might be somewhat subjective and based on just this one firm’s experience, but the information seemed pretty accurate from my outside perspective — and this concise little sheet is helpful in spelling out the risk/reward profile of each of these common self-employment options.

Interested in seeing the other 23 factors outlined on the sheet?  If so, John gave me permission to share it with my client base, so feel free to click here if you’d like to obtain a copy.  And should you be interested in taking your entrepreneurial pursuits to the next level, of course, check out what John has to offer at the website address above — or drop him a line here to learn more about his services!

Question of the Month: February 2006

Question: “How do I know if an entrepreneurial path is right for me or not?”

Over the past few years, an increasing number of our clients seem to have been bitten by the “entrepreneurial bug ” and to be contemplating the possibility of self-employment.  Whether this is due to the pending retirement of the Baby Boom generation, or the perception that job security is now more likely found in self-employment than in traditional workplace alternatives, I’m not certain.  What I do know, however, is that there are still many significant myths and misconceptions floating around with regard to the entrepreneurial path — and that anybody considering this option needs to do some serious homework and soul-searching before abandoning their quest for a traditional salaried position.

On the plus side, I can attest from personal experience that being in business for yourself is one of the most freewheeling, tremendously creative efforts you’ll ever undertake.  Each day brings a new slate of challenges (which is both the good news and the bad news) and if you hate being bored, trust me, you’ll never find yourself sitting around like the Maytag repairman watching the clock!  Additionally, one of the most rewarding entrepreneurial benefits I’ve discovered is the way in which your business essentially becomes an exoskeleton of your own personal values, allowing you to make the world a better place in your own small but significant way.  Do you believe in taking great care of your customers?  Saving the planet by buying recycled materials?  Treating your employees in an ethical, fair manner?  If so, you can express all of these values to your heart’s content, all day long, just as long as your business model is sustainable and you’re able to keep the lights on.

Now on to the more sobering news…

What many would-be entrepreneurs FAIL to take into consideration is just how much of a culture shock it can be to give up traditional W2 creature comforts such as free time, paid vacation, or a paycheck that shows up like clockwork at the end of each month.  Granted, there are certain entrepreneurial avenues that don’t necessarily require these sacrifices, but in general, most of the business owners and sole proprietors I run across seem to wear a conflicted expression on their face that can be described as a mix between exhaustion and blissful self-actualization.  We’re having the time of our lives, in other words, but it just might be killing us!  If you want a more detailed explanation of the factors behind this, I’d encourage you to read the book The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.  It’s an eye-opener and will give you a very useful, no-holds-barred account of what it’s really like to be your own boss.

And yet, despite the tradeoffs, there’s no question that many people ARE cut from entrepreneurial cloth and meant to go into business for themselves.  You can sense it immediately in their attitude and by the level of pragmatism — as opposed to idealism — that they bring to the conversation.  One former client of mine, for example, announced that he was finally ready to hang up his own shingle in the architectural profession, but needed my encouragement to stay true to his vision and to metaphorically “burn the ships behind him” in terms of helping resist the temptation to go back to the corporate world.  He was realistic enough to know that the gnawing temptation would always be there, and I believe this was one of the most important elements that has contributed to his ongoing success.

In closing, it was probably unfair to suggest that I could answer the eternal “should I work for myself?” question in the space of a short newsletter article, but hopefully, I’ve provided a few fresh insights and convinced you of how seriously you need to take this question, if nothing else.  If you’re interested in receiving additional assistance on this topic, I’d encourage you to check out the “Partners” tab of my website, where I’ve included links to a number of top-notch local experts who can help you explore all kinds of entrepreneurial paths ranging from franchising to buying a business to getting your own consulting practice set up in a smart, profitable way. And despite some of the initial hurdles, at the end of the day, it’s certainly nice to do the things you love in life — and have them be tax deductible!

Book Review: Is Self-Employment for You?

Experience tells us that most working professionals, at some point in their lives, consider the possibility of starting their own business.  This career option appears to be becoming even more attractive, in fact, to older workers who are looking for greater autonomy, increased job security, and a way to continue generating positive cash flow into their retirement years.

Not everybody, however, is cut out to be an entrepreneur.  The failure rate of most small businesses is actually quite staggering — hovering somewhere between the 80 and 90 percent range — which experts say is largely due to a high level of naivete about what it really takes to launch and sustain an independent business from the ground up.  If you’re considering being your own boss, therefore, it’s important that you go the extra mile to make sure you have a realistic understanding of the challenges involved and that your personality is well-suited to this type of career adventure.

Luckily, there are hundreds of resources out there that can guide you through this process and help you determine if you’re cut from entrepreneurial cloth.  One of our favorites is a local website hosted by Paul Casey, founder of Casey Communications and author of the book “Is Self-Employment For You?”  On his website at www.caseycommunications.net, Mr. Casey makes a wealth of relevant resources available, including a helpful (and free) questionnaire that will help you evaluate whether your personality lends itself well to the entrepreneurial challenge.  In fact, in a display of tremendous courage and humility, Mr. Casey even publishes his own score (he barely passed!) in order to put the questionnaire in context and underscore how important certain personal qualities are to successful business ownership.

So if the potential of business ownership has crossed your mind, and might be an avenue you seriously consider in the near or distant future, do yourself a favor and check out this resource.  Mr. Casey’s questionnaire will be a great starting point, and if you like the author’s style as much as we do, we’d recommend that you dig a little deeper into the site and actually order a copy of his book!

Entrepreneurial Networking Groups

Despite the fact that we’re Bellevue Chamber of Commerce members, ourselves, we still have trouble keeping up with all of the great resources and events that this organization sponsors within the Eastside community.  For example, in a recent perusal of the Chamber’s September newsletter, we noted that they are now hosting several very focused, niche networking groups that we feel might be of tremendous interest to many of our clients.  These groups include:

•  Entrepreneurial Roundtable: Meets regularly to allow entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, and small business owners to network and discuss ideas/strategies for ongoing business success.
•  Chief Executives Program: An exclusive series designed to help integrate senior-level executives and their spouses into the Seattle/Bellevue community.
•  Young Executives Program: A yearlong peer group series that allows up-and-coming local professionals (2-8 years of experience) to build their network, hone their leadership skills, and receive mentoring from seasoned senior managers in the Puget Sound area.

While the Chamber hasn’t yet updated their website with detailed information on each of these groups, you can find out more about them by visiting www.bellevuechamber.org, clicking on the “About Us” link, clicking on “Newsletters”, and then reading page two of their September newsletter — which you’ll find available in Adobe Acrobat format.  Also, if you’re interested in these types of programs but don’t live in the Bellevue/Redmond area, we’d encourage you to contact your local Chamber of Commerce to see if they might offer similar types of groups!

Book Review: The Four-Hour Workweek (Timothy Ferriss)

Agree or not with the author’s radical points of view about life, careers, and how to go about the pursuit of happiness, this is a fascinating book — and one that will expose you to 300 pages of the most thought-provoking material you’re likely to have read in quite some time!

Simply put, Tim Ferriss believes that 99.9% of all American citizens are allowing fear, outdated social norms, and the illusion of deferred happiness (someday I’ll have everything I need to be satisfied) to limit their lives to a pale shadow of their true possibility.  He maintains that an emerging class of people called the “New Rich” are finding creative ways to free themselves of these old shackles and live out their dreams now, instead of postponing them until later, simply by redefining their priorities and learning to manipulate today’s business climate to their financial advantage.  As a case in point, the author himself gives a step-by-step account of how he’s managed to fund the globe-hopping lifestyle of his dreams and accomplish virtually every goal he’s set out to achieve — including speaking six languages, becoming a competitive tango dancer, and being crowned as the Chinese national kickboxing champion — all based on a business model he’s created that requires less than four hours per week to sustain.

Sound crazy?  I thought so, too, at first.  But you’ll be surprised at how incredibly lucid and sensible many of the book’s recommendations are compared to all of the other “get rich quick” schemes that have been written about out there.  Love him or hate him, Tim Ferriss clearly represents a unique brand of entrepreneurial genius, and this book gives an incredibly detailed road map of how individuals can replicate his lifestyle for themselves, if desired, using techniques that range from outsourcing many of one’s personal responsibilities overseas to leveraging modern contract manufacturing methods to become a millionaire with a minimum of personal investment.  But just to clarify, and despite what some critics have maintained, this book doesn’t (in my opinion) glamorize or celebrate the pursuit of money alone as a meaningful end in its own right.  The heart and soul of the book, I believe, is its dogmatic insistence that conquering the challenge of making money — and living paycheck to paycheck — simply gives one the freedom to devote their time to more useful, enriching purposes in life.

Is the author’s path the right one for everybody?  Absolutely not.  As you’ll quickly realize by reading through the hundreds of on-line commentaries that are buzzing about this book, many people have pointed out a number of significant contradictions, inconsistencies, and ethical issues that arise from the “Four-Hour Work Week” philosophy.  Has Mr. Ferriss confused a lucky break with true business brilliance?  Does his lifestyle work for somebody with family obligations to consider?  Is it truly ethical to exploit loopholes and farm out work to poorer countries simply to feather one’s own nest?  These are all valid questions and ones that you’ll have to weigh, yourself, after reading the work.  And yet, objectively speaking, I’d still argue that it represents an important contribution to the emerging dialogue around work/life balance and is a tour de force in terms of the career and business genre — therefore making it a worthy read for anybody looking for some refreshing, paradigm-challenging material!

Book Review: Escaping Corporate America (Pamela Skillings)

Wow, does this book have a title that’s timely, or what? Given some of the recent turbulence taking place in the corporate world, and the sense that the traditional employment scene isn’t as stable or “safe” as it used to be, quite a few people we encounter are starting to look around for another option — and a way to make a living that’s much more aligned with their passions, values, and interests.

This book is essentially a manifesto on this topic, packed with compelling reasons for why people should consider moving beyond a typical 8-to-5 job role and should look, instead, to self-employment or alternative employment scenarios. Riddled with interesting facts, packed with motivational quotes, and chock-full of “escapee” case studies involving people who have broken away from the rat race, this book is definitely one of the more impressive books I’ve come across in the career-change genre. It not only does a great job of cataloging some of the limitations of traditional employment today, but also provides numerous fresh insights for how to go about the process of facing your fears — and having the courage to do something truly original with your life and your career.

At the same time, two minor criticisms I have of the book are that it becomes a little bit redundant near the end (kind of like a movie that goes on 20 minutes too long) and also, in my opinion, seems overly optimistic about the ability of the average person to pursue a non-traditional job avenue. While there’s no question that many people crave the opportunity to combine their personal passions with their professional endeavors, not everybody is willing (or able) to make this tradeoff at the expense of a steady paycheck or access to reliable health care benefits. Corporate America still does have some advantages over the adventures of working in a freelance or entrepreneurial capacity, after all, and unless this upcoming election leads to shockingly profound changes in the marketplace, the vast majority of people will continue to work for traditional companies, not for themselves. As a result, they’ll have to learn to navigate the challenges of office politics, inept managers, and all of the other irritants that will continue to arise when large groups of people work elbow-to-elbow on a daily basis. Unfortunate, yes, but let’s not fall into the trap of viewing traditional corporate jobs as cruel and unusual punishment. After all, most “corporate” jobs in America are still light years more tolerable and rewarding than the options available in the vast majority of places around the world!

So all in all, Escaping Corporate America is an intriguing body of work, and despite the few minor wrinkles above it offers a robust mix of anecdotes, information, and inspiration to get people to “think big” and go after that dream job or career they’ve been coveting. So if you’re looking for a little nudge to push you out of your employment comfort zone, this book might be just the ticket!