When I was a kid, I would visit my grandparents' longhouse almost every school holiday. A river ran along the front of the house and every evening all the kids living in the area would jump in and swim a storm in the tan water. Except for me. I grew up in town and I had a colourful floater. After a while I began to notice that the only children who couldn't swim were toddlers. I talked it over with my dad, but he was adamant about my swimming experience: You can't go into the river without your floater.
By and by I grew up and decided to pay a professional instructor to teach me how to swim. I swam alright; badly. My best friends congratulated me for having flailed from one end of the pool to the other. A natural activity to the longhouse children was, and is still, a stressful one for me.
Life is like that in a lot of ways. We have all manner of subjects being taught in learning institutions now: commerce, art, business relations, political sciences, medicine, engineering and quite a few other fields I have to look up in a dictionary. In addition to that are the host of seminars and training centers that cover different areas of the same subject. All this is well and good, especially since improved access to information and education means improved opportunity for all of us.
Everything we learned help us know the right ways for doing something right. Yet like the little kid stuck with a floater, some of us are in the water and we think we are swimming, but we are actually not. Let me explain.
Notice how some people do so well working in a large company, but then fail when they try to start their own business. Sometimes we excel in an organization because we are good at handling one aspect of the business. At times we get to be so good the next natural step would be to think about starting a business.
Which in itself is a valiant endeavor, especially since entrepreneurship is what keeps the market free. However, the fact of the matter is a great accountant does not make a great salesperson. In the same way, a great salesperson does not make a great administrator. The specialized skill that these people had accumulated over their working life is a product of the “Division of Labor”. A valuable asset to an organization, but not the only skill required to run a business.
At times, the very attitude that makes you successful in your career may actually hinder you when you start a business. For example, an accountant is meticulous and is trained to look out for extra information that will either support or reject a claim (no matter how small). Such individuals may get so swamped in paper that they ignore the marketing part of their business once they start getting customers. Then there is the outgoing (mostly Sales) type who read a handful of articles on starting a business and decides that entrepreneurship is meant for him. He jumps in with his savings, but flounders under the weight of statutory paperwork.
A major reason why some people are successful in their career is because they enjoy a particular portion of their work that others would consider tedious or meaningless. It is this very attention to detail or long-drawn socializing sessions that made them prosperous. An entrepreneur, however, will need to be able to focus on the business as a whole. He must be able to see his vision and be willing to work all aspects of the business to manifest that vision. That means planning.
A well thought out plan is like a map that will lead you to your destination. As you move along the plains of your industry, you must carry your vision with you because that is your compass. During the journey, you will have to take on multiple roles to ensure that you stay healthy and strong as you trek to your destination. That means building shelter, finding wood, cooking, interacting with the locals, avoiding dangerous animals, knowing what plants are edible etc. That's the price you pay for going solo; you can't only do what you are good at.
How do you make the journey less hazardous? One way would be to pick an activity that you enjoy. Then find out what other skills you need to acquire to make the business work. Depending on your time and budget constrains, you can then decide to either learn the skill or to pay someone else to do the job.
For example, I love writing. I enjoy exploring new ideas and doing research work. Hence I decided I want to become a fulltime writer. (Yes, this is a business, because I plan to sell my work.) It was not easy sailing the whole way. There were a lot of things about the industry I didn't understand and quite a few more things to learn even now.
In fact, one of the most difficult activity for me was self-promotion. I have an administrative and customer service background, but nothing on marketing. Worst of all, I am a perfectionist. It was really hard to convince myself, that it is alright to show people that I am human once in a while. But market myself, I must; so I got a domain name and started to publish my work in the internet. (If you are having problems getting a domain name you like, you can check out GDI to see if they still have any available.
Going your own way, living the life you want and creating the things you care about is an exhilarating experience. I recommend it to everyone.
I also recommend that you draw out a plan before you begin your venture. Find out what you know, what you need to know and how you will get what you need. Then, go out and do your thing.
Planning will save you a lot of heartache. You may survive the journey without a solid plan and reach your destination, but you may be so scarred that all you can think of is how to get out from the venture you started.
Remember, being a great careerist does not equal being a great entrepreneur. But if you must be an entrepreneur plan your trip way ahead of time. This will help you accumulate the survival skill, people and materials you need to reach your destination. Reach your goal with your self-esteem firmly in place; after all you did the free market a great favor by being you
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