Are you ready to rock? If not go back to your business as usual lives and mundane 9 to 5 jobs – but if you’re making rock fingers and saying “H-E double hockey sticks yeah!!” then join the entrepreneur’s revolution and let’s get started!
So I don’t know if you’ve heard but we’re finally fighting our way out of this recession many thought would end an entire culture… but we’re still far from out of the woods. So where does this leave the bad A** entrepreneur? The business rock star who desperately wants to create freedom and fulfillment in their life by bucking conventional wisdom and escaping the 9 to 5?
It leaves you with more opportunity than ever, that’s where. Think about it, during the recession all of the fakers, the momma’s boys (and girls) who barely cut it in business (during a great economy mind you) completely failed as the recession grew worse. All the so-called ‘real estate agents’ and ‘independent business owners’ are gone unless they were witty enough to outsmart an economic down turn. Those who are left and those who are just starting have a huge advantage… you can learn from other’s mistakes as well as dominate in a market purged of the mediocre.
How to become a rock star entrepreneur in the new economy
- Look at what everyone else is doing and do the opposite. Only 5% of businesses are like Apple or Spanx, constantly re-inventing themselves and staying ahead of the curve. Thus the chances are you can look around in your industry and see what the ‘standard’ is… then run as far from it as possible. Examples: are you getting into the cellular phone business (God bless you heart)? Why not try being the ONE cell phone company that doesn’t suck and ostracize its customers? Bucking the conventional wisdom and actually treating your customer’s with respect instead of trying to gorge each one from more profits will make you WILDLY successful, heck I’ll shop with you!
- Do your due diligence, then rock out. It boggles my mind how many emails and offers I get from would be entrepreneurs with a product pitch, yet once I’ve investigated a little more I realize that this FULLY designed product had absolutely no market research behind it. Instead the creator had caught the ‘great idea bug’ and began building. Now I push taking fast action – but the one caveat is that you must do your due diligence before jumping into something – DUH. Just because you think it’s a great idea or a killer product doesn’t mean there is a market for it – remember we are coming out of a terrible recession, if you build it they won’t come anymore – you have to make sure they are coming, then build a product fit for that niche.
- Figure out the best and worst case scenarios. Whenever I start a new business I always look at the best possible scenario and the worst case. Example: Oracle Launch will either take off to the point where I am pulling in excesses of $40k a month in profit OR I’ll go bust pursuing my dream of having a profitable company that changes the way businesses interact with their market. Then I look at the best and worst case scenarios if I had gotten a ‘normal’ job out of college with an English degree in this economy. I could maybe be a teacher, junior editor or newspaper writer (because that is a career that’ll last!). Best case: I’d climb the corporate ladder and in five to ten years land a cushy job I liked – then work it for the next 25 years until retirement (if I was so lucky to land with a company that didn’t fade into ambiguity). Worst case: I’d make 20k a year for a few years, barely scraping by, hating my job only to get fired when the company went bust or ‘down-sized’ and then have to start the whole vicious cycle over again – a little older, a little angrier and a lot less idealistic. Weighing the odds of both (considering as an entrepreneur I only have to rely on myself- not some ridiculous, antiquated corporate exec.) what do you think was the better choice? If you really think I should have struck out in the worst job market in 50 years then email me and tell me what a fool I was at marenkate{at}gmail{dot}com.
- Stop grouching it up Oscar. Remember Oscar the grouch? My very favorite Sesame Street character, Oscar had an attitude and didn’t care who got the brunt end of it. He complained non-stop and lived in a trashcan (most people think ‘can you blame him?’) but even as a kid I always wondered why Oscar didn’t just get out of that trash can and try to do something with his Muppet life? Yes, now I realize Oscar never left because he didn’t have legs and he was just a trash can puppet, but back then I really wondered – why would anyone, even a grouch, decide to live in squalor their whole life and just bitch about it. You can at least try and fail forward? So if you are like Oscar, or know an Oscar – it’s time to stop bitching and start acting. You can crawl out of your trashcan too; it may be your job, your bad relationship or your path in life. It’ll be hard, but it’ll be worth it. I’d rather live free in a tent with a few cold sammies (Read: sandwiches) then live in a mansion being oppressed at work 24/7. So no more complaining, it’s time to at least try to improve your situation – and the best way I know is by escaping the 9 to 5 and becoming an extraordinary entrepreneur.
- Be a secret snob. Andrew Carnegie, one of this countries’ biggest entrepreneurial success stories in many ways, talked often about having a secret sense of superiority. This didn’t mean being rude to wait staff (a cardinal sin in my book) or turning your nose up at those ‘below you’. Instead it meant looking at the traditional rules and edicts in your industry and saying “hmm.. yeah, those are for ordinary people, since I’m above that I’ll just make my own”. I do this all the time – when I go into a business, restaurant or store I think “hmm.. how would I make X better if I was in charge” – this is what makes me unemployable by the way. Then I go home and apply those changes to my own business in one form or another. Being a secret snob means you can meet your competition, a guy who is FAR more successful and “better” than you are right now and think “watch out buddy, in a few short years I’m going to have your business for breakfast because I’ll buck the conventional wisdom and soar to the top”.
- Go with your gut. What’s that your gut is telling you right now about the business you are preparing to start? Is it all gurgly? Well then that’s probably just indigestion – invest in some pepto. But if it’s more than last night’s casserole, take a step back and get in tune with your intuition. Famous entrepreneurs like Donald Trump, Steve Jobs and Walt Disney have all relied on their gut instincts heavily throughout their careers. Best way to do this in my opinion is to read a lot, to spend at least 15 minutes a day in silence with a pen and paper to capture all thoughts then whenever your gut is right, praise it like a puppy.
- Nothing is new under the sun, some things are just more sparkly. Whether you are starting an umbrella business or a firm specializing in aerospace engineering nothing you do is going to be brand new under the sun, but some things are far more sparkly than others. So try to find a purple cow & while you are trying to be reinvent the wheel remember to also be sparkly. Because there may be a chance someone else does what you do, but if you do it better, faster, radder or hotter you’ll win, and win big.
Do you have what it takes?
Often I wonder of the people who read my blog, how many of you really have what it takes – I hope (for the record) every single person that reads my ramblings has ridiculous drive, an over comer’s spirit and the entrepreneurial fire. If you do then I implore you, no more waiting around, the time is now.. you aren’t getting any younger.
Jump into entrepreneurship headfirst, take the tools above and become an entrepreneurial rock star – don’t take no for an answer and if you fail, be sure to fail forward. I think if you’ve read this far it’s pretty obvious you aren’t like most people and we entrepreneurs are a different breed, so embrace that quirkiness, chase your dreams, start acting on your passion – it is time to rock out in this new economy, grab your destiny by the horns and make it say “Uncle!!”.
Action Items:
>Email me and tell me “Yes! I too am an entrepreneurial Rock Star” and we’ll have an online hug fest.
>Check out Dan Kennedy’s “No B.S. Guide to Business Success in the New Economy” book. It’s inspiring, funny and will rock your world if you are a true entrepreneurial spirit.
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