Avoiding the Entrepreneurial Seizure
How many of you began thinking about starting a business after a friend or relative said something like, “Oh, you’re so good at (insert activity/hobby/skill here). You should go into business!”
Or, maybe your co-workers stood around the water cooler, bemoaning the state of office affairs and someone said, “The Bossman doesn’t know what he’s doing. Dammit, if I had a place like this, I’d… Hey, you know what? We should start our own business!”
Go on. Don’t be afraid to raise your hand. I’m sure you’ve heard such things at one time or another.
How many of you have acted on it? How many of you thought it sounded like a great idea, that you knew plenty about X activity/hobby/skill, or that you did know better than The Bossman. There was no reason why you couldn’t go into business for yourself! After all, how hard could it be?
This is No Stroke of Genius
This is a mental stroke. This is what the author Michael E. Gerber of the E Myth Revisited calls an Entrepreneurial Seizure.
You’re suddenly all jazzed up and ready to go.
You’ve got a plan! You’re going to have the Best Business Ever! You’re on the top of the world, and you can do anything now that you’ve freed yourself from the rat race to forge your own path. Best of all, you’re going to make money!
Well, someone get the nitroglycerin tablets because once reality sets in, you’re in for a shock.
The Fatal Assumption
Before you jump off that cliff and try out your new wings, stop and consider what Gerber calls the Fatal Assumption.
For most of your life, you have been working, just like a bee. You’ve been busy in the hive collecting pollen, building cells, taking care of the Queen and doing your job while upper management does what they have to do.
You know how it goes – it’s the same in every person’s life. Whether you’re a graphic designer, a secretary or a production line worker, you’re doing the work that helps produce a company’s products.
The Bossman may not know how to do any of the work you do – he’s busy doing his job. But that’s why he hired you to begin with, wasn’t it? He couldn’t do it all by himself; he’s got his own work to do, work that you don’t know anything about.
That’s the point right there: You have never learned how to run a business.
You have no idea what’s involved with the inner workings of accounting, production schedules, billing, shipping, ordering supplies… There are people who specialize in those areas, each with their own jobs to do. Right?
On Your Own
When you go into business, be ready. There won’t be anyone to go out and find the jobs for you. There won’t be anyone marketing. No sales representative. No payroll department. None. You’ll have to find a way to do all that yourself.
You’ll have to do everything before you start to write or design for a client. Oh, and you have to find enough time in only 24 hours to do it.
Gerber says, “The technical work of a business and a business that does that technical work are two totally different things”
Makes sense now, doesn’t it?
How to Avoid an Entrepreneurial Seizure
Right from day one in business, you have to separate yourself from your job. This is not the first day of your new job. This is the first day of starting a business.
You may have to do some of the technical work in the beginning, but keep in mind that this work should be temporary. You need a method to teach others what you do and exactly how you want it done.
James is fond of using MacDonald’s as an analogy lately (Thank you, Mr. Gerber. All readers, see Chapter 7 of the E-Myth Revisited). The example is a good one. The founder of MacDonald’s didn’t want to spend his life flipping burgers.
No. He wanted to make money and have an easier life. So do you, or else you wouldn’t be starting your own business.
McDonalds has a perfect system that teaches every owner and worker in each of the franchises exactly how to run that business to perfection. Visit any MacDonald’s in any part of the world – that burger tastes the same in Paris as it does in Arizona.
Does This Sound Familiar Yet?
James and I went through being the technicians in our business. We worked like dogs at every job and task that came across our plates, and we did so on our own. We knew that was no way to live, and we’re telling you now:
Working like a dog is no way to live.
Thankfully, we already knew where we were going with our business and we’d prepared properly. You need to prepare too.
When you’re starting your new business, don’t rush. Plan to grow beyond just you. Go ahead and keep that inspirational fire, sure, but don’t let it sweep you away into some crazy ride you can’t get off.
Remember that you’re not starting a new job. You’re here to build a new business.
20 Responses to “Avoiding the Entrepreneurial Seizure”
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Hmm, that’s real food for thought Harry. Not at all like a Big Mac.
Gary Fletcher – Write Scribes last blog post..How to Reach Your Goals Immediately
Indeed. I’m already working on outsourcing my SEO copywriting, it’s just getting in the way of me scaling my business.
Sell burgers, people – don’t flip ‘em forever.
Dave Navarros last blog post..Why I Love This DVD And Will Not Be Buying It (Sorry, Havi)
It’s something that beginners and seasoned owners alike have trouble with: you can either be working IN your business or ON your business. Each one will keep you from the other, but only if you work ON your business will you realize its growth potential.
It’s like any love relationship. First you’re infatuated and giddy, then, hopefully, you settle in with more depth.
Betsys last blog post..PROCEEDS
Amen. Without any sort of plan, there is no business.
I was shoved into my business when I found myself walked out the door. My firing was not totally unexpected – I’d begun cleaning out my desk a month before as the writing on the wall was coming into focus. It was then I took my first steps toward building my business – I compiled a list of key contacts I’d had over those 3 1/2 years as editor. It was those people who were going to be my first clients should I find myself on the outside looking in. Even then, fully employed, I had my business plan started.
The biggest mistake writers at all levels make is to market only when they’re idle. It’s when you’re busiest that you need to be marketing the most. That helps eliminate idle time later. I’ve been known to juggle four projects in the same week and line up two more for the following weeks. Call me crazy, but this little change-up in my business plan has allowed me to double my income over last year.
Loris last blog post..When You’re Out of the Office
@Lori: too bad I didn’t have that much of a client base when I started. And it’s an uphill battle starting fresh and looking for clients.
It’s been a trial-and-error method for me (as with other things). Good thing writing doesn’t need that much of an investment as compared to other types of businesses. It’s all good, though. I still have my sanity and optimism to hold me together.
Great post as always, Harry.
Cedrics last blog post..How to Write With Personality (And What You Can Learn from Ozzy Osbourne About It)
Having had three businesses (two I still own…one of them marketing support for solopreneurs), I can say that it is NOT enough to have industry-specific skills. That’s the easy part.
But the organization, time management accounting, and marketing know- how, those are crucial to your success.
And delegating. That can be a hard thing for solos and indies to do because they are so darned stubborn, and self-sufficient.
I so, agree, Harry: “Working like a dog is no way to live.”
We are fed by society’s vision of the “entrepreneurial dream.” It’s easy in the beginning to lose sight of planning your business so eventually you are doing what you should be doing managing and growing it.
Very insightful post.
Judy Dunns last blog post..Conversational Marketing on the Web: You Talkin’ to Me?
@Gary: But is it better than a Big Mac?
@Dave: It’s funny, after reading that book James and I see what level of development other entrepreneurs are in. What’s even more interesting, we can look at these folks and say “Yeah, we went through that too.”
It took me a while to wrap my head around the outsourcing idea, but I think it’s easier for writers to do than it is for graphics people. The main shift in thinking comes when you realize your business *is* the business, and it’s up to you to find a way to free yourself up so you can help your business grow.
@Betsy: It’s exactly like that. For the first few months you’re on this high “Oh! I’m FREE! I’m da Boss! No one’s telling me what to do or how to do it…” and then reality sets in and it’s “Now what do I do exactly?”
@Lori: You’ve hit on a good point. You can’t wait for the slow times to get more business, that will just prolong the agony of wandering the desert with no water. The only way to avoid a drought is to plan ahead and schedule your projects with enough lead time so you’re not swamped and you have a small break to catch your breath and keep the projects coming in.
@Cedric: I was thinking about overhead the other night myself. Whether it’s writing or graphics on the web, you’re not producing a physical object you’ll need to keep in stock. However, there’s other expenses. If you don’t have the right tools, equipment and programs, you’re going to have to make a small investments (or sometimes not so small – those graphics programs are killer on the budget) to start and then stay ahead of your competition.
@Judy: True, a person starting out has to know much more than the actual skill it takes to make the product. If you don’t know how to do accounting, you’ll either have to learn or hire someone who knows what they’re doing. I would still advise learning what you don’t know, just in case you have to do it for yourself one day (cross training is very useful). At least you’ll be able to get by in a pinch until you find a replacement.
I also think that the Entrepreneurial Dream is the new “American Dream” (Or Canadian Dream, or Australian Dream). Instead of the perfect house with the 2.5 kids and the white picket fence, people dream of financial independence. I believe anyone can do it if they have a plan and stay focused.
Outsourcing has a bad and unnecessary rap. Another way to think of it is to switch mindsets to partnership relations with other people who can help you create and build your business, then grow it without boundaries.
One thought I’ll add – it doesn’t matter whether you have a product-based or service-based business: You are not your business product.
A designer/writer/whatever has to quit thinking, “GASP! My DESIGN! My WORDS! My CREATIVITY!” and get down to the fact that the person is running a business whose end product is a great design, nice piece of content or hour of snappy consultation. THAT is the business and its product. The person running it isn’t.
Hey Harry,
I never came into freelance writing expecting the “entrepreneurial dream”. In fact, if I could freelance *without* the obligatory business side, I’d be a very happy man. Are there such things as copywriter agents?
You’re right about Ray Kroc. I don’t think he wanted to be in the burger business at all, not per se. He came across the operation and saw a way to make it profitable and expandable. And these are the people with real entrepreneurial vision — they don’t care what they are selling so much as *how* they are selling it.
In fact falling in love with your product makes you less effective, I think.
~Graham
@ Graham – In that case, your business would be more about offering white-label products to wholesalers. You write, they handle the rest. Partner with people who have many clients – you deal with one client, they deal with all the others.
You still have a business and have to think entrepreneurially. The trick is creating partnerships that let you do more of what you love and less of what you don’t love. Trust me, there are people that LOVE the management/administration/negotiation side (*raises hand*) and don’t want to do so much of the work on the project itself.
For Ray Kroc, he actually *loved* his product. He didn’t want to make the burgers, but he loved each one passionately and wanted to make that burger the best it could be. So he cared very much about what he was selling – he had to, so that he could sell it well and confidently.
That’s why I disagree that you shouldn’t fall in love with your product. If you aren’t in love, you’ll never make people buy it. You have to believe beyond a doubt that this product is the damned best.
@James – I see what you are saying about falling in love with your product — I guess it’s a slippery slope. Personally I think you absolutely have to believe in your product, but falling in love is a different thing.
Back when I used to read Writer’s Digest, I heard over and over about what to do if an editor requested changes to the story/novel/whatever. Some writers got offended by the notion. “Take it or leave it! I ain’t changin’ a word… It’s my vision, my passion, my baby!” they’d scream. Of course the editors would leave it.
I think this is a great example of falling in love with your product and not getting it sold. If you can make yourself objective while still believing in it, you are more likely to take crucial advice to heart, and see the path to selling it.
As for Ray Kroc, yes, he likely loved his burgers in a certain way. But if he had seen the potential in a hot dog stand while selling his shake mixers, he would have loved his hot dogs instead. As you say, he wasn’t out to build the best burger. I think instead he was out to build the best burger joint (and he certainly succeeded based on number of stores worldwide). In other words, he was out to find the best way to sell burgers, not necessarily make them.
Maybe that’s the difference: whether your first love is selling it or making it.
Gets back to the whole arteeste argument we’ve had here before, doesn’t it? Freelance writer — just a more specific way to say “entrepreneurial artist”.
~Graham
Graham Strongs last blog post..The Art of Perception (Part II): If You Hear Hooves…
@ Graham – If you love something, let it go. And that’s why I believe those who say, “WHAT?! Edit my work? Oh no no no, I ain’t changing a THING!” don’t love their work.
If they did, they’d want it to be the best it could be.
Unfortunately, they associate their work as themselves. They don’t see, “Change this word.” They see someone saying they aren’t good enough. The only defense is to refuse to change and say they’re perfect. So… not love. Fear.
(Cripes, I’m getting way too philosophical.)
Ray Croc: Disagree still. He wasn’t looking for the best way to sell. He was looking fort he best, most efficient method of taking a great product and making money off it long-term in the most effective way possible.
As for freelancers, there are a whack of them out there that don’t have an ounce of entrepreneur penchant. And if they truly only want to create art, nothing but… well, that’s not business, then, is it?
“Remember that you’re not starting a new job. You’re here to build a new business.”
Indeed.
Some folks get so excited about not having to work for the “Man” anymore and being their own boss, but then they end up working more hours than ever before as they lose control of their enterprise and find that their customers are their new boss.
Clarity of focus is essential here.
Jesse Hiness last blog post..Reasons Your Business Should Hire a Professional Writer
@Harry – Your food for thought is way better than a Big Mac.
Gary Fletcher – Write Scribes last blog post..One Way to Rescue Lost Writing
@Gary – WHAT??? A Big Mac isn’t real food? Lord, my day is ruined now.
Urban Panthers last blog post..There is no Alice in the kitchen
Some points come to mind reading this wise counsel:
1. Didn’t Ray Kroc once say, “We’re not in the burger business, we’re in the real estate business?” Take away: What you are in business for may be different than what you are offering your target market. Stop and think about the larger picture of your business.
2. “Work ON your business not IN your business” has become a meaningless cliche to many business owners. What the heck does it mean. Here’s an actionable version of that old chestnut: Operate your business to sell it. What I mean is that, even if you don’t ever plan on selling your company, set it up so that it can be sold. This will guide your thinking and decisions every step of the way–accounting systems, delivery systems, marketing, selling–AND the necessity of having people besides you in the business. Plus, why not plan to sell it? After all, you will put in enormous amounts of time and energy into building a successful enterprise–why not have it be part of your equity portfolio or a significant part of your retirement plan? Build to sell….it works.
3. Outsourcing is without question the way to go. I started my marketing company (4rmarketing.com) in 2004 and hit the ceiling of my own limitations very quickly. My ability to break the 6 figure revenue line before the end of 2006 had a lot to do with outsourcing parts of the business. BUT BUT BUT…DO NOT outsource pieces of the business without knowing something about them first. If you “dump” something in the business on someone else because you simply want to avoid it, you are asking for trouble. You might need to keep your own books for a while, or write your own autoresponders–that way, you will have a better understanding of a) the skills sets you need for outsourcing assignments, b) how to articulate your needs and expectations, and c) how to manage the outsourcer on an ongoing basis.
4. Caveat Entrepreneur: It’s easy for those of us who have built successfull freelancing, free agent, or solo pro businesses to warn against getting bogged down in operations, working long hours, etc. But if you reread Harry’s post, you will notice that he said, “James and I went through being the technicians in our business. We worked like dogs at every job and task that came across our plates, and we did so on our own…” I did the same for the first year of 4R’s existence–and I had owned my own company before! I knew what to expect! I believe that it is natural for a new business owner of any business to go through an intense “apprenticeship” period–if you are in the midst of such a period right now, don’t beat yourself up. It’s okay. But follow Harry’s counsel, and know that you need to limit your apprenticeship period. Do, plan, whatever is needed to make sure that you move on to true mastery of your business as soon as possible.
Whew! Harry, you sparked my brain!!!
Trish Lambert
Success in Sweatpants
(Helping freelancers and free agents get more money and time than they ever thought possible!)
Trish Lamberts last blog post..Something’s Happening Here
Harry, a great post with incredible words of wisdom. I can remember reaching a point in my own business where I said “You’ve created a job, good for you now let’s create a business!” I had business knowledge but still got caught in that trap of chasing the wrong thing and getting far too involved in working in rather than on the business. I hope that others will take your wise counsel and avoid that trap.
@Trish: Thanks for the insightful comment, it was like a mini-post all on its own. I agree there’s no avoiding the apprenticeship phase, no matter what you’re going to have to go through it, but like you said you have to know when to stop and start delegating to someone else.
@Karen: I think I’m still in a transitional phase between “job” and “business”. James is a little more advanced because he’s had more time to go through this with the writing side of things. Since only Charlie and I do graphics, I still have to be down in the boiler room. On the one hand my head is telling me to think business wide, but on the other I still have jobs to do.
Harry, the nice thing is to be able to share that journey with others.
I am so glad I’m not off somewhere toiling alone trying to figure it out. I can click on a post, tweet a question or just feel not so alone here on the interwebs. Thank you for being a part of that!
Karen Swims last blog post..A Design for a New Day
@Urban Panther – Sorry to spoil your day. But I haven’t eaten a Big Mac in a loooong time. Last time I did, I don’t remember seeing any panthers in the restaurant, though.
Gary Fletcher – Write Scribes last blog post..One Way to Rescue Lost Writing