Are you one of the people that would far rather be trying out something new rather than refurbishing an old one? Like a skill, a project, a website. I suspect that’s typical of many, and even more so of those that head out into the land of self-employment and entrepreneurial endeavors.  Unless you’re a flipping something like houses or .coms  sooner or later you’re going to have to revamp what you’ve done and keep repeating the process.

I’ve hit that stage on a few things and it’s hard to believe that a website I sweated over two years ago, getting it just they way I wanted it, is now outdated and needs to be revamped.  Truth is, it should have been done at least six months ago.  It doesn’t really matter how much I did or didn’t put into it, customers don’t know and generally don’t care – I’m sure a few would be sympathetic but not to the point of buying!

The trick is not to see it as broken, or in need of repair but rather necessary maintenance that keeps everything moving forward at optimal speed, if not the left most lane than at least somewhere in the middle.  It really is as important as tackling something new and exciting – at least that’s what I’ll be telling myself this weekend:-)

Technorati Tags: entrepreneurship, getting things done

Twice now in the last few weeks I’ve heard Jean Chatzky, the perky financial guru on the Today Show, refer potential entrepreneurs to S.C.O.R.E as the one stop shop for advice on starting a business.  I’ve winced each time and since I’m trying to pay attention to these kinds of repeating signals, here goes.

It’s not that hard to see why she would point people to this organization, it’s free, it’s not affiliated with any company, and it’s national. It’s an easy, seemingly helpful reference. I sought advice there several years ago and would certainly not tell someone not to try it out – it ‘s just that the people I met with and the advice I got was so contrary to getting a business off the ground, I’m still stunned.  It’s one of those organizations that has the best of intentions, but the counselors are retired business people, mostly from large corporations that succeeded by and large by playing it safe and having hit retirement age were even less risk-inclined. Not to mention they had all come from  pre-Internet businesses.  Not only has the world changed but if I’d gotten all the possible liability insurance that was being recommended for a craft business I’d still be saving up.  Insurance is a good thing but it often can’t be in the first year’s budget unless you can’t open without it.  When I looked around I found my same experiences echoed by others which I wish I could have known back then. What I should have done was gone to the street and talked to business owners, but that was scary and making a private appointment seemed a safer way to admit my ignorance.  It was entirely too safe.

My point here isn’t to knock the SCORE organization, it’s just to point out that often the most referenced advice isn’t what you need to hear and you should always go in with a large bag of salt.  I got so scared by the advice I was given I didn’t make any progress for a couple of years; convinced that I had to have all these things in place before I could start selling. Strangely my state tax organization was less conservative!

Whatever kind of challenge you are looking at, keep digging for other, less common resources.  Find the people that match the profile of who you want to be and see where they got advice in the last five years.  And keep peeling away the layers until you find what works. Advice may put more steps in the plan – there’s no good way to avoid medical school if you want to be a doctor, but it shouldn’t blur the pathway so that you can’t see what you need to do to accomplish the goal.  Helpful people are lovely to behold but sometimes become a hindrance.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneurship

A few years back I left a job in a company that I had come to regard as running a kind of legal shell game.  My former manager just looked at me and said he was surprised that it took me that long.  That’s kind of how I’m feeling now – what the heck has taken me so long to get to this point?  Yes, things take longer than I ever anticipate; I’m starting to see a pattern of what I think will happen in a week will actually happen in a month with diligence. That’s definitely a part of it.  But there’s also something to that nagging feeling of not being enough – not knowledgeable enough, not skilled enough, etc.

Now that entrepreneurship is suddenly fashionable again and in the news I’m starting to see that I’ve  unconsciously tried to play both sides of that fence and consequently ended up on top of it.  Nobody can really teach you how to be an explorer.  By it’s very nature, it’s heading into new territory. But those are the people that I’d really like to hang out with and I’ve come to the point where I would far rather fail from trying than waiting for something to happen.  So… rather than waiting I’m going to order the essential supplies I need to make my line of sea glass jewelry.  I emphasize essential because as soon as I sit down with the supply catalog I find things that would be extremely useful but when I really evaluate are not critical right this minute.  I don’t know why I think I can’t place a second order if it turns out I can’t get along with out it.

While I thought I’d be ready to start advertising my bread baking enterprise this week, I’m not – but I am ready to start next week.  My business cards came in and I’ve got the paper to print fliers. I’ve run a test run of multiple batches of dough so I feel more confident and I’ve started calling to find out when real-estate agents will be in the office.  Nothing more to do except do it!

Now I have to head off into the unknown territory of setting up online purchasing for jewelry and photography. I’ve put it off because I don’t know where to start.  Anywhere will do – time to learn and explore and ask questions.

Technorati Tags: career changes, entrepreneurship, Health and Happiness, self confidence, solopreneur, taking risks, the way to happiness