From unemployed to entrepreneur- is now the time?
I was speaking at a MISSION:shiftYYC event earlier this week, helping participants recognize when they were sabotaging themselves and how to turn that around into supporting behaviours. (Check this link for future events that may be of interest to you.)
The attendees were very engaged and I was pleased with the interaction in the room. If nothing else, I wanted them to be curious about how their thoughts impacted their emotions, behaviours and actions. After the session was over, I spoke to a few of the participants about their experience with the topic, to see what insights were realized. This is where I met Les, one of the many unemployed Calgarians in this economy.
Over the past year, whether I've been at a networking event, doing a speaking engagement, or standing in line at the grocery store, I’ve listened to the troubled stories of those that have lost their jobs and the frustrations they’re facing. The stories all ring similar messages of numerous months of job searching with few opportunities available and 100’s of applicants. I’m so disheartened by the stories, the sadness, frustration and overwhelming acts of desperation that are overtaking these amazing individuals that are on the receiving end of these hard times.
So meeting Les on the Wednesday afternoon was really not a stretch for me and we easily slid into a conversation which turned from the session learnings to the unemployment quite quickly. Les has been unemployed for some months now, coming out of the oil industry as an engineer. With no turnaround in sight, his re-engagement into a similar role anytime soon is bleak. At this point, he’s considering becoming an entrepreneur, wondering if now is the right time and fighting with the saboteur voices in his head, yet not knowing what other options are available at this time.
He’s not alone in this thought process. Not by a long shot. A few weeks earlier, a registry agent admitted to me that they've seen many new companies being registered as of late, signalling that the entrepreneurial spirit in Calgary is renewed.
Is the spike of entrepreneurial action out of a sense of desperation to create a job for oneself, a realization that life is too short and it's time to move towards a passion area, or a pushback from those unwilling to go back into the oil industry and the tumultuous environment again?
Regardless of the reasoning, it’s becoming a real focus area for many. But is now really the right time? Only the individual can determine if it’s the right time for him as each person’s journey is going to be unique. However, the strategist in me is encouraging these individuals to consider a few things before deciding this:
Time is not on your side. It typically takes a few years to have a sustainable new business. Do you have the time to create a unique, revenue generating business and the financial resources to tide you over until it's consistently profitable? If you’re unemployed, all you have is time. So yes, time to create may be there, but what about the time lay to actually put cash in your pocket. Be realistic here. Do a timeline budget and underestimate potential earnings while stretching the timing to twice what you think is realistic. It's great when you exceed expectations but becomes difficult to cope when extreme goals fall short.
Get finances in order. Desperation leaks out of your pores. If you have no current earning power to tide you over, while you build the business, you’ll be desperate for sales. This comes through in your actions, your body language and your message. Recipients intuitively will feel this energy and may not be able to pin point what's going on with you, but they’ll shy away out of caution. Get a tide-me-over job so that you’re meeting your financial needs. Ideally in the industry you’re building your business in, so that you’re learning while you’re earning. But if you need to work at Bed, Bath and Beyond as a stop gap, then do it…. your career path will be filled with roadblocks and curves, and any job is moving you forward.
Get clear on your “why”. What's the real reason you're going the entrepreneurial route? It’s about understanding driving forces vs passion. Authentic transparency is required here. Ask yourself some tough questions to ensure you're going after the right rainbow. I'd argue that if you're doing this just to increase your bank account, move on. The excessive effort and the restrictions on the entrepreneurial path will push you away long before you're profitable. However, if you're turning strengths and passions into cash with this business, you'll be so enthralled with the work and empowered with the challenges, that you won’t notice the effort and would never dream of walking away from it.
Choose your offerings wisely. Look at your products and services from every angle. Are your offerings innovative and new, creating a new market area? Or are you simply going to become the 4,201 consultant in the city, now competing for every contract, no different than competing for every employment job? In a recent podcast by Tony Robbins, he encourages small businesses to be “Strategic Innovation” in order to succeed and I agree. You may be better than the others, but when you look and talk like others, it’s hard to differentiate.
Create a focused strategy. There’s nothing worse than jumping around from idea to idea, burning energy and resources, without a clear direction. Would you hire someone with that approach? Doubtful. So don’t settle for it yourself. Make a plan. Work the plan. Reset along the way if you need to. Without a solid strategy, your inner saboteurs will destroy your business before it’s off the ground.
Back to Les and my conversation with him. We only had a few minutes together, not nearly enough time for me to jump into all of these concepts. But I believe that what we did speak about hit home for him. I love seeing that ah-ha lightbulb moment, when new awareness enters the consciousness. That fills me up and rocks my world. That’s why I became an entrepreneur. That’s why I work with individuals and organizations to create career clarity, genuine leadership growth and financial acuteness. It’s all about developing a Working.Life.Strategy, purpose built for you. Why not Get Started and love your career again?
