What Can You Do?
by
Tom Sheppard
(excerpted from the soon to be released book "Executive to Entrepreneur: Launching Your Life on Your Terms")
Finding your passion, your chief aim in life, is the first
step to building the fire in your belly that will help you to overcome all
obstacles to attain that chief aim.
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- Finding Your Passion
- Consulting
- Success Self Help
- Entrepreneurship Successfully Launching New Ventures
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- Career
- Career Test
- My Career
- Coaching
- Products
Top 5 Amazon Books on Finding Your Passion
Having determined what you really want in life, you are prepared to use your assets effectively.
In your corporate career, you have developed certain skills
and acquired certain knowledge. You may
or may not realize how specialized that knowledge really is.
A woman I worked with was an executive assistant to a senior
executive. She did her job very
well. She kept this executive organized
and focused. She filed his documents and
key papers in good order and was able to retrieve them quickly when
needed. She kept his schedule in good
order, helping him to block out time for his most important activities and
separating the urgent and unimportant from the important but non-urgent and those things that were
both urgent and important.
To the view of many, she had an unremarkable skill set. That is because they did not appreciate the
skills and knowledge she possessed.
Instead of looking at the ways she helped her boss to succeed, they
focused on the power and prestige of her boss.
Not pausing to consider how much less successful he would be if he had
to spend time filing and retrieving his own papers, screening his own calls,
and spending time trying to block out the unimportant things so that he could
focus on the important things demanding his attention.
This woman dreamed of owning her own business, but thought
that she would have to learn some trade to make that happen. I coached her for some time and showed her
that she already had all the skills she needed to use as the basis for her
business.
How many small business owners could benefit from the
services she provided to that senior executive?
Most would benefit significantly.
But, most small business owners could not afford the salary and benefits
they would have to pay to attract and retain someone with her qualifications.
I coached her to do two things, she could either be a pair
of helping hands, or she could be a source of guidance. These two offerings took at least five
different forms of engagement she could offer potential clients. Each of these had different ways of making
her money and transforming her skills into a business.
1.
She could rent out her services to qualified
business owners. She would come in and
organize their office and then come into the office on a periodic basis to
sustain that organization. She would
also teach the business owner her skills so that the business owner could
manage to a degree without her.
2.
She could
train others to do what she does.
She could come into a small business and work with the much less
qualified and experienced assistant the business owner could afford. She would guide that assistant in organizing
the office and teach them how to sustain that organization as well as
understanding why things needed to be done in a particular manner. She could then come back from time to time to
make sure things were staying on track.
3.
She could help the small business owner to
screen and hire a qualified assistant.
Knowing the mindset and skill set needed, my friend could bring her
expertise to bear to help the business owner get the help he needed without
wasting time and energy hiring and firing unsuitable candidates.
4.
She could offer her services in partnership with
the business owner and get a piece of the profits or equity from the business
that would result from her helping the owner to focus on what s/he needed to do
to make the business revenues come in.
5.
She could create her own stable of qualified and
trained assistants who she could then place on either temporary, permanent, or
consulting contracts with small business owners. In effect she would be a very specialized employment
agency, but one with a unique value proposition: her personal intervention and
training to make sure the assistants met her high standards.
I chose this example because it is less obvious than many
others. But it follows a model for turning your skills into a business that is
universally applicable. I call it the
Consultant Model.
Consulting
Many people with highly specialized knowledge frequently use
the Consultant Model as the landing pad for their exit from corporate-world.
In effect you get the best of both worlds. You gain a degree of autonomy and control
over your destiny that you lacked as an employee, and you retain the security
of doing work with people, companies and an industry where you are comfortable
and, hopefully, well known.
Some
characteristics you need to succeed as a consultant are:
·
Do you like to work regular hours, or are you
willing to trade regular hours for a schedule that may see you work evenings
and weekends or long hours as you ramp up?
·
Is it important to you to have a steady
paycheck?
·
Are you willing to do your own admin work, such
as answering the phone, photocopying, responding to email, mailing out
information, and other tasks that you might currently have other people to help
with?
·
Do you need someone to tell you to start or keep
working at a project?
·
Can you get up in the morning and start working
without being told to do so?
What is a consultant?
Peter Block, in his book "Flawless Consulting" (recommended reading if you want to be a consultant), defines a consultant as "a person in a position to have some influence over an individual, a group, or an organization, but who has no direct power to make changes or implement programs. Consultants plan, recommend, assist, and advise.
Take note that if you are frustrated when you see what needs
to be done and others won't do it, being a consultant may not be the right
niche for you. However, take heart. Mr. Block notes that not everyone we call a
consultant is really a consultant.
Some "consultants" are actually helping hands to
get work done. Folks in this role are
usually called contractors.
Consultants
are usually paid by the hour, day or project, on commission, or based on
performance. They are independent contractors and not employees of the hiring
organization.
What are the risks of being a consultant?
Consultants have freedom to choose their own hours, take vacations when they want, pick clients, refuse assignments and work with a variety of projects. However, to become a consultant, you let go of regular pay, administrative help, benefits and health care, tech support and other things many employees take for granted. When you become a consultant, you may also find yourself working alone, without the moral, creative and administrative support of co-workers.
A
seasoned expert will often become a consultant after spending years in a
field or industry. Seen as a true opinion leader, this veteran will often
become a consultant by contracting back to their previous employer and business
contacts. The seasoned professional who decides to become a consultant tends to
be in high demand, because their specialized knowledge cannot be found
elsewhere in the company. This expert will often become a consultant because
their old company and colleagues beg them for help.
How much does it cost to be a consultant?
Becoming a consultant can cost as little or as much as you want. Some people can become consultants simply by getting a city business permit and handing out their name and number. Others need websites, home offices, brochures, licensing, and other materials. By creating a business plan, you can figure out how much it costs before you take the plunge in becoming a consultant.
At
a minimum, you will want to satisfy the requirements of the Internal Revenue
Service for their definition of what substantiates that this is a business and
not just a hobby.
Coaching
Another model is the Coaching Model. The example at the
start of this section actually incorporates some elements of the coaching
model.
In the coaching model, you use your knowledge and skills to
help others to develop similar knowledge and skills. You help your clients to see their issues
from a different perspective and to adjust their skills and gain the knowledge
they need to get the job done themselves.
Master Coach Steve Mitten explains why he loves being a life
coach:
·
It allows me to really make a difference in
people's lives.
·
Coaching allows me to connect with a dynamic and
diverse group of interesting people all over the globe, every working day.
·
It provides the freedom to work flexible hours
from my home in winter, and the family cabin in summer. (There is never a
commute, and I am always close to my family.)
·
It allows me to make a comfortable 6-figure
income working about 25-30 hours a week and take off about 185 days a year.
·
It allows me to continue to learn and grow, and
keeps me in a supportive professional community of open, caring and dedicated
people.
Before you get too excited about that 6-figure salary he
mentions, bear in mind that most coaches need to have a business doing
something that earns steady income. For
most of us the coaching is a natural outgrowth of our success, as people see
what we are doing and ask us to teach them how to succeed.
Mitten notes that there are three big factors that will
largely determine your success or failure as a coach:
The reality is that these three success factors apply to any entrepreneurial endeavor. You need to enjoy your business. You need to keep your skills and knowledge current. And, you need to be able to market your business (aka your self) very effectively.
- You need to really enjoy coaching.
- You need to get good training and be constantly learning.
- You need to be a very good marketer.
The reality is that these three success factors apply to any entrepreneurial endeavor. You need to enjoy your business. You need to keep your skills and knowledge current. And, you need to be able to market your business (aka your self) very effectively.
Your Own Shop
Your Own Shop is another model and is shown is point #5 of
the example. You can create your own
company, hiring staff and training them to deliver the kind of service and
knowledge that you provide. In effect,
you duplicate yourself to provide your services to more clients than you could
service on your own. The other
alternative is that you expand yourself by hiring people with complementary
skill sets so that you can offer a broader range or end-to-end services for
your clients. That way they can get a
finished product from you instead of just being given one piece of the puzzle.
Your Products
But what are your products?
If you don't know the answer to this, you will never be able to build
your landing pad based on what you do today.
Consider, what are the key elements of your corporate
performance plan? Those should give you
a good clue about what products or services your current employer considers as
the value you bring to the organization.
What is it that you do for your
employer? What accomplishments can you
point to? Make a list, and be sure to
list all accomplishments for all employers, no matter how long
ago or for how short a period you worked for them. You probably should include accomplishments
outside of work also.
It may take you a few days to put
together this list. You may have to sort
through your old files and memories and even renew some old acquaintances. List
each accomplishment in as much detail as you can. Try to answer the following question for each
accomplishment you list:
How many people were affected?
How much
time was saved by how many people?
How much
money was saved per year?
How much
revenue was generated?
What
recognition was received?
What
skills, knowledge, and abilities did you have to use to accomplish this?
If you cannot remember any or all of the answers to these questions, that is fine, list the accomplishment anyway. When you start talking with your old chums from the company where you achieved it, they may be able to refresh your memory. If all else fails, make a best guess estimate.
These accomplishments are your output, your product.
Action Steps
1.
Identify your products
a.
Make a list of your accomplishments and
responsibilities as found in your performance reviews and performance plans.
b.
Make a list of your accomplishments and
responsibilities that you may have from any volunteer activities you perform.
c.
Use these two lists to create a list of your
potential products and services. Focus especially on the products or services
where you excel.
2.
Identify your current clients
a.
Consider who do you provide services to today?
Who takes what you do and uses it to further their own purposes?
b.
Create a profile of each different type of
person or function that uses your work to further their own ends.
c.
Use the results of these two steps to list out
your potential clients and client types.
3.
Consider the model you want for your landing pad
and select one to start with. It doesn't
mean you cannot add others later, but you need to start with one approach so
that you can structure your plan around that approach.
Next: The Secret to Happiness
Topics Related to This Post:
Consulting, Resume, Coaching, Career Test, Job Search
Books Related to This Post
The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson, Phd
The Consulting Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Expand a Seven-Figure Consulting Practice by Alan Weiss
Flawless Consulting by Peter Block
Top 5 Amazon Books on Consulting
Amazon Top 5 Books on Success Self Help
Top 5 Amazon Books on Entrepreneurship Successfully Launching New Ventures
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