I set up shop for my first lemonade stand in the summer of my sixth year (of life). I’d hoped that business from neighboring barbeques and block parties would see me through August, but my parents wouldn’t allow me to advertise as necessary. If we only had the internet back then, I probably would’ve made a fortune!
So, yeah I was born for business, not lemonade. And after many typical failed attempts, I find my self here writing a “life column” for young entrepreneurs who might share the same hopes, fears and questions that I have. I’m grateful to be able to share my experiences and advice, and encourage you to bring up topics and questions that YOU need me to cover.
These days I write for a living and run two magazines. One of them, the yellowzine.com is my brainchild, and I’m the creative director of xndmag.com.
Are you all investing your time and energy into businesses that you have a passion for? That’s really step one. We’ve already come to accept that you’re a business guru, and thrive on doing things your own way so that someday you can support yourselves on your own terms.
It took years and doomed crafting, cleaning and lemonade businesses for me to finally come to grips with what I once heard Donald Trump say… something like: The only way to be successful is to do what you love. I’ve always been passionate about writing, but could never see the profit in it. I just did it for fun.
But, business minded folks like us should be able to make money out of fun. And, if you’re really clever, you’ll always keep an open mind for similar ideas that can be handled simultaneously.
In other words, layer your efforts and open as many doors as you can. My original attempts at business didn’t fail because of lack of profit — I supported myself financially through many of my endeavors. They failed because I got so completely sick of running them that I had to close up shop. If you’re in the middle of something that you don’t love ask yourself if you ever loved it. If you answer yes, then your issues probably have more to do with time management.
If you’ve never loved what you’re doing there are ways to dissect it and come up with positive aspects that can lead you into another venture. When I ran a cleaning service five years ago, I really thrived on creating the advertisements. I’ve been able to use those same ads to beef up my freelance writing portfolio, and gain marketing clients.
I know that it seems like you never stop working. You go to bed with thoughts of how to get new clients or who you’re meeting the next morning. Sometimes asking yourself if you love what you do sounds kinda lame in the grand scheme of things. But, it’s the first key to optimal time management which will allow for you to eventually have fun outside of work again, and hang out with those 9-5ing friends who’ve mysteriously disappeared.
Sound good? Great! Read tomorrow and we’ll take a dive into some great scheduling tips.
No related posts.
No comments yet.