Most of us long for the ability to make our own way in this life. I’d venture to guess that most people reading this article would much rather live a life of self accountability, self reliance, and self employment instead of being dependent on an employer to provide the necessary funds for them to feed their families, keep a roof over their head, and give their children a good life. It doesn’t matter who you work for, the act of being beholden to somebody else when it comes to your financial security is stressful. This is why most people start their own business. And this is also why a lot of small business startups fail.
When you hit that wall and can’t possibly work another day in your dead end, soul sucking job, you naturally start dreaming. And man are those dreams big. Many dream so big in that moment that they lose sight of reality, and this can be detrimental to an otherwise great game plan. Dreaming about making a change isn’t bad, but letting that dream cloud your vision when it comes to what you’re truly capable of at that moment can cause a lot of problems. In this article I’d like to share some simple advice for anyone who’s hit that wall and is ready to make a change.
People typically go into creating their own business with one of two mindsets. The first is “I’m done with this job, nothing is going to stop me from doing (insert business plan here), I’m going to be the greatest”. The second is “I know what kind of life I want to live, and thinking about doing this scares the daylight out of me, but I’m ready and willing to learn whatever I need to in order to get there”. There is a fundamental difference between these two starting points, and it is that the second mindset starts you in a position of wanting to learn, whereas the first positions you in a place that is much more prone to failure. When we assume we’re ready for anything in life, we usually aren’t even close.
When we are humble, admit that we need to learn, and open ourselves to the opportunity to gain new knowledge, we often succeed.
When I started my business 1.5 years ago, I was about 10% excited and 90% terrified. I knew that although I was decent at woodworking, I had so much to learn. And I believe that starting point is why I’ve succeeded. I couldn’t begin to guess how many hours of woodworking videos I watched, learning new things and taking mental notes the entire time. I researched every tool I purchased, I learned the ins and outs of how to maintain them properly, how to safely handle them, and how to properly store them. I spent countless hours hunting for the best way to ship orders, package orders, which carriers provide the best rates depending on size and weight of packages. I spent weeks researching different woods, which ones were good for food prep and which were better for non-food related items. I spent months learning before I constructed my first cutting board. Had I not invested this time into learning about the craft, I would have most likely seriously injured myself using a tool I wasn’t familiar with, wasted a huge amount of expensive exotic lumber, and I would not have been prepared for the logistics of running a business. Learning gave me the foundation I needed to be successful.
My advice to anybody looking to start their own business and take control of their own finances would be this: No matter how much you think you know about something, learn more first. It doesn’t matter how good of an electrician you are if you don’t know where to source the materials/supplies you need to perform your job. It doesn’t matter how good of a handyman you are if you don’t know how to schedule appointments, create an invoice, properly bid out a job, etc. The benefit of working for a large company is that the infrastructure is already in place for all of this and you never have to even think about it. You just perform your job and somebody else handles the rest. This is not the case in self employment. You have to juggle 100 things at the same time, all of the time. This is impossible to do without a proper understanding of how each piece of that puzzle fits together.
Before you earn, take the time to learn. Short term income gains can be exciting and appealing, but not at the expense of a failed business when it becomes too overwhelming and you don’t have enough time to catch up with your own dreams.
Until next time my friends, Onward!
-Woodshop Bear
Website: https://www.littlebearwoodshop.com
