Be nice! New clutch driver behind the wheel!

I saw this handwritten message on the cab window of a pickup truck the other day. I was instantly stopped again on a hill, at an intersection, on Martha’s Vineyard, with a guy yelling at me through the window, “Why don’t you learn to drive?” and thinking that’s exactly what he was trying to do!

Putting your entrepreneurial feet under you is like learning to drive a stock when you’ve always driven an automatic. Jamie, how do I start a business? What should I do? I’m new to this and it all seems too much! Can you explain me step by step?

Yeah! Just like learning to drive a standard, there are certain tricks to mastering it, as well as some very definite things not to do. But once you know how to do it, you’ll stick with your new skill and never look back!

Let’s break down the steps to get started. Use of common sense. Approach the process rationally with your end point in mind. It’s almost like a 6th grade English writing assignment: can you answer who, what, when, where, why and how? Once you can, you’ll be on your way! Have you seen how simple it is?

Here’s a summary of what we’re going through. To start a business, follow these steps:

1. Take decisions
2. to take action
3. fail frequently
4. Listen carefully

If this isn’t the list you expected, let me tell you how to use these steps to get from where you are now to where you want to be, in a “business” situation.

Let’s look at decision making. First, don’t skip the obvious first steps. I understand that you can’t find a job or maybe you’re fed up with your boss or maybe you’re ready to find meaning and make what you do make a difference. But what exactly is an entrepreneur?

Are you an entrepreneur?

What are the attributes of an entrepreneur? You are an entrepreneur if you are someone who is

• comfortable working independently, alone, creating your own parameters, defining your own goals, working without someone watching you, driving to self-imposed deadlines
• comfortable networking, asking for help, sharing questions and concerns with others, receptive to feedback, able to set up work and celebrate creativity and people
• doggedly determined, able to push through setbacks, energetic and optimistic, rigid in devotion to high standards and high expectations
• willing to let go, walk away, redirect, respond objectively to information that tells you that you are on the wrong track, flexible and comfortable with the constant flow
• a numbers person, constantly watching metrics
• a sociable person, in tune with his market, capable of creating a great team

In short, an entrepreneur is a complicated person with totally conflicting attributes! It’s you? Do you really want to be an entrepreneur? Before you get intimidated, if you’re not sure you’re crazy enough to go down this path, think about the things you’ve done before that you really liked…

• Have you ever lost yourself in a project or activity, whether it be gardening, cooking or baking, playing sports, reading about a new topic, volunteering for a project, traveling to a new place? If so, you know that when you’re in that zone you’re not thinking that you might not have what it takes.
• Have you had a party, helped in a child’s classroom, been on a committee, organized a reunion or family reunion, church social or golf outing, or in some other way, brought people together around a common theme? If so, you’ve got the people part down.
• If you haven’t pushed yourself, have you been stubborn on someone else’s behalf? Perhaps a child who was having a difficult time on a team or in a class, a spouse who was having problems with the family or at work, a friend who was having a difficult time, an elderly parent who needed care or aid? If you have been involved in any of these situations, you have shown perseverance and determination!

By now, you have the idea. Entrepreneurial skills are the ones we use every day in normal life. In fact, I believe that the more you can consciously use these skills, the more you can develop them, the more successful you can be in any endeavor, whether you are generating income from these behaviors or not!

Rules!

It is not an all or nothing label. There is no such thing as whether or not you are an entrepreneur. You can be quite creative at home or within your department at work and employ business attributes. Do this intentionally, and you’ll build your entrepreneurial muscles to the point where you’re curious to try them out on larger projects.

1. Do keep learning, reading, studying, talking to people, asking questions
2. Do understand that ONE key behavior separates entrepreneurs from who they want to be; Entrepreneurs ACT, EXECUTE, IMPLEMENT. At some point, sooner rather than later, they stop talking, studying and planning and DO SOMETHING!
3. Making money as an entrepreneur depends 100% on the urgent needs and desires of the MARKET! There are lots of ideas, lots of devices, apps and software, and it doesn’t matter how in love you are with your technology or service. If you’re not solving a problem that the market wants to solve, no one will buy what you’re trying to sell. And if nobody buys it, well, I think you can figure out what results in that situation.
4. Make sure you don’t quit your day job until you have sales. Make sure you don’t spend all your retirement savings without first having solid proof (sales, contracts, orders) that the market wants what you have. Tip: Make no mistake: hunches and good feelings are not proof that your business concept is viable!

ACTION ELEMENTS:

1. Go through the list of attributes of an entrepreneur and write things about yourself and your activities that intersect with these attributes.
2. Start thinking about the things you want to do and what entrepreneurial muscles you are going to work to develop.