Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

NichollsWildlifeArt - I love your art work!! Beautiful!!

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Life isn`t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

One thing I noticed, going off on my own, is that having someone not inside one`s head produces new ideas more easily. New ideas about modifications, not central, core ideas.

When I worked in a corporation doing PowerPoint stuff, people would come to me and ask for something "I" knew was impossible. But then I`d sit and mess with it, looking for a workaround. By gosh if I didn`t find a way, more often than not. The result was I learned how to accomplish things in MS Office that haven`t been documented, and are very obscure tricks.

We can only know what we know, and use the mind in our head for thinking. By that, I mean we don`t even attempt the impossible, absurd, or overly strange. We rarely risk more than we`re willing to risk, but when there`s another person around, we make exceptions. We change, or go in a direction we never would`ve thought of on our own.

So yes, there are advantages to being involved in a group of two or more people. I suspect it`s because we`re sort of "bored with our own cooking" that we sometimes get to wishing we had someone else around. And that "feels like" lonely, when instead it`s just being stuck in a routine.

Thanks so much and have a great 2007!

Alison

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Alison Nicholls www.NichollsWildlifeArt African Wildlife in Watercolor

 We are made for relationships. Even if we try to go it alone, we simply can`t.  Who would do business with us if we had no one to relate to.  When asked " who are our customers?" the answer is: everyone is. and that doesn`t neccessarily equate to selling something.  It would be such a cold world if everyone just wanted to be left alone. I believe that`s what`s called isolation. = NOT good. 

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CCLDESIGN

Top of list when planning my biz (10 steps) was the following point:

No way I can do everything on my own, nor do I want to.

So I`ve been careful to seek out several different types of groups.

Some are ones where I can demonstrate my technical expertise, to help establish a good reputation among my local business community.

Others are groups I lead.

But the ones where I learn the most are those where I can talk & ask questions of folks who know much much more about being successful in business. In fact, the best sources are folks who have built successful businesses that are not in my field at all. It`s too easy to get a hermeticized view of your business if all you ever do is talk to other folks who do what you do. Without a fresh perspective now & then, you`ll stop asking questions like:

• How can we do this better?
• Is there a more efficient approach?

I`ve also been very fortunate to have a canary, who I wrote about recently at the funcave.

My wife`s actually much much more than that, but her not having any technical aptitude has actually been a fantastic strength for us to leverage.

Without her, it would take me much longer to hone our customer-facing messaging, which I truly believe needs to be right on target much sooner than later when starting or growing any business.

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Christopher Rue MCSE, MCSAM / Black Warrior Technology, LLC / Solutions That Build Your Business

I agree, Entreprenerd. I don`t feel lonely in the traditional sense, and I don`t mind making decisions myself without sounding boards (because I also feel that most people don`t really understand what I do in any real detail). But one thing I noticed this year, after what will soon be 20 years in a home-based company, is that I didn`t have any work-related holiday parties to go to! :) Both my daughter and son-in-law had dinners and gatherings related to their work (and I got to watch my baby granddaughter, which was great for me!) but I noticed for the first time that there wasn`t anybody to celebrate with face to face. Most of my clients, and the people I work with daily, are on the coasts, and I operate out of the Midwest, so offline get-togethers are extremely rare. Of course, if I had to go to something like that I`d probably dread it, but this year I missed having the option...just a bit. :)

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Katherine Murray | reVisions Plus, Inc. | publishing services for print and online media | www.revisionsplus.com

I agree, you must take responsibility as a business owner or entrepeneur.  But support, whether personal or monetary, is extremely important.  I do not have either on my entrepeneurial project.  I have started a website for helping victims of Cancer Debt, both personally & financially.  I am a (survivor) Cancer victim as well as a victim of Cancer Debt and this is where I realized that there isn`t anyone out there to help those the debt they incur from cancer.  Then I researched the matter and found I wasn`t alone.  I never realized how many people lose their homes & sometimes everything they`ve ever worked for, because of the debt they`ve incurred due to Cancer.  How tragic it is, that we allow this to happen in this day and age.  What about all those Cancer Walks you say?  Well, none of the money is allocated to help people with their Cancer Debt!  There are companies that will help if you don`t have insurance, but what if you have insurance, but you can`t work for a year or two?  What if you`re on disability and it just doesn`t pay the bills?  There is no one there to help!  I am one of those people and I wan`t to help others who have found themselves in the same position.......before it`s too late, before they lose their homes, their dignity, their everything.  Baileysays let`s help those who need help when & where they really need it.

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Baileysays; Help Cancer Debt; Please Donate

Bailey says...an interesting point, that introduces a seeming contradiction in terms. "Then I found I wasn`t alone...."

Isn`t it interesting that we start a business because we observe a need of some sort. Who is doing that "need?" Isn`t it other people? That`s the prospective market, without which we wouldn`t start a business.

So here we are, discussing the alone-ness of being a single-owner business, and the perception of loneliness. Yet isn`t the entire function of the business to "join" our product with a market full of people who feel they`re alone in what they desire....the product?

Then let`s think about that office-related party concept. I`ve found over time that many people actually go to work and have a job because they`re looking for a social organization. It just happens to pay them some money. Think about expressions like "around the water cooler," and other discussions of the social environment of the workplace.

Relative to The Life Plan, I think work should be a way to "get money," and life should be what we do with that money. They`re not the same thing, even if they are related. As such, it makes sense to put some definite and clear boundaries around one`s work as an entrepreneur.

We all of us should have "regular business hours." I wonder if that wouldn`t go a long way toward either bypassing or highlighting the underlying psychological causes of apparent loneliness, a feeling of isolation, or the sense of being alone.

Remember, there is such a thing as psychological projection. If we have trouble forming relationships in general, then start a business, it would be easy enough to believe that it`s the business preventing us from forming those relationships. Instead, it`s that whatever we do in life, we still would have trouble forming relationships. Right?

I agree with Entrepenerd. I work alone but I am not lonely. I cherish the
fact that I can work alone but can and have assembled a team of people
for larger projects.

I could never go back to working for someone else. I don`t miss the office
politics and was never the water cooler type. I always hated attending the
"office" holiday party, it just seemed liked a forced situation that you had
to grin and bear it. I did learn a lot working for a large agency and I made
some dear friends, gained valuable experience and made a lot of
contacts. I still meet some of my former colleagues and peers for lunch
every month or so.

On a daily basis, I am in constant contact with my clients and with my
peers in the industry to bounce ideas off of. I also attend a local
entrepeneurs groups` meetings from time to time. Sure, I may eventually
need to hire more people as my studio grows but I love the independence
of being an entrepeneur.

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Mary Hutchison Design LLC design + strategy + counsel 206.407.3460 info@maryhutchisondesign.com

Good point CraigL ........ I am not alone in my area of expertise or experience, however, I am alone in the effort of my cause.  I am trying to get my website out there to those in the big world who may be able to help me with my cause.  Please see my bio & website for further info & let me know your thoughts and/or opinions, or suggestions.

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Baileysays; Help Cancer Debt; Please Donate