In times of crisis, should you go into business for yourself?
Most people don’t have a clear sense of what they want in life. They don’t know what they want out of their businesses or careers. They have no vision, no mission, no strategy and they just exist. In difficult times, you need to get your act together and you have to do something. Don’t think exclusively on the unemployment check you can get for a few weeks. Some people are more fortunate and even though times are tough, they know exactly what they want and in many instances, how to get it.
I have written about “four hair stylists”, all four with the idea of earning a living but with different ways of going about it.
Hair Stylist #1 works in other people’s salons all his life. He spends a few years in one then jumps to another one and so on. He takes a one-week vacation, sometimes two weeks, without pay and then one day, he is sixty five, hasn’t saved a penny in his whole life and con’t continue working because his feet hurt too much. He has to find another job because he can’t survive with the social security check only.
Hair Stylist #2 opens his own hair stylist salon. He doesn’t work for somebody else. He wants to be his own boss. He doesn’t hire other people because he says, “once they learn how the business runs, they leave and open other salons. I will not be training competitors. Some will stay, mess up a few clients and then leave. I can’t live with that stress”. He works long hours, six days a week, 50 or 51 weeks a year and when he is not working the business; he is not making any money. (If the business depends only on you to make money, you have a job. If the business runs and makes money while you are away, you have a business). Then one day, he locks up his salon, goes home and he dies.
Hair Stylist #3 opens her own shop, hires four other hair stylists, a hair washer, a manicurist and a pedicurist. She adds value to the client by offering many services so she develops happy, loyal clients. She up sells and makes lots of money. She and her second or third husband take a long vacation every year and while they are away, the business makes money. She sells her salon on her 65th birthday and she and her current husband start traveling the world, doing all the things they have always wanted to do. They have a great time, lead a good life, go home and then they die.
It always ends up the same way, doesn’t it? We will all die someday but that is not the point I am trying to make. The point here is the journey not the destination. The point is for you to choose what you really want out of life, what gives you the most happiness and joy, what really matters most to you. The point is for you to reach the golden age without having to say: “I should have….. why didn’t I…. if only I…”
Hair Stylist #4 is more creative, has an entrepreneurial mindset and opens up a bunch of hair salons and then franchises the concept. Eventually hundreds of salons are opened all over the country. The fellow doesn’t know how to cut, fix or dye hair but he has a vision, a strategy on how to get what he wants and how to reach his dream. He has a very important skill: How to manage people. He knows that he cannot build an empire all by himself and needs the directed efforts of others. His business eventually will be worth millions, each franchise will sell for many thousands of dollars, and its independent owners will have a very good chance to be successful if they follow the model. He has benefited society and the world is a better place because he carried out his vision.
There is no right or wrong way to conduct your business. The reality is you should give it some thought and decide what is best for you. How big and how good you want to be? What kind of life do you want to lead? What are you better suited for? These are the questions you should ask yourself because you do have many possibilities, many alternatives but they must be thought through.
Sometimes when times are tough, you come out ahead because the situation forces to do something and often people come out better than when the crises started.
What is very wrong is for you to fly blind, to not think it through, to not analyze the alternatives and options you have open to you. What is very wrong is for you to end your life with sadness and regret.
Don’t you think you deserve to live an extraordinary life, to choose where to spend your time and your life, how much to make, to save, to spend and to enjoy?
So, the question is which Hair Stylist do you want to be?
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