BUSINESS BOOTCAMP: Basics for the New Business Owner
April 14, 2005 - By Charles Shelton

“So why don’t you start your own business?”

“Are you kidding? If I was the boss, I wouldn’t tolerate my employees standing around talking about how bad of a boss I am!”

Are you a new business owner trying to make the transformation from years of being someone else’s employee to owning your own business? If you are, you already know that IT IS NOT EASY!

Sometimes new business owners think that advertising, products, services, pricing, profits and/or payroll are the most important considerations when starting a new business. These are important issues, but not one of these is the most critical issue. Changing your paradigm is by far the most important challenge that you will face. (A paradigm is a belief system or a philosophy.)

How about some examples of different viewpoints?

This sample is not intended to persuade you to believe that one set of concerns is more valid than the other. It is intended to illustrate that there are different perspectives in each camp. If you have spent an appreciable amount of time as an employee, you can expect that it will take some time to break old habits and viewpoints you may not even know you have.

Key principle: Smart business owners never think about working for dollars per hour; rather they think about working for an income-producing asset. That means they are willing to forego short-term financial gain for long-term benefits.

* Key Principle: Overcoming yourself is necessary for success.

Did you lose your job, and find yourself forced into ownership? Have you desired ownership for a lifetime, and have just now found the courage? Are you a young person striving toward ownership to avoid employment? Are you aspiring to achieve the American Dream?

Whatever your motivation is for seeking ownership, the following steps will help you on your success journey.

Simple steps to follow for changing your mindset:

1. Commit to your long-term success. If you intend to achieve success in a few months or one year, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Personal growth and financial success are part of a lifelong process- you will never “arrive.” But you will achieve incremental growth and success if you commit to specific benchmarks that are do-able. Setting goals is the measuring stick for success.

The best way to set goals is to ask yourself questions: How much should my business be grossing in six months? How much should it be grossing in one year? How will it happen? Whom do I need to contact? How will I arrange that contact? What is my back-up plan?

Committing to your long-term success means determining goals, planning the methods to achieve those goals, and writing it down. Having a checklist is crucial when determining what actions are necessary to complete your objectives. If it’s not on the checklist- why are you wasting time doing it? Oh- while you’re at it, give yourself a break! Recovery time must be on that checklist! Realize that you cannot expect to make all of the necessary changes overnight. It takes time to form new habits, new outlooks and new experiences. If you fall down, dust yourself off and start over. Remember, Michael Jordan (the legendary Chicago Bulls basketball star) missed more shots than he scored.

2. Find a mentor. It is easier, quicker, and more profitable to follow a path through the jungle than it is to slash your own way. If a path exists, take it! Your mentor does not need to be in the same industry that you are in- and here’s the reason. The principles of successful business ownership are universal. If you can master the principles, they can be applied to all business models. The mentor that you find needs to have these qualities: a desire to teach someone (if he doesn’t, you’ll have a difficult time learning from him, right?), proven success in her field, integrity, and a desire to see you succeed. Choosing the proper mentor can be a critical step in success. You do not have to limit yourself to one mentor. You may choose to have a business mentor, a physical mentor (i.e. a fitness trainer), and a spiritual mentor. In fact, if you can direct your mental, physical and spiritual energies toward your goals, you are much more likely to succeed in your endeavors.

3. Find a model. No, I don’t mean that you should find some beautiful person with which to begin a relationship. I suggest finding a role model. This role model is not someone that you need to know personally- they don’t even need to be alive. A role model and a mentor are two distinct persons. A mentor is someone that you can interact with; a role model is someone that you don’t have to meet, but can know the details of their life.
If you make a habit of reading biographies of famous people, you are certain to find someone with which to identify. Make that person your role model. Reading the trials, tribulations and successes of well-known people will enable you to triumph in difficult times. Everyone struggles. We have a tendency to think that famous and successful people arrived at the shiny gates of prosperity unscathed. I promise you- every single person that has attained their desires has had to pay a price. You will too. Thankfully, you are not alone.

4. Get an education. I don’t mean that you need to go to university to learn how to become a business person. If you think back on your high school or college days, do you recall much training for real-world business skills? Certainly you were taught skills, but most skills taught in our system are job oriented. Would you agree? Even doctors and lawyers are not taught how to become business-minded- they are taught technical skills that are generally high paying. In a sense, their training is no different than an average blue collar position. Well, the job gained as a result of their training does pay more!

Author Mark H. McCormack says in his book What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School,

“As an introduction to business, an M.B.A.- or an L.L.B.- is a worthwhile endeavor. But as an education, as part of an ongoing learning process, it is at best a foundation and at worst a naïve form of arrogance. The best lesson anyone can learn from business school is an awareness of what it can’t teach you- all the ins and outs of everyday business life. Those ins and outs are largely a self-learning process, though knowing the experience of someone like myself might make the learning shorter, easier, and a lot less painful.”

Can you see what the point is here? A real business education is difficult to find in a traditional setting. What should you do? I recommend using the least-expensive, highest-impact method. Read books! If you are not a person that likes to read, or one who doesn’t have time, listen to audio material. If you were to look at my bookshelf, you would see that it is lined with books like: Think and Grow Rich, Failing Forward, Developing the Leader Within You, Growing a Business, The One Minute Millionaire, The Purpose Driven Life, Financial Peace, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Seven Second Marketing, and The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. This is only a sample of the hard-copy and audio collection of material that I have collected and read for my education. The material is written by real people with real world experience.

Maybe you have a shoe-string budget, and purchasing “self-improvement” materials seems like an unnecessary expense. If that is the case, but you really are interested in obtaining these materials, I’ll share a secret with you: The guaranteed, lowest-cost locations of these materials are garage sales. I have found fantastic material for as little as twenty-five cents. Twenty-five cents. Do you realize that a quarter could be the difference between your failure and success? I’m not kidding. Think of what ten dollars on a tight budget could buy!

5. I’ve saved the most important step for last. I wanted to give you the other steps first, because if I listed this one earlier, you would have passed it over. You probably would have considered it insignificant. The most important step in making the transformation from employee to business owner is knowing your “why.”

Why have you chosen to strike out on your own? It’s not because you lost your job; you could have found another one. It’s not because you want to earn more money; you could work more hours or get a second job. No- you have deeper motives for starting a business. Do you want “time freedom?” That is, to build a business that you can walk away from, but still own and make an income from? Why do you want to be free? Is it to spend more time with your family? Why? This may seem too philosophical or mumbo-jumbo-ish to be of practical use. What does this have to do with income-expense ratios, assets, client base, market capitalization, equipment costs, employee status, advertising, workman’s compensation insurance, etc.? The answer is…EVERYTHING!

The small business owner must have resolve to carry through the tough times. The world is a cold and unforgiving place for all of us that want to succeed on our own. Knowing what our core motivation is can be like stepping into a warm room with a glowing fire after fighting all of the elements. In the small business arena, you WILL have ups and downs. Your personal “why” will get you through the down times. If you don’t know why you are REALLY doing what you are doing, you may just give up. Winners don’t give up, they persevere. You can too, if your “why” is strong enough.

You may be asking yourself this question: Has the author of this article “arrived?” The answer is- absolutely not! I have had ups and downs in my business experience. In fact, at the time of writing this article, I am struggling in my business. It is a period of where I’ve just come from a slump and I am building my business back up. It’s a tough road, but I think that the worst of this cycle is over. I can expect to have an upward trend now, and of course in the future another downturn. All of us should expect it, and even in some ways, embrace it. Ups and downs are a natural part of the cycle of business and life. Success and failure are not mutually exclusive, they are partners!

I have applied these principles as consistently as I can. At times, I haven’t followed my own advice, and it has caused problems for me. But, I’ve picked myself up and persistently followed my desires. If I didn’t know my “why” I wouldn’t have even been able to write this article, because I would have given up long ago.

Charlie Shelton is an independent distributor of nutritional products, meal replacement products and skin care products.  Charlie was a heavy equipment operator at a Michigan landfill (yes, a garbage dump!) for 7 ½ years.  During that time he was able to start his part-time business and transition it to full-time distribution.  He is the husband of Josette (R.N.) and proud father of three children.  To learn more about his business and products, click here.

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