Because I have started several companies over the years, I was given the opportunity to talk to a class of post-grad MBA students at the University of Washington lastyear. A question that came up was (I paraphrase) "What can I do to prepare myself for starting my own business?"
Not expecting this simple question, for which I really should have been prepared, I trotted out a predictable answer: Write a good business plan, research the market well, keep your day job, be persistent, etc... Any student in the class could have probably answered the question, so perhaps my answer had little value.
The question has rolled around in my head like a tumbleweed ever since. How would I answer the question now?
Question: What can I do to prepare myself for starting my own business?
Answer: Live as a homeless person for a whole week. Get yourself a cardboard box from some furniture store - one that's big enough to sleep in (even if your legs are sticking out) - but light enough to carry a few hundred yards if you need to. Only take with you the clothes you are wearing right now, plus an old coat, and stuff five dollars into your pocket. Find some spot in town to park your cardboard box.
You'll probably have to panhandle to make it through the week. I believe there are such things as soup kitchens around, but I've never seen one. Your fellow homeless people will probably help you locate one.
Doing that for a week will give you a sense of what it feels like when you hit a trough in your business start-up. My guess is, most folks wouldn't last two hours on the street, let alone a week.
My cheery 2 cents' worth.
Liam
www.siteleads.net when he's at work.
liam.scanlan@gmail.com when he's at home. (not living in a cardboard box yet).
Not expecting this simple question, for which I really should have been prepared, I trotted out a predictable answer: Write a good business plan, research the market well, keep your day job, be persistent, etc... Any student in the class could have probably answered the question, so perhaps my answer had little value.
The question has rolled around in my head like a tumbleweed ever since. How would I answer the question now?
Question: What can I do to prepare myself for starting my own business?
Answer: Live as a homeless person for a whole week. Get yourself a cardboard box from some furniture store - one that's big enough to sleep in (even if your legs are sticking out) - but light enough to carry a few hundred yards if you need to. Only take with you the clothes you are wearing right now, plus an old coat, and stuff five dollars into your pocket. Find some spot in town to park your cardboard box.
You'll probably have to panhandle to make it through the week. I believe there are such things as soup kitchens around, but I've never seen one. Your fellow homeless people will probably help you locate one.
Doing that for a week will give you a sense of what it feels like when you hit a trough in your business start-up. My guess is, most folks wouldn't last two hours on the street, let alone a week.
My cheery 2 cents' worth.
Liam
www.siteleads.net when he's at work.
liam.scanlan@gmail.com when he's at home. (not living in a cardboard box yet).
