“Suddenly this quest for entrepreneurial freedom becomes just another mundane job”

To demonstrate the need for the entrepreneurial paradigm shift we have presented a few stories of those people we have encountered over the years of consulting that have very bravely endeavored to make the “entrepreneurial paradigm shift”

When an individual starts contemplating starting a business we often refer to this as the “entrepreneurial brain cramp” Here are a few stories that demonstrate what we are talking about.

Joe's Story:

Joe an engineer in the computer industry was working for a company as a “client trouble-shooter”. His actual title was Customer Service Engineer. He was responsible for providing customers with on-site service and resolving their computer problems. Joe was relatively happy in his job knowing that he was well liked and well thought of by his customers. What he liked most of all was the delight that his customers showed when he solved their problems especially when they had a crunch period and had to have their problem resolved immediately – that’s when they were most grateful. The funny thing was that Joe did not experience the same delight and satisfaction that his customers demonstrated when he was back at his office. Back at his office he was taken for granted. Nobody acknowledged the good job he was doing. More frustrating to him was the amount of money he saw his boss and company owner charging the customer in comparison to the hourly rate he was getting paid.

Joe had often pondered the money inequality, why should his customers be charged three times and often more than what he was making. Joe discussed this with his wife who was a very supportive person one who believed in Joe more than Joe believed in himself. She suggested that he evaluate the possibility of working for himself. She even suggested that he do some research into the number of customers that would be loyal to him rather than to the company he worked for. The result seemed very good and it seemed that he could retain a fair portion of his customers if he was to go into business for himself. More thought followed during the days ahead and more frustration mounted at work for Joe and he became a really unhappy employee.

After working on a critical job for a client where Joe had worked right through the day and night to rectify the problem for his client, he found that his boss had inconsiderately booked him to attend to another job directly he had completed his overnighter. Joe approached his boss and said that he was unhappy with this type of treatment. Joe’s boss’s response made up his mind to leave the company. “Well Joe” his boss retorted, “I make the decisions here and I suggest if you want to keep you job, that you do as I instructed”

The proverbial entrepreneurial brain cramp happened and Joe handed in his resignation and left the company two weeks later. Joe used those two weeks to advise his customers that he was leaving but that he would not leave the industry and should they ever require his assistance they could reach him at the new number he provided. Joe was very excited to start his own business. While he did not consider himself a businessman he knew he was a well respected technician “and that is all that matters” he thought to himself.

Joe sat and recalculated the cost of running his business against what he knew his boss had been charging this he saw as being the income parameter for his calculations. He saw the future bright and lined with plenty of money.

I sat at the front of the class while Joe related his story to his classmates. At this point I asked him a question. “If this new business venture was so terrific, providing you with so much income why are you in my class?”

Joe’s answer shocked the class. He said that he did not realize what actually went in to running a business. He saw only the hours he could work and the income from his efforts. He did not realize that there would be other tasks to perform, such as accounting, invoicing, bill collection, marketing and selling to name but a few of the new tasks he had to perform and knew nothing about.

He said “I did not realize just how big the leap was from employee to employer”.

The understanding Joe had about business revolved around his “job”, the function of repairing computer equipment and systems. This function he clearly understood, he understood what skills were required, he knew how long it would take to make certain repairs and he knew what his boss was charging the customers. What he did not know was what it took to run a business. He understood the technical repair work but did not understand how a business works that does technical repair work.

I probed a little further by asking another question “what do you see as the difference between doing the job and running the business?”

Joe replied saying that he had made the assumption that he would spend his time working on and fixing computers and systems, but in reality he spent more time trying to find customers, doing his books and ordering parts, etc. He said he assumed that he would be making the money his boss was making from his services but the truth was he came no where close.

What was it that Joe had missed? Well when Joe did his costing and projected his income he based this directly on the job he was doing and how many hours he had been working on computers for his now ex-boss. Let us take a look at the numbers as Joe had seen them.