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post is for anyone who has had an idea, but has failed to take action to make
that idea into a reality. I hope you take this as a wake-up call to do
something, rather than waiting for the right time. Here is the reality-there is
no "right time." The time is now.
Several
months ago, I was traveling to a friend's bachelor party, ready for a weekend of
fun and relaxation. Yet, work was still on my mind. The following week I was
scheduled to move from Detroit to Minneapolis for my current job. Having moved
many times in the previous years, this was going to be my fifth move for work.
I began thinking about how we make our career decisions. Why do we choose to do
what we do? Is it a choice? Many more similar questions caused me to reflect on
my own career path.
Throughout
my career and in my current role as the National Director of Expansion and
Training with Donor Development Strategies (DDS) I have acquired many
entrepreneurial traits. For example, during my employment with DDS, I have
re-written the company's fundraising script, remade their entire skill based
training program, introduced a training program called "Mindful Based
Canvassing," and have worked with many of our canvass sites to help them
operate more efficiently and productively as a whole. Above all, every time I
visit a new PBS station, I have to sell, convince, and articulate my training
vision to the new teams in order for them to grasp onto, buy into, and believe
in the respective trainings. In short, on a daily basis I engage in activities
that many "start-ups" also undertake. For more information about my
background check out my first post titled "Get to know me!"
So
based upon this experience, I realized that if I had the ability to innovate,
invent, and apply my ideas, and, also, build and sustain successful businesses
teams, in a real business setting while working for others, then why
couldn't I be able to accomplish something similar for myself and my own
business venture in the future? The answer was of course I could!
I
began imagining a future in which I was overseeing my own company--I was in
control. I imagined what it would look like and feel like. Of course quitting
my job and becoming a full blow entrepreneur on a whim was out of the question
for many reasons that go beyond the scope of this blog entry. Furthermore, I
have several more goals to accomplish in my current position before I am ready
to walk away. Nevertheless, I needed to start somewhere if I was going to make
my dream of owning my own business come true.
The
question became what would my business look like? If only I had the right idea!
Well, as with most things in life, the idea came out of no where. It was an app
idea. Excited by my epiphany, I immediately called a good friend and asked him
what he thought. He agreed that we were onto something.
Unfortunately,
I knew nothing about app creation--nada, zip--let alone how to run an app
business. Heck, I'm sure many of you have also had great app ideas, but were
hog tied as to how to proceed. For many of you, the lack of knowledge and know
how was a deal breaker, and the idea slipped into the ether of lost dreams.
Despite my initial enthusiasm, I also could feel the doubt set in-- that slow
but unstoppable force of reality that you come to terms with when you realize
you are simply not up to the challenge. I tabled the idea and went on with my
weekend, while enjoying my first bachelor party.
Upon
my return home, however, the idea still lingered in my mind. I jumped onto the
computer and typed into Google "How to make an app." And so my
research began. I quickly learned that you DO NOT NEED to know how to code in
order to create an app. In fact, there are thousands upon thousands of
free-lance developers all over the web who are yearning to have the chance to
build your idea. The best site for free-lance developers is Odesk.com. You can literally create a job post in
a matter of minutes for free. Then developers will be able to search, find, and
apply to your posting. In fact, the real difficulty in app creation is not in
the app creation itself, but rather in the funding and marketing of the app
once it is built. A future post will cover marketing and funding your app
project. I will also cover the pitfalls and concerns you should have about
hiring a new app developer and what to expect and plan for in the process in a
future post.
After
creating my first post ever on Odesk.com, I received forty-one applications.
Through the interview process, while gathering a list of different quotes, I
realized that the cost to bring my idea to life could range from eight thousand
to fourteen thousand dollars. Once again, I was a at a fork in the road.
Fourteen thousand dollars was equivalent to my entire savings from the previous
years work, and I was doubtful as to whether such an investment would be
prudent. So, once again, I tabled the idea.
Days
later, while perusing the web, I came upon a video named "Trader-Made $41 Million Profit in 3 Years
Option Trading." The star of the video was a women named Karen who, as
the title alludes to, makes a significant amount of money in a short period of
time. Sure it was cool that Karen had succeeded, but the real point of inspiration
that I gained from the video was how Karen began her journey and, specifically,
the process of learning that she underwent to ultimately succeed as she did.
The
shining moment in the Youtube video is when Karen explains that a friend
approached her to join a stock-trading class. The cost of the class was
twenty-one thousand dollars. At first, Karen thought that such an investment
was insane and that she was throwing away her hard earned cash. She reports
that her life savings amounted to roughly one hundred thousand dollars.
Clearly, twenty percent of a person's lifetime savings is nothing to scoff at.
Furthermore, for many of us, we are taught throughout our lives to go to school
in order to get a job so that you can rise up the corporate latter, while
saving money along the way, with the hopes of gaining financial freedom at the
end of the rainbow. This paradigm of thinking thus inhibits many people from
taking chances like Karen's friend asked Karen to do. Yet, through deliberation
and coaxing from her friend, Karen ultimatum joined the class, spent the money,
and went on to make millions.
Now,
am I saying that you should join an expensive business class in the hopes of
making millions? No! The take away here is that Karen spent the money, which
forced her to dedicate herself to the trade in a way that she never would have
if she did not make such an investment. Karen took a leap of faith. In fact,
Karen clearly articulates that if she did not spend the twenty one thousand,
then she would not have underwent the intense journey of self-teaching that
made her so successful. The investment itself held her accountable to
completing her journey into stock trading. For, if she failed, it would come at
a costly financial blow. Thus, the investment was not only in the class, but in
her commitment to the ideal of learning something new. Ultimately, the
teachings of the class inspired Karen to take on more knowledge and to commit
more time and energy to perfecting her craft. In effect, she broke away from
the paradigm of working for others and ventured into the foreign land of
self-employment.
So,
I realized that I also needed to be willing to put some stake in the game if I
was going to really invest my time and energy into my idea. In other words,
like Karen, I needed to take a leap of faith to begin something new. I needed
to cast aside my fear of failing or losing something and wander into the
unknown world of app development with the hope that I would find my way. A
great quote from the movie "Three Kings" comes to mind. George
Clooney, as Archie Gates, explains "The way it works is, you do the thing
you're scared shitless of, and you get the courage AFTER you do it, not before
you do it." Likewise, I too needed to make the leap of faith and do what I
was scared of doing. So, I hired my first developer. What happened next was
amazing. [end of part 1]
Check
out the next part of the story: "Failing is Succeeding"
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