Why we don't work as hard for the boss, when he is us?

[GordonJ]

I was working 65-70 hours a week at MACE Electronics. Went to work one day, the doors were chained shut. Without notice, no warning, no indication, the company was going belly up.

25 years of success when ran by MACE, but within 2 years of his sons running the thing (Larry, Curly and Moe)...bankrupt.

So, did I put 60 hours a week into my own thing, even the job hunt or to start my own business? Hardly.

I ran across this a couple of years ago. Now let me toss out some example numbers just for illustrative purposes.

A guy is making 40 grand a year.
He works 45 hours a week (not counting his get ready time in morning, but counting his 15 minute drive to work) IF we time him from the wake up to the coming through the door after work, it is more like the 50-55.

For my simple minded math sake, 40 grand a year, 40 hours a week.

He goes to work FRI. , gets the MACE type news. Come Monday morning what does he do?

Probably sleeps in.

I ran a job club for almost 3 years and those guys hated the idea of giving up 6 hours, 2 on M-W-F to come to job club and prepare themselves for work.

We have a tendency, best guess at least Pareto at 80/20, but probably more like 95%, to NOT work as hard for ourselves as we are willing to do for the MAN, the boss, the wench at work who makes our lives miserable.

Why?

Two years ago I talked to dozens of people who wanted to build their own business, some with only a few hours a week because they were working jobs, others with all the time in their world.

One of my frustrations during this period was learning that most of them were unwilling to put at least as much time working for themselves as they readily gave to get a STEADY PAYCHECK.

MOST are not cut out for Entrepreneurship.

We here, have more of a tendency to lean toward being our own bosses, and for the most part are willing to put in the time and effort.

What has been your experiences with people who talk about being their own boss and wanting to escape the rat race...and their reality of rather having a boss and someone to tell them where to be and what to do, in exchange for their pay?

Do have different experiences? Similar stories?

I know that when I lost my job at MACE, my wife and two kids didn't cut me much "we feel sorry for you" slack, it was more like get your ass out there and bring home some bacon.

Your thoughts?

GordonJ

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

MOST are not cut out for Entrepreneurship.

We here, have more of a tendency to lean toward being our own bosses, and for the most part are willing to put in the time and effort.

I think you are right...

Many people are in love with the idea of entrepreneurship - but are they cut out for it?

I have a friend, let's call him Harry. He loves the idea of entrepreneurship... He keeps talking about the next business project he's going to do.

He's friends with me and some other entrepreneurial friends. He's a nice guy. But privately, one of my successful entrepreneurial friends told me, with a smile, "About Harry... he's not an entrepreneur."

That doesn't mean he's not as nice a guy, or that we like him less. He just doesn't seem to have that something that will let him take a risk, to get things moving.

Somehow, it seems when he intends to do something entrepreneurial - he freezes. Step 1 just doesn't get done.

I don't know why that is. I wish I could cure it for him! But... he loves the idea of being an entrepreneur. However, he just can't seem to even get started... This has been the story for a few years...

I really don't know why.

Is it fear of failure? Perhaps he finds it hard to make a decision? You need to solve both of those to take steps on the entrepreneurial path!

(If that's the problem, there are various techniques that can help...)

Thanks... Interesting topic, Gordon!

Best wishes,

Dien

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

MOST are not cut out for Entrepreneurship.

We here, have more of a tendency to lean toward being our own bosses, and for the most part are willing to put in the time and effort.

Hi Gordon,

I wonder... Could it be about Pain?

Specifically... For some people, working for a boss is a very painful experience. They hate it. They'd do anything to avoid it!

That more-or-less forces them to succeed in business... (Or somehow make a living from unemployment benefits... Or be homeless...)

(I relate to this, as I find regular employment quite painful...)

While, perhaps for other people, they are okay with working for a boss. They might prefer to be in business for themselves... But perhaps working for a boss is not painful enough for them, that they can deal with the difficulties of starting their own business?

Maybe finding employment painful is a good thing?

Best wishes,

Dien

[unpinkpanther]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

One of my frustrations during this period was learning that most of them were unwilling to put at least as much time working for themselves as they readily gave to get a STEADY PAYCHECK.

MOST are not cut out for Entrepreneurship.

We here, have more of a tendency to lean toward being our own bosses, and for the most part are willing to put in the time and effort.

What has been your experiences with people who talk about being their own boss and wanting to escape the rat race...and their reality of rather having a boss and someone to tell them where to be and what to do, in exchange for their pay?

Do have different experiences? Similar stories?

I know that when I lost my job at MACE, my wife and two kids didn't cut me much "we feel sorry for you" slack, it was more like get your ass out there and bring home some bacon.

Your thoughts?

GordonJ

When I first thought of working for myself,
the key thing I thought of was the FREEDOM.

(The biz-opp copywriters really drive this
point in!)

It was only after I had taken the leap that I
realized something is missing in what we are
told about working for yourself.

You see, when you're an employee, you only
have one job: your day job description.

When you become your own boss, you now have
TWO jobs: you are now both BOSS and EMPLOYEE.

It took me time to fully realize this, and to
apply it.

I had to get into BOSS mode to plan out the
work to be done, and then get into EMPLOYEE
mode to get the job done.

I try to make this clear to anyone I see who
wants to work for himself/herself.

Thank you

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

I think you are right...

Many people are in love with the idea of entrepreneurship - but are they cut out for it?

I have a friend, let's call him Harry. He loves the idea of entrepreneurship... He keeps talking about the next business project he's going to do.

He's friends with me and some other entrepreneurial friends. He's a nice guy. But privately, one of my successful entrepreneurial friends told me, with a smile, "About Harry... he's not an entrepreneur."

That doesn't mean he's not as nice a guy, or that we like him less. He just doesn't seem to have that something that will let him take a risk, to get things moving.

Somehow, it seems when he intends to do something entrepreneurial - he freezes. Step 1 just doesn't get done.

I don't know why that is. I wish I could cure it for him! But... he loves the idea of being an entrepreneur. However, he just can't seem to even get started... This has been the story for a few years...

I really don't know why.

Is it fear of failure? Perhaps he finds it hard to make a decision? You need to solve both of those to take steps on the entrepreneurial path!

(If that's the problem, there are various techniques that can help...)

Thanks... Interesting topic, Gordon!

Best wishes,

Dien

Dien, I can tell you the exact day I stopped being an Entrepreneur. I believe you were there, in Erie, PA. I was on the phone outside with Harvey Brody. Harvey reiterated one of his many fundamentals ( I still listen routinely to those 30 hours of conversations, always find hidden gems).

This was the old, don't build your castles on someone's beach...or as he would put it,

don't stand on a rug when someone can pull it from beneath you. It was the exact moment my Entrepreneurial spirit left me, almost like an Astral body on a midnight romp through the ether.

Over the years I had started a few successful businesses, but not being smart like Fred DeLuca, who used OPM for all his failed ventures, I stupidly used my profits and invested in some real dogs. YIKES, what was I thinking. Back then, I had a tank full of time and an attitude, easy come, easy go, easy come again...and it was, somewhat.

So don't bother calling me an Entrepreneur, no sireee, not this old boy.

It may be the season, turn, turn, turn...to everything there is a time, turn turn turn.

My seasons of start-ups and work ups and build ups and scaling out, yada yada yada, are all behind me now, and have been since 2009. Mostly piddlyling stuff, and at times, not interested at all, until I have to be.

My "students", the few I have left, require no time, a few hours a week of conferring on the phone. I'm putting NO effort into IM, or online and very little effort into selling advertising...and NONE into other people who talk but don't act.

So, with this being said and I freely accept that I am not an Entrepreneur and maybe never was a very good one, or else I'd be running for President...

it is OK with me.

I have put a lot of effort into the business side for a long time, but the creative side has been the one short changed. This has been a focus now for a couple of years. My stand-up comedy needs work, if I am to win America's Got Talent next year (I am adding a ukulele to the act and possibly some tape)...

But I'm having fun with it.

I have two movie scripts in progress, one far enough along I'm putting it on the market very soon and we'll see how good of a copywriter I really am.

My daughter and I are working on a couple of TV shows, writing the pilots and getting ready to take them to market, hopefully when her second book hits the shelves. Timing probably is the key.

My poetry is once again motivating me, and it is very hard work, much harder than marketing.

And the SQ1 book is now a labor of love once again.

Having dollars provided time, to spend with my kids as they grew up, and having a few up on the shelf helps, but, as far as things they might buy, or accomplishment goes, the artist side needs to make his mark too, and although there can be great artistry in business...

my biz skills today, are akin to the Crayola crowd in preschool, fun to scribble in hurricane fashion across the construction paper of my mind, and maybe hung on a fridge or two, but ain't nothing going to the Louvre.

Ain't got time for that, it's story time, and like ol Jimmy Durante would say, I got a million of them.

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. One for sale right now, spec script, will consider selling shares, but, think FL swamp land circa 1940's....HA!

Wait, some of the highest priced land today was once a swamp, who knew?

There are some people who have made Entrepreneurship a lifelong pursuit and habit, they just keep going and going and going. Some guys just keep creating and acquiring properties as a way to keep score.

It is great, and this country affords an equal opportunity when it comes to taking risks and gaining the rewards from successful leaps of faith.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by unpinkpanther

When you become your own boss, you now have
TWO jobs: you are now both BOSS and EMPLOYEE.

It took me time to fully realize this, and to
apply it.

I had to get into BOSS mode to plan out the
work to be done, and then get into EMPLOYEE
mode to get the job done.

I try to make this clear to anyone I see who
wants to work for himself/herself.

Thanks, unpinkpanther!

That's a great point I had forgotten...

It does take a completely different mindset!

I think it relates to what Gordon said earlier (in a different thread), that many people who want "business coaching," actually want a "surrogate boss"...

They're very uncomfortable with being the "boss" themselves (even if their only employee is himself or herself)!

I find that I often give better advice to other people, than I apply to myself...

I finally seem to have "solved" that by looking at my "future" self... I think when I do that, I'm a lot more objective...

It may sound crazy, but I guess the "proof is in the pudding" (but it seems to be working so far)...

Best wishes,

Dien

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

I have put a lot of effort into the business side for a long time, but the creative side has been the one short changed. This has been a focus now for a couple of years. My stand-up comedy needs work, if I am to win America's Got Talent next year (I am adding a ukulele to the act and possibly some tape)...

But I'm having fun with it.

I have two movie scripts in progress, one far enough along I'm putting it on the market very soon and we'll see how good of a copywriter I really am.

My daughter and I are working on a couple of TV shows, writing the pilots and getting ready to take them to market, hopefully when her second book hits the shelves. Timing probably is the key.

My poetry is once again motivating me, and it is very hard work, much harder than marketing.

And the SQ1 book is now a labor of love once again.

Hi Gordon,

As I'm sure you'd be the first to admit, marketing and creativity, art, comedy, and so on, can go together - and often do!

I just came across this article about what Picasso knew about branding...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/allenada.../#4589e7c12b64

There's a reason that Picasso was worth $500 million US dollars when he died. No starving artist in his case!

Or what about Lady Gaga? She's an artist. But she knew exactly what she was doing when she put on the meat dress!

(Are you planning to don some meat overalls for America's Got Talent? Or maybe a suit made out of hot dogs? )

Best wishes,

Dien

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Gordon,

As I'm sure you'd be the first to admit, marketing and creativity, art, comedy, and so on, can go together - and often do!

I just came across this article about what Picasso knew about branding...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/allenada.../#4589e7c12b64

There's a reason that Picasso was worth $500 million US dollars when he died. No starving artist in his case!

Or what about Lady Gaga? She's an artist. But she knew exactly what she was doing when she put on the meat dress!

(Are you planning to don some meat overalls for America's Got Talent? Or maybe a suit made out of hot dogs? )

Best wishes,

Dien

Hot Dog attire? HMMMM.

We just saw AGAIN, AGT is only a partial talent show. All 10 final acts had talent, but, the winner (and I love her) is chosen by social media firebrands. That is the real challenge. Will Hot Dogs attract youtubers?

To win AGT, one needs a platform, or get viral with teens who vote all 10 times in all ways possible.

But, if it is just EXPOSURE a new comedian is seeking (albeit an old one) something as simple as tape over the mouth, or, perhaps hot dogs...

might serve the purpose.

Also, since my comedy is somewhere between Don Rickles and Frankie Boyle, it will have to be tamed for network viewing.

Gordon

[unpinkpanther]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Dien, I can tell you the exact day I stopped being an Entrepreneur. I believe you were there, in Erie, PA. I was on the phone outside with Harvey Brody. Harvey reiterated one of his many fundamentals ( I still listen routinely to those 30 hours of conversations, always find hidden gems).

This was the old, don't build your castles on someone's beach...or as he would put it,

don't stand on a rug when someone can pull it from beneath you. It was the exact moment my Entrepreneurial spirit left me, almost like an Astral body on a midnight romp through the ether.

... I always felt there was something missing
in the way people talk about
entrepreneurship.

Watching this Gordon Bizar video confirmed to
me what I always felt was true:

Business shouldn't be for just the risk-taker
junkies!

That's really what attracted me to the Harvey
Brody story in the first place.

To me, Harvey Brody means a lot more than a
smart old guy shuffling papers for millions.

His story proves that anyone who is READY can
build a business around his lifestyle.