(This article is one of twenty-five(25)
contained in Tayo Solagbade’s Ebook titled "25
Articles/True Stories On Self-Development, Entrepeneuring
& Web Marketing To Help You Succeed More Often")
WARNING!
In order to get maximum value from this article,
the reader must keep an OPEN mind free from the influence
of whatever societal myths s/he is familiar with about doing
more than one thing at a time. If you cannot do that, then
you are NOT ready to use the information provided here.
You may find it useful to read my detailed
article titled How
To Be A Jack Of Many Trades™ And Why It Can Make You
Succeed More Often before you read this one.
"The mind is
like a parachute. It only works best when it is open"
- Anonymous
Keep
This In Mind For When You Meet A (Potential) Multipreneur!
The fact that YOU find it difficult
to switch from doing one thing to another, at will or within
a short space of time DOES NOT mean every other person will
experience similar difficulty. You simply cannot impose your
limitations on others in that manner. If you think it's not
possible, no matter who you are or what you think you've achieved,
that does NOT mean it's not possible.
Someone else, a child even, with the
appropriate skills set, desire and self-belief(as Napoleon
Hill would say) would bring that same thing to reality. Examples
abound as to how this has happened in the past. So, when a
person chooses to market not one but a number of potentially
income generating skills to different markets, do not be quick
to cast aspersion on the person. He might be just as good
as he says he is in all of them to justify wanting to earn
a living by offering service or products using those skills.
"The reasonable
man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists
in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress
depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard
Shaw
Essential
Qualities A Startup Entrepreneur Needs
1. Mental
Stamina. If you have been doing any reading about what
it takes to startup a business as an entrepreneur, you will
have read that you need to be able to deal with (and recover
quickly) from setbacks; work long hours etc. You need to have
mental stamina or the ability to persevere. I mention this
particular attribute because I believe it is the most crucial
for ANY entrepreneur to have. Without it, no matter how gifted,
talented, or skillful a person is, s/he may just not be able
to carry on long enough to achieve the success s/he desires.
2. Other
Attributes. Various authors, and books have described
the many qualities that make a good or successful entrepreneur.
There are even quizzes designed to help the aspiring entrepreneur
discover how suited s/he is to successfully functioning as
an entrepreneur. "Googling" the search string "What
attributes does a person need to succeed as an entrepreneur",
should turn up a few useful links that you can follow to learn
more about this subject.
3. Ability
To Juggle Many Tasks Or "Multipreneur". You
may find you need to be able to do many different things at
the same time. As some experienced writers on this subject
have admitted, you will during this period have to do most
of the work by yourself.
That includes preparing the business
plan, keeping your business data/records(especially to enable
you cater for the legal tax obligations etc), planning for
marketing/advertising, sales and so on. Many of these activities
you will probably be able to leave to employees in the future(if
you business is the type that requires such), but at the beginning,
you will need to demonstrate reasonable mastery of these tasks
to move your business forward.
Robert Kiyosaki recommends to persons
in paid employment planning for a future in business or self-employment,
that they plan to work in as many different departments of
their companies as possible with the main intention of learning
how those they are not familiar with function. That way, when
they eventually startup their learning curves would be shorter
or less steep.
Do You Really Lack Capital?
Really??
Sometimes individuals who wish to startup
their own business ventures complain of lack of capital. But
history is replete with examples of people who had little
or no capital and still managed to get their businesses off
the ground and up to a point where they found willing investors.
Dan Kennedy once wrote that he had
become convinced that all the noise being made about lack
of capital was nonsense. I particularly found quite instructive
Dan's advice to prospective investors in this regard. He told
them their money would be likely well spent if they sought
out and invested in the business run by a startup who had
demonstrated that she could survive on her own without capital.
Very good thinking!
How Do You Survive Without Capital?
1. Develop
ways to keep more of your revenue in your pockets or coffers
as tangible profits – negotiate better; get concessions
when you make purchases, maintain low overheads/running expenses.
2. Find
a way to get the things you want done, without having to spend
money e.g. product or service barter exchange.
But how do you do all this?
Using
Multipreneuring To Get Around The Problem Of INADEQUATE Capital
Let's face it, if you are anything
close to a true entrepreneur, you never really lack capital
at startup. This is because you will have one or more assets
that your belief in your business ideas will convince you
to sell to raise needed capital. What you will encounter is
INADEQUATE capital. The money you raise may not be enough
to meet your needs.
It is my strong conviction that if
more people can learn to acquire multiple self-taught competencies(relevant
to their chosen business interests), they will not only increase
their chances of succeeding in business, but also "immunise"
themselves against potentially devastating setbacks, since
they would be able to fall back on their skills set to either
prevent, avoid or recover from such setbacks.
You will
only save significant amounts of money when your skills are
self-taught. Therefore learning HOW TO LEARN should
be the first priority you have. Buy a book, tape, CD tutorial
etc that teaches how to do something you need to learn. Diligently
apply yourself for as long as necessary, and until you have
the desired proficiency. Then put your new skill to use in
a way that benefits your business.
As I said elsewhere, sometimes having
multiple marketable skills can help you attract "bread
and butter" jobs to tide you over the periods of slow
patronage you may encounter in starting or running your business.
Being able to earn income through a variety of channels, based
on multiple skills, certainly increases your chances of sourcing
needed capital to push your business forward and/or win the
confidence of prospective investors.
Anything
Wrong With A Humbling HUMBLE Beginning?
Even if you have what you consider
adequate capital, that should not be reason to spend carelessly.
You can still adopt the prudent approach.
And if you do NOT have enough capital,
you need to ask yourself some questions:
1.
Can I get this done myself?
2. If I can't, can I learn
how to do so in enough time to get the business off the ground
on schedule?
3. Or can I get someone
to do it for me without my paying cash(maybe you offer a service
using a special skill you offer, equivalent in value. As
a multipreneur, the chances of one or more of your marketable
skills coming in useful as a negotiating tool are high).
If a startup entrepreneur can acquire
the skills to function intelligently as a multipreneur, her
chances of success will increase, because she would accumulate
less avoidable overheads/operating expenses, and therefore
retain more of her earnings as profits. In addition she would
be able to turn potential setbacks into profitable outcomes.
Quick example.
As a multipreneur, apart from speaking and training on Self-Development,
I offer custom excel VB spreadsheet automation, web design,
and freelance writing services. While working on two different
projects in 2004(a webdesign job, and an excel workbook automation
job), I lost access to the laptop I was using due to a fall
out with my partner. In order for me to complete the projects
for my clients, I negotiated with one of them, who runs an
IT/Telecom company, to have a computer system built for me
as part payment for the web design job I was doing for him.
He agreed - for the obvious reason that it meant he got to
pay me less cash. In addition, he had many of the needed components
for building the computer system left over from previous projects.
So, just over a week later I had a brand new computer system,
AND I was able to finish off both projects!
While starting up, I chose to function
as a multipreneur in order to make myself more capable of
giving value to my identified target audience who have varying
needs due to the different areas of endeavour they are in.
This ability later became even more valuable when I discovered
I could get many other resources I needed, but lacked cash
to purchase, by simply offering to use one of my many skills
in exchange for the item(s).
As a multipreneur, I have had many
instances in which I got things done without spending half
as much as my fellow entrepreneurs simply because I took out
time to learn how to do it myself. No matter how you look
at it, an entrepreneur who can function as a multipreneur,
is likely to have more choices open to him/her when it concerns
raising capital or securing alternative means of getting access
to needed resources.
By putting yourself in a position where
you have more options to choose from, you increase your chances
of succeeding. When one door closes, your other skill(s) might
just open your eyes to another possible route to achieving
your intended purpose!
Still not convinced? Or worried about
what others will say? Read my detailed article titled How
To Be A Jack Of Many Trades™ And Why It Can Make You
Succeed More Often. 
Related Articles:
1.
When I Quit My Job, They Called Me Mad - And I Felt So, So
Sorry for Them!
2. Should You Quit Your Job or Start Your Business Part-time?
3. Why I Do What
I Do The Way I Do It
4. Avoid
Taking Lessons On Entrepreneuring From The Wrong Person(s)
5. Practical
Guiding Philosophies For Entrepreneurial Success
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