Web Business Freedom

I’ve come to the conclusion that most people who start their own business these days do have a couple screws loose.

I don’t just say this from personal experience. However, when I first left a good job about 10 years ago to start a business with nothing but a shoestring and a bootstrap, I know how I felt. I was unhappy in the place I worked and unable to do more than what I was hired to do (public relations). So mainly, I was pigeonholed, but what pushed me over the edge was deciding, “If I think I can do a better job than the people running the place, why can’t I run my own place?”

That’s the line of thought that gets most people, at least in the good ole US of A, labeled as crazies and troublemakers. Because we’re no longer a nation of desperate and cunning immigrants, with nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting a shingle out that says “Open for Business” (and proceeding to work our fingers to the bone to survive). We are programmed at an early age that we’re supposed to be good little citizens and go work for The Man, pay our taxes and in return get our modest checks, benefits and personal days.

I’m not the first to pursue that line of thinking. Robert Kiyosaki’s landmark book Rich Dad Poor Dad, among others, kinda kicked me in the teeth with that.

It’s true. Go tell some people you are tired of working for The Man and thinking of going out on your own. You are likely to get some encouraging words and some weak congratulations, but secretly most people you tell are thinking the same thing: Are you nuts? Why would you leave a good job for the unknowns of making a living on your own?

Certainly, running your own show is not for everybody. But it’s a way of life that many, many people could do, and do well, if they only had more real encouragement, incentive and motivation. I myself learned it was possible, to such a degree that recently when my own business was no longer fulfilling me personally, I decided to basically start over with Web Business Freedom. This time, I did it much like the first time I went purposely “jobless” (i.e., self employed) 10 years ago: without a whole lot to fall back on financially, but with a hell of a lot more at stake now (single then, married with kids now).

Yet the thought of getting a quote-unquote “real job” has (barely!) entered my mind. And that is a huge mindset shift from the way most people, including the old me, are conditioned. They think, “If I lose my job, I’ll polish up the old resume and work hard to get another job.” Then they get right back on the same treadmill.

The entrepreneur, on the other hand, says, “Well, whatever I’m doing isn’t necessarily working out the way I planned. But I’m not throwing in towel and getting a ‘real job.’ I’m still happier and more fulfilled working for myself, and I’ve learned from my mistakes. Next time will be better.”

Can’t is not the entrepreneur’s vocabulary. The operative phrase is, “There must be a way.”

When Failure Is Not An Option

I remember when I decided to be entrepreneurial back in 1999, nearly broke and living alone. It was terrifying at first. The movie Apollo 13 had come out a couple years earlier, and one scene stuck in my mind. That’s when Gene Kranz, the lead flight director for Mission Control, tells the ground crew, “Failure is not an option.” I kept telling myself that. I also thought about one of the Indiana Jones movies, when Harrison Ford was about to leap into a chasm, and at precisely the moment he did it, a bridge appeared to catch his fall. It sounds like so much schmaltz, but strong imagery like that, even from the movies, had a profound impact on me as I managed to eke out a living before surpassing where I’d been before—personally, professionally and financially.

At a critical time, there will be something that pushes you over the edge. Then you’ll be willing to take that first step toward entrepreneurial freedom. But be forewarned—that freedom can be deceiving. (Much more on that to come.)

Initially, it’s enough just to enjoy going with the flow, allowing confidence and naivete to take over. I love the catchphrase of the legendary pro wrestler Ric Flair (besides his signature “Wooo!” war cry): “To Be The Man, Ya Gotta Beat the Man.” When you’re starting a business, you need to be thinking along those lines. Entrepreneurs know instinctively there are lots of ways to Beat the Man. Wooo!

The web is a godsend to the self-employed. You can be a sole practitioner or tiny company and still have a big “presence” online. You can solicit feedback, provide great customer service, sell products and services, get attention from the media, generate positive word-of-mouth advertising…essentially all the stuff big behemoths can do, for a fraction of their costs and zero red tape. You don’t have to have a lot of special knowledge, or be held hostage by an IT department. You don’t need a bunch of money, either.

Always remember that while failure is not an option, success is an option. And if you believe in yourself and use the web well as part of your business plan, you can accelerate that success.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jam343/4952338