What does it mean to be your own boss?
Welcome back!
Business owner
At a coffee shop I overheard a conversations of two friends at the next table, they were talking about being their own boss and starting their own business. The two of them were planning what tasks each of them will be responsible for and a long list of remaining important tasks that they are going to hire help for.
That conversation just reminded me of the first year of my business. I initially had an outside contractor I sub-contracted as a technician. It wasn’t profitable to have an outside consultant, however, so I offered to hire the contractor as an employee. He liked being his own boss, though, and declined, and I totally understand that. I told him I couldn’t afford to keep paying him as a consultant, so we came up with a deal where I would pay him to train an employee of mine to become my in-house technician. Up front, both of us were very happy with the arrangement, and so he started training my employee.
Well, one Saturday my technician called me and said he needed me to come into the office. He wouldn’t say why over the phone so I rushed to the office and wouldn’t you know it, he turned in his office keys. He was quitting because my sub-contractor had offered him a job where he would get paid more! The sub-contractor I had been paying to train my employee stole away that very same employee. I had paid for all of this employee’s training and ended up getting absolutely nothing out of it. I won’t go into how unethical this was on the part of my subcontractor, because that’s an entirely different topic, but the point of the story is that I was left high and dry. I now had no in-house technician and my company was totally crippled.
I realized then that I couldn’t rely on someone else to be responsible for any facet of my business. I had learned my initial work ethic from my parents, and from them I knew to do the best I could and work hard. That wasn’t enough for owning a business, though. I realized I had put all my eggs in one basket with my technician. I had worked with the misconception that I could just hire people to do the things I didn’t know how to do. Wrong, wrong, wrong! From that point on, I made it my responsibility to learn about every aspect of my business. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we should do everything ourselves and avoid delegating work—those are both vital steps to running a good business—but rather, what I’m saying is that ultimately you are responsible for your own success, whether it’s a business, a non-profit organization, a club, a craft, or a relationship.
From that point on after my employee left, I learned how to do all of the networking work technicians had done for my company so that if my new technician got sick or quit, I could do the work myself. I made it my business to know everything about my business so I could do anyone else’s job if it came down to it. That’s what it means to pay your dues. There’s no other way to learn how to do something until you do it yourself.
Being your own boss, means you get the biggest pay out but it also meant that you pay the most with your time and weather more risk.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=bbee486f-f392-440d-a948-1140000a5604)
Giovanna,
This is a great story with a good lesson. Thanks for sharing!
Giovanna, very inspiring story for those who to set their own bussiness.Thanks.
Hi Giovanna,
wow ! What a great story?
” The best way to learn is learning by experiences” It is said by someone who i can’t remember. Actually though we hate to learn this way the lessons are always precious and you have just proved it here.
Thanks for the valuable lesson!
Thanks for this Giovanna. When I worked full-time as a lawyer I was always micro-managing aspects of the work that others would think of as secretarial, so having my own business and being my own secretary works perfectly for me.
Hi Gio .. people! Doing things yourself means you do do them to the standard you require .. and as long as it doesn’t interfere with the businesses growth .. it’s much better, especially at the beginning - so you learn the technicalities and the ins and outs ..
I wonder how the coffee shop ladies got on ..
Go well - all the best .. Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters
Thank you for your perspective, Giovanna. I have been in the computer field since 1994 and this is not the first time I have heard this type of story.
As a computer consultant, I also find it difficult to pay for the expertise of others when I can simply learn it myself. The fact is, had I spent more time concentrating on my business instead of learning about specialty areas like accounting, marketing or web design, I am very confident that my revenues would be double what they are currently.
It is my belief that a sub-contractor should never be more expensive than a full-time employee on a monthly basis. My business has adopted a flat-rate pricing methodology that makes our expert consulting very affordable to microbusinesses. By making long-term commitments to our clients, the profits grow as we further improve our processes.
I like the way you put it … “ultimately you are responsible for your own success.”
This is true whether it’s delegating, outsourcing, getting dental or medical or financial advice. What you don’t know can hurt you.
I’ve learned to delegate and outsource more effectively by first figuring out what good looks like. Having a trusted network goes a long way, as does having fallback plans and avoiding single points of failure.
Thank you Giovanna,
It is good to know the ins and outs of your business. It is very helpful. Even if you have employees, they might be sick or leave for somethings else.
Dan and Deanna “Marketing Unscrambled”
Hi Giovanna,
While it’s necessary to know as much of your own business as possible, it is not realistic to know how to do everything yourself. For example, if you’re running a restaurant, do you need to know how to cook to be running one? Or do you need to know how to cut someone’s hair to be running a salon? IMHO, I don’t think so.
Of course, you may need to learn the theoretical part of it, but you don’t have to know the technical part just so you could do anyone else’s job if it came down to it.
If one needs to be a chef to own a restaurant business, then I guess half of all the restaurants out there shouldn’t have been started in the first place because many of them were started by non-chefs. In fact, many were started by people who didn’t even know how to cook.
There is a false assumption made by many aspiring entrepreneurs, which is, they assume that if you can’t perform the technical work of a business, you can’t successfully run a business that does that technical work.
I have written a post on this and maybe you can have a read.
A False Assumption Made By Too Many Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Cheers~
Mark
Hi Daphne
I am glad you like my story.
Thanks for your comment and support.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Rogayah
Thank you for your kind words and comment.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Chris
Good to know that you felt the same way about how important that is be responsible.
Thanks for your comment and sharing your story.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Hilary
We don’t have to do everything ourself. We should know how to do or have a way to have back up, in case the hired help fail short. We should still have to way to keep business going.
Thanks for your comment and sharing your thoughts.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Gianpiero
I know what you mean, I got into the business in 94 as well. I guest we seen a lot of the same thing. Glad you find a set up that work for you and your business.
Thanks for your comment and sharing your story.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi J.D.
I agree with you. We have to make it our business to learn everything, otherwise we will have to pay the price.
Thanks for your comment and sharing your wisdom.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Deanna
That is right, we must watch out for our own business.
Thanks for your comment and your support.
Giovanna Garcia
Impecfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Mark
I can’t speak for all entrepreneurs. In my 12 years of an computer business owner, that is what I learned. If I don’t know how to do it, I will make sure I understand enough and have a back up support system. In case my employees fail short.
Most successful restaurant owner that I know are great cook themselves, and that allow them to have an great understand as to what their employee (hire cook) is doing well or not.
Thanks for your comment and sharing your thought.
Giovanna Garcia
Impecfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Vikum
That is the best way to learn is to lived it.
Thanks for your comment and sharing your thoughts.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
[...] What does it mean to be your own boss? (imperfectaction.com) [...]