Unlimited Potential of Entrepreneurship
When I attended Brock University (my major was Biology and Geography), I had a lot of hobbies outside of school like most students but something I fell into was entrepreneurship. My second year Japanese language course was canceled and after briefly considering computer programming, I decided to try this new things called entrepreneurship.
Custom display at the Nürnberg International Toy Fair.
What I didn’t realize back then was that I was already an entrepreneur, I had a growing web design and 3D animation company while at Brock University and before that, had a paper route for a decade! I enjoyed being paid for my time, in the newspapers business, I’d be paid about 20$ a day to walk for 45 minutes house to house delivering the paper and every two weeks, I’d collect money. It was easy and I quite right before starting university.
I didn’t just deliver the news, I was also in it!
While I was literally FAILING my entrepreneurship class at Brock University (the teacher was more focused on memorizing a book than actually doing entrepreneurship), I was nominated as one of 3 ACE Entrepreneurs of the Year in Canada while at the same time won an award for Entrepreneur of the Year for the Chambre Economique de l’Ontario. I squeaked by my entrepreneurship class with a 56% I believe and got to represent Brock University at a national business meet in Ottawa around the same time… rather ironic. Good thing nobody asked what my grades were in my entrepreneurship class as a requirement to represent Brock University in Ottawa!
Unlimited Potential of Entrepreneurship
While it is true that you can make as much money as you want being an “entrepreneur”, the reality is that things aren’t that easy… it “sounds” nice thinking you can make millions of dollars off an idea or servicing clients but the reality is that you are jumping from contract to contract with zero guarantees.
When a client needs you, you make money, when they don’t… they owe you NOTHING. No vacation pay, no EI, no health insurance and the list goes on. Want to buy a house or some capital equipment? Nope, the bank won’t help you because you don’t have a JOB! People tend to romanticize the life of entrepreneurs, sure, there is great freedom but there is also a lot more challenges… I can spend the day at the beach on a weekday or fly off to Japan for a week without giving any notice no problem, but I won’t be getting paid for it (most of the time) and I get the same bills as everybody else that must be paid-up!
What’s great are the peaks in entrepreneurship, when everything is going GREAT and money if flowing in… the opposite of that of course are the valleys where you are not only making no money but losing money. It isn’t always UP unless you are incredibly lucky (and yes, luck plays a bigger role in success than skill) nor is it always DOWN. It’s like a roller coaster, you always try to be climbing but sometimes things happen and you are thrown in a loop.
The only REAL job I ever had been while I worked in Australia for almost two years before founding CNCROi.com, I did the 9-5 thing and I really enjoyed it but I just never got use to a regular paycheck… it was actually quite scary to rely so much on a “guaranteed” paycheck. Sure, there is ZERO guarantee you will get paid after doing a project after delivering it to a client but even that felt more secure to me!
I prefer to make more money than God one week then nothing for a few more than to have the same amount week in and out… at least that feels more natural to me as it’s been the way I’ve always had things.
Busy weekend!
This weekend, CNCROi.com completed a number of projects – yep, ironically, we get most of our work while most people aren’t working – it was a fun and interesting mix of custom manufactured widgets that needed to be fiber marked, some arts and craft type wooden projects that were cut with our CO2 laser source, some wooden name badges and foam inserts… I’ll get the stamps done we have in queue tomorrow night as those are best done in batches.
We are growing nicely and although last month wasn’t a record one for us, the trend in both clients and volume is always going UP which is a great sign! Having repeat clients is also a wonderful thing, it’s the closest thing I will ever get to a regular paycheck.
Entrepreneurs love talking to Entrepreneurs!
On a very regular basis, I’ll meet entrepreneurs at their business of all scales and they love telling me how they succeeded, give me advice on how to perceive things differently and are generally very open to spending time with me, something I both greatly appreciate!
There are entrepreneurs of all stripes, some have enjoyed wild success while others have struggled, but overall, there is a certain field of energy that we all have and enjoy sharing with one another… I often go to networking events and sometimes you meet other owners whom you just click with, talk for a few hours at the exclusion of everybody else and start doing business together right away. Other times though, you talk until you have no more voice and discovered you wasted your time… there is no predicting it.
I liken entrepreneurship to fishing, you can meet a hundred of them and come home hungry or return with a feast and the chances of that happening are mostly LUCK and timing.
Meet an entrepreneur when they are enjoying great success, and they won’t have time for you, meet them when they are down and they have no money for you, meet them somewhere in the middle or you click for some reason and bingo, you’ve hit the motherload!
Employees can be entrepreneurial too!
I’ve also enjoyed great success working with companies led by what I’ll term “entrepreneurial employees”, these aren’t your regular workers who are quick to take their breaks and working ONLY for a paycheck with little else in regard but entrepreneurial employees who are trusted by the company they work with to enjoy the benefits of a regular paycheck while seeking and finding new opportunities to help the company the work for grow outside of their cubical. Generally this is seen in the marketing and sales departments but I’ve seen it in all facets of a company from engineers to even secretaries who go out of their way to see areas where we can fit into!
These are some of the most gifted and enjoyable people to be with as they, like me, see their place in life full of opportunity and potential, working together helps BOTH of us where finding points of synergy helps them, their company and mine all survive another day.
It takes a very open mind to see potential and an even bigger spirit to follow-through into the unknown and I have to thank each one of the people at the companies CNCROi.com works with for giving me the opportunity to work with them.