Is Entrepreneurship the way for me? by Tony Green

Does this image come to mind when you think about your job?

 

There are occasions after a long day at work when you sit down and think to yourself, “Is this really worth it?”  I do not claim to a problem with working a job, or partnering with customers or helping to solve their problems. It is just the fact you are required to work with not only a boss, but with co-workers who on occasions require so much time and effort to manage you wonder how anything else gets done. Part of being an adult is having a job and taking care of your family. The question what is the most effective way to do accomplish this? Maybe I should inward at look some personal facts.

Fact 1) I read Inc. magazine

I have read Inc. magazine religiously since I arrived in Silicon Valley. I enjoy reading about people who built profitable businesses from nothing. Bear in mind many of the articles feature young entrepreneurs who had taken the challenge and succeeded. In many cases, these folks would have never had the opportunity to run their own shows if they focused on working to move up the ranks.

Fact 2) not to insult any bosses I ever had I believe in myself and in my abilities

I never claim to know everything yet on occasions I have wondered if I were the boss could I do the job more effectively than the next guy. I used to be a manager in the past and even though the responsibility was a painful experience at time the lessons I learned will be immensely helpful if I get the opportunity to manage again in the future. A common sense way I view things is your relation to your employees’ stops being focused about you and becomes how you are putting your staff in situations where they, and ultimately you, can be successful.  Can this concept be so difficult to grasp and execute on? Honestly this easy for me to say from the view point as an employee. 

Fact 3) who wouldn’t want to in charge of their own autonomy

Who would want to in charge of their own success and not depend on the politics of the workplace for your overall success? I would think the freedom of knowing your decisions will make you or break would are empowering. What excuse can you fall back on when there is no one else to pass the buck to or no one else to comprise you efforts trying to push their agenda?

Fact 4) you are not going to reach success and security working for someone else

As a result of my work experience I believe you will never reach you full potential working for someone. Employers hired employees to perform functions which are either needed or in some way undesirable. Since entrepreneurs hire people to improve the bottom lines of their companies and stand to result the most financial when you are successful where does that leave you in the long term? Perhaps I might deal with a job better if I was convinced I did not possess the ability do better on my own. 

If  the decision were not the matter of keeping bills paid and benefits current, and having used all of my cash reserves getting through the recession perhaps I should give a shot someday.

Now that I my 100th post has been published by Tony Green

100 posts to this blog and going strong!

I have written this blog on a part-time basis for over four years. When I checked the amount of views via Google Analytics five posts seem to resonate more than the others as measured by the number of views and comments received.  

I thought it might be interesting as this is my 100^th posting to provide bit of insight into the reason why I created the posts which wound up generating the most interest.

1. Professional Certified Marketer (PCM)

I drafted the first of these posts upon passing my PCM exam in January of 2007. After attending some marketing events it appeared some were not as impressed with the certification as I believed they would be. The reason was obvious when I examined the question thoroughly. Marketers are created by either completing some formal education in marketing with on-hand experience or bring placed in a marketing function and learning through trial and error. Would was I to think with only a certification I could call myself a marketer?

2. Sell this pen               

Upon my initial sales interviews the interviewer asked me to sell the pen which he gave me.  I did not know at the time this was a common sales question. Once I had the writing implement in my hand I took the bait by talking before I thought about what I would say and rambled about how pleasing it appeared to the eye, how well it wrote, etc. I failed to ask the probing questions to determine why the need for the pen existed. Who knows the prospect might have needed a mechanical pencil or maybe the best solution may not involve using a pen. Naturally, I did not get the call for another interview. After picking up some books on sales interviews I got a better sense for what the interviewer wanted to hear. Never mind the job I did not get concept of asking probing questioning would be a lesson learned which would be very helpful going forward. 

3. The path from Ex-Navy Nuke to an engineer

The creation of this posting resulted from the fact most Navy Nukes do their stint and attend college afterwards on the Montgomery GI Bill. Naturally, many go on to earn engineering degrees. In my case, I did the opposite (why I enlisted and did not pick up an officer program is another story) and became a nuke after completing my undergraduate engineering degree. There were commonalities I thought my insight be useful to those going through the nuclear pipeline afterward.  

4. Gallup Sales Personality Test

I wrote this post after I took this test as the first part of sales interview process nearly five years ago. I failed to impress them enough to be granted another interview, which would have enabled me to speak to a live body over the phone or meet someone face-to-face because my answers were not specific enough.  This was for a sales position and in many instances selling is about relationships, which made this test even less logical as a tool for measuring the effectiveness of sales people.  To protect the guilty I will not name the company.  I will say they are in the medical equipment profession and were growing at 40% a year before the recession.

5. Looking at a green career: I should be fine right?

I wanted leverage my background into an alternative energy position for a long time. After trying to network with those in the industries and framing my past experience I felt I had met the prerequisites to be hired. This posting was my reaching out to get the feedback of the blogosphere if I had truly done the right thing. As this point no one has told me I had lost my mind, at least not yet.

I will continue to jot down my thoughts in my spare time for the entire world to see.  I believe any idiot can publish on the Internet and why should be no different. I wonder what postings will create a buzz from those who will stumble across them to read them. Perhaps we will visit this topic after my 200th blog. Until then greetings to the blogosphere and thank you for taking the time out to read this, what is a blog without readers?

Geez, I am so sorry by Tony Green

Handicapped spot

A few weeks ago I went to the Halloween store with my children to view this year’s newest costumes.  I pulled into parking lot on a bright fall day in the San Francisco Bay area.  After looking at ghosts and goblins until we were satisfied we returned the car to go home when I realized I had parked in handicap spot. Granted no handicapped vehicles tried to park during my time inside the store, however, that did not change what happened.

There was no real excuse, the sun shined brightly and the light blue signs painted on the wall and on the ground were clear.  After my children I told me to move my car I had to admit my error to them.  I should have checked before pulling my car into the parking space. The extra walking to the entrance of the store from any of the other spaces would have hardly killed me.  I thought to myself, ”Geez, I am so sorry”.

The incident made me think of my time on the East Coast during large snowstorms when folks would dump the removed snow in the handicapped spaces. Everyone should take a moment to think about why these places exist. If you happened to be disabled and trying to be a productive member of society wouldn’t you want similar consideration? 

In the event someone with handicap license plates came by my Camry parked in the space designated for your use please accept my sincerest apology. I promise this oversight will not happen again. This will serve as my reminder we should all be sensitive to the plight of the handicapped.