A New Approach to Gain Needed Traits

At some point in our lives each of us takes at least a moment to step outside of our bodies and look at ourselves from an external position. For me this reflective time has occurred while looking in a mirror and thinking about important decisions or possibilities that are coming in the near future. For instance, before I originally decided to major in accounting. I remember looking at myself in the mirror one morning asking if I could see myself being an accountant. Could I picture this tall, shaved head, serious faced individual wearing a suit, white shirt, and a tie approaching a client to audit or prepare taxes for him/her? Did I have the mental capacity to do the work? Did I have the personality needed to succeed? Would clients trust me enough to allow me to view confidential records or business material? I asked myself these questions, and probably a few more I can’t remember right now, to try and get an idea if the decision I was about to make would be one I could live with for many years to come. Since I was able to answer these questions in a satisfactory way I made the decision and picked my major. Now, the fact that there were a lot of questions I didn’t think about, let alone think of an answer for, is another issue all together. The point is that the first time this occurs there are a few typical reactions and at least one powerful emotion. Today, we’re going to run through what occurs when you perform this introspection and then get to the new approach to gain needed traits.

In order to be remotely accurate in this self search you have to start with honesty. You have to be able to look at yourself as if you were on the outside of a fish tank looking in. You have to notice how you react to the other fish; how you prefer to swim; how you like to eat; how you try to defend your territory. Do you lead the school of fish or are you just one more fish behind the leader? Without a base level of accuracy all you’re doing is lying to yourself and this can have devastating consequences on your future. Say for instance that you do not have the mental capacity to successfully complete your chosen major, but you lie to yourself and say you do. You’re setting yourself up for countless days and nights of unending frustration, stress and worry. If I would have picked Chemistry as a major I would have gone insane. Chemistry is the one subject I’ve put TONS of work in and still managed to have below a 50 average. There is something about chemistry that just doesn’t click with me and to know that and still try and make that my life pursuit would have been destructive. So remember, the first thing you have to do is be honest with yourself.

Once you have honesty the first thing that will happen (at least with me) is a sense of shock. I believe that most people view themselves through ‘rose colored glasses’. They don’t necessarily see themselves objectively, they view themselves subjectively. They think they are smarter, stronger, better looking, wittier, and any number of things than other people. Other people might see them as a smart ass, instead of smart; an overconfident weakling, instead of strong; a self-centered ego maniac, instead of good looking. We, as individuals, have the luxury of knowing why we do things and then the ability to place our actions into the proper context. Others, however, probably don’t know our reasoning (or care about it at all) and just see our actions. What I discovered when I first performed this introspection is that others probably view me a LOT differently than I view myself, and to be as successful in the world as I desire to be I must view myself as an outsider looking in (this is still not an easy task).

After being honest and getting over my shock I started analyzing the traits that I thought I needed in order to be a successful accountant. Although accounting really doesn’t have much to do with math at all, I do like numbers. I like looking at pages of numerical data and making something out of it. Put a plus on the accounting side. I’m a bit of a perfectionist (Ok, that’s a little bit of an understatement. I expect perfection. Period.) so the whole paying attention to detail is right up my alley. I typically have no problem at all interacting with new and different people, so put a check by "client friendly". Virtually every question I could think of as to whether or not I should major in accounting I put down in the positive column of, “Yes, I can become an accountant.”

You’re probably not going to be able to say ‘Yes’ to every question you can think of concerning your decision or direction. Sometimes you’re going to have an overwhelming ‘NO!’ for an answer (this is where honesty really plays a big roll). My overwhelming ‘NO!’ came from the question, “Do I fit in with other accountants?” I have to say that I don’t fit in with the majority of accountants. I’m very straightforward and direct; where as most of my classmates were not. I enjoy the work of accounting, but I do not want to spend all day everyday inside. I typically get along a lot better with blue collar workers than white collar workers. I question everything and have a VERY hard time accepting the response “That’s how we’ve always done it.” or “That’s just how it is.” As a professor once told me, “You’re going to have a very hard life in accounting because you just don’t fit the mold.” When you come across the no’s in this introspection you have to ask yourself if you’ll be able to perform and maintain your happiness in spite of the issue. If not, I suggest moving on to the next option.

To jump ahead: I tell you all this because I’ve had to look at myself in the mirror and ask, “Do you have what it takes to start and run your own business?” I believe I do, but there are a couple areas I know I’m going to need help with. These areas are confidence, emotional control, discipline, and physical health. I’ve decided to take a new approach to gain/improve these traits in myself. I’ve decided to pick back up my training in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu/Ninjutsu. Let me explain how I think training in Ninjutsu will help me improve the four areas mentioned above.

The first area I see Ninjutsu helping me in is my confidence. When starting a business I think I will need all the confidence I can muster; I already possess a healthy dose of confidence in my mental abilities. As it stands, I already believe I will be able to successfully accomplish any task I set for myself. Also, if any problems arise I believe that I possess the mental capacity to overcome them and move forward. The confidence gained from Ninjutsu is much different than being confident in my mental capacity. With Ninjutsu I will gain a certain physical confidence (not to be confused with physical arrogance). A confidence that will allow me to say that, “Everyone here is a little safer because of me.” (Robert Humphrey) I will also gain confidence in the fact that I will be creating a whole new set of skills for myself. Those that know me know that I am one of the least athletically inclined individuals out there. The only form of athletics I’ve ever been any good at is working out. Other than that I am uncoordinated and downright goofy. So gaining the skills necessary to progress in Ninjutsu will show me that I can learn skills that are not solely related to mental capacity. The new realm of confidence I think I will gain from Ninjutsu just might be the edge I need to truly succeed at my own business.

The next area I see Ninjutsu helping me out in is in emotional control. As one of my closest friends likes to say, “[People] can read me like a book.” I’ll be honest; I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. If I’m happy you know it because I do my best to share it with everyone. If I’m angry you can tell very quickly because my face turns bright red (and if I’m really angry I sometimes have a vein in my forehead pop out). When I’m worried or concerned you can tell by my quietness and inability to focus on the task at hand. Basically, no one ever has to guess what I’m thinking. If I have some grand idea I basically turn into that kid in school who is about to stand up and raise their hand because they want the teacher to call on them so they can share their answer/knowledge with the whole class. One of the things I like about Ninjutsu is that it encompasses both the body and the mind of a person. As my instructor likes to say sometimes, “Ninjutsu not only teaches you how to defend yourself, it also provides you with the mental and emotional stability to know when to use it.” Ninjutsu will help me gain the emotional control that will help me succeed in my own business.

Ninjutsu will also help me gain more discipline. As I’ve mentioned in other postings, I have no problem knocking out goals I set for myself. That is, as long as the goal can be achieved in a relatively short term. If a goal is going to takes more than a few months or maybe even years my success rate is not very high. My problem is that I get bored. Once I get bored I start looking for something new and when I find that new thing, whatever it is, I jump on it and charge ahead full steam. Unless I can’t accomplish it quickly, then I start over on the same cyclical trip. To me, Ninjutsu and discipline go hand in hand. In order to master the different techniques and skills needed in Ninjutsu you must be disciplined to practice on your own. As with anything worth learning, if you just do/use it while in class you won’t learn much. It takes practice outside of class to gain the necessary skill levels. Luckily, I really enjoy Ninjutsu and have no problem practicing it outside of class. Also, discipline comes into play with Ninjutsu in knowing when to use what you’ve learn. With Ninjutsu we are taught that it should only be used to defend our family, ourselves, or others (if necessary). Where discipline comes into play here is in making certain that we don’t walk around like arrogant bullies. I also intend on displaying discipline by setting a goal of gaining the rank of Shodan (1st degree black belt). Since this goal will take anywhere from three to five years I will need to display enormous discipline to accomplish it. Discipline will help me in too many ways to count when starting and running my own business. The most sought after goal for me is in being able to set a long term goal and reach it.

The fourth area I see Ninjutsu helping me with is my physical health. Although it is not mandatory to be in great shape to learn and perform Ninjutsu, it definitely helps. Also, many of the exercises and actions are fairly demanding and will improve my physical health through repetition and practice. In terms of starting and running my own business, being in good physical shape will allow me to work the extended hours that are usually necessary to start and run a business. Also, being in shape will mitigate the effects of stress that are common with a startup.

I think Ninjutsu will really help me out on this adventurous journey I’ve begun. I hope that this post helps you see that solutions to your problems can come from unexpected sources.

Until next week…

Turning a Strength into a Weakness

I hope you noticed the little spin I used in the title on an old interviewing trick, Turning a Weakness into a Strength. I remember the first time I heard of this little trick, I was in high school. I was applying for a courtesy clerk, translation: bagger, position at the local Publix. I don’t remember the store manager’s first name, but his last was Black, Mr. Black. He asked me what I thought my biggest weakness was and since I had performed a little research on the Internet I was ready for it. I reflected on my answer for a brief moment and then responded, “I’m a perfectionist. It absolutely kills me if I can’t do something 100% correct. I tend to focus on the one task until it’s completed exactly how it’s supposed to be done. (I chuckle softly) I can even become a bit of a bear to others if they interfere with my quest for perfection. However, by recognizing my problem this gives me a distinct advantage over others. I always strive to do my best and when I notice that I’m starting to get frustrated with my quest for perfection I ask for help.” (All of this is true by the way. Well… I don’t like asking for help, but I will if absolutely necessary.)

I thought that was the best answer ever given during an interview. The manager gave me what I can only guess was a canned response (which I don’t remember) of that being a good weakness to have. What I do remember is he wasn’t near as impressed by my answer as I was by giving him that answer. At the time I just thought he was a ‘blah’ kind of individual. Looking back while thinking last week I think it may have been because he had heard a similar response a hundred or even a thousand times before.

Although that was my first time using this particular technique, it was not my last time. Luckily I’ve changed my ways. Now, whenever I have an interview I prefer to admit one of my weaknesses and just acknowledge that I am aware of it and am doing my best to overcome it. By doing this I get the response I was looking for in that interview so long ago at Publix, the expression of, ‘Wow. Haven’t heard this before.’ and actually meaning it.

So you may be asking what in the world does your little story have to do with turning a strength into a weakness and more importantly, how does any of this tie into starting your own business?! Bear with me. I’m getting to it.

Last week while at lunch I read a column at Inc.com (awesome site) that made me pick up my entrepreneurial journal and write a page of thoughts down. That article was by Norm Brodsky (here is a link to all his columns, searchable by year) and was titled “Groundhog Day”. In this article Mr. Brodsky talks about how people keep doing the wrong they’ve always done and keep getting the wrong things they’ve always got, but don’t realize why that is. Even though the individuals may not like the results that are achieved they continuously follow past patterns and harm themselves, similar to Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day.

A sentence in Mr. Brodsky’s article was the seed that grew this blog entry. In his article Mr. Brodsky said, “The most valuable business lessons we can learn come from facing up to our weaknesses.” That sentence made me think. And the line of thought it generated is not normal for me. Maybe it’s my blossoming ability to think differently (I’d like to think so); maybe it’s just a fluke? To me, it’s how Mr. Brodsky wrote the article in the first place. He took what some would consider a strength (ability to take risks) and showed it as his weakness.

Here’s what I thought: Addressing your weaknesses is not very much fun. After years of reflection I’m finally starting to be able to pinpoint all my many weaknesses. But even more important than spotting weaknesses is the ability to spot a perceived strength that is actually a weakness. How damaging would it be to have one of your traits that you think is one of the most positive aspects about you actually be one of the most negative aspects about you? If you use that trait frequently you could be causing more damage than you can fix.

To help everyone out in understanding what I’m talking about let me provide you with two personal examples.

The first strength that I have from time to time turned into a weakness is my ability to focus. First, the positive aspects of this ability. When I am assigned a task I lock onto it. I’ve been described as a hammer focusing in on a nail. A good friend of mine put it in a way that made me think of this as my first strength to weakness. He said I’m like a sledgehammer used to nail in a finishing nail. I not only lock in on my target, I obliterate everything around it. And that, my friends, is where this strength turns into a weakness. I get so focused on one thing that I don’t see anything going on around me. I don’t see other options or opportunities and where it really gets dangerous is I don’t always see people. I see my target and people are the tools to reach it. This can lead to hurt feelings and resentment from those I work with.

Here’s how this affects me starting a business: While working for others I am usually rewarded for getting my job done (object of my focus) with high level of efficiency and effectiveness, ruffled feathers are usually over looked as long as the job gets done. But if I take the same approach when running my own business I could alienate people that work for me or lose customers due to my perceived harshness. Neither one of these options is acceptable to me.

The second strength that I have from time to time turned into a weakness is my ability to switch gears quickly. In the employee environment that I come from it is usually seen as a positive trait if an employee has the ability to stop what they are doing and pick up something else completely different, and I have no problem doing that. If both projects are short lived or have a close deadline then I’ll 99 times out of 100 get them both completed in a superior manner and before the deadline. The problem arises when the tasks are long lived. Say a project has an end date of several months or years down the road. In that case I have no problem at all in switching gears and an almost impossible time going back to the original project. In an environment where I’ll be in charge of virtually all aspects of the business, including seeing to the completion of tasks that may take months or years to complete, this could be a HUGE liability.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you I don’t have a solution to this possible problem. What I do know is what I expect to get out of this introspection. My first goal is to be able to pinpoint where I see my future problems coming from (both business and personal), and I’m doing my best to think of unexpected problem areas, too. My second goal is to maximize my chances for success once I start my business. I think the only way I can accomplish either of these goals is by carefully reviewing who I am, my actions, and thinking a little differently than I’ve always thought.

We’ll find out together just how successful I am at accomplishing both goals.

On the Road to Creativity

I’d like to start this entry out by apologizing for not adhering to my stated goal of producing at least one post a week (as mentioned in Focus!). Unfortunately there was a family emergency that consumed my time and thoughts. Have no fear, I’m back now and will do my best to adhere to my goal in the future.

So a few postings ago I mentioned that I had put a question up in the Startup Nation forum concerning creativity. I’m very pleased with all the responses that were provided and intend on digging a little deeper on a few of them, such as asking why more often, and trying to think of business solutions to solving problems. Some of the suggestions I have already been following, such as keeping an idea journal.

And actually, over the last two weeks I’ve been doing a better job of asking why and trying to think of business solutions to solve needs. For instance, I went clothes shopping with my lovely wife the other day. She said she needed a pair of pants and a shirt. Sweet!!! I thought to myself, “In and out at Kohls in under 20 minutes (she tries her clothes on) and I have a super happy wife.” A little over two hours later we leave the store with the only pair of jeans that fits her and two shirts. I think she tried on around 50% of the jean designs that were in the store.

Now I don’t know how many of you have been clothes shopping for a girl lately, but the selection is not good at all. That is, unless you want to dress as a very mature adult or you want to look like a complete skank. Also, girls have apparently turned into GIANTS! Let me give you an idea of what ‘average length’ in female jeans means. I’m 6’3” and wear jeans that are 34” long. Well, Skye kept complaining about how long all the pants were and I, being my normal dashing self, started making fun of her for being short. Being none too pleased with my sarcastic remarks she instructed me to hold the pants up to myself and see exactly how long they were. I obliged her and held the pants up (remember, these are ‘average length’ jeans). Now picture this, a 6’3” guy holding a pair of female ‘average length’ jeans up to where his jeans come (an inch or so below the belly button) and the jeans go from the waste, down the legs, over the shoes, and about three or four inches of jean on the floor.

I just started laughing. I’m assuming the jeans were marked incorrectly or were some sort of defect. Even if that’s the case there ended up being only one pair of jeans in the store that ended up fitting my wife correctly. Either the pants were too long, too short, too tight, too low riding, made with ugly designs, made to look worn out before bought, or made with crappy material (stretch pants are ‘in’ for some reason). We discovered that there are virtually NO pants designed for girls that have small waists and … how do I say it… a nice posterior.

Here’s where the creativity I’m striving to get comes into play. Originally we kept searching for the ‘right’ pair of jeans, the whole time getting madder and madder. Then I said to myself, “Why not think of a business solution to this problem?” So I did. Now granted I’ve been told I have a bad idea or I need to work on the name or marketing, but the point is, I thought of a business solution to a problem.

I thought of a line of pants designed for girls that don’t want all the bad characteristics in jeans that I mentioned above. What they do want is a pair of jeans, made from denim, without ugly designs, that aren’t cut too low, that will fit a girl that has a small waist and a nice posterior and is of truly average height (which is around 5’4” according to Skye). This super pair of jeans will be called Trunks, Jeans for Girls that have a lot of Junk in Their Trunk.

So I’ll admit, half the girls out there would get offended by the name and not buy the jeans. Part of the female population wouldn’t be interested in the pants because they don’t meet the description of the girls the jeans are designed for. But the part of the female population that would try the jeans on would love them and buy multiple pairs.

Tah-dah! I took a problem and found a business solution for it. I’m so proud.
Alrighty folks. I think I’m finished for the night. Don’t be surprised if I put another post up in the next couple of days.

What I’ve Learned

I have mentioned in a previous blog (or two) that I’ve had several different jobs that have taught me things that I think will help me when I start my own business. After the week I’ve just had I think it is time I cover some of the things I’ve learned from previous jobs. Now, because most of the things that stick out in my mind are things NOT to do (which I think can be just as educational as things TO do) I am not going to name places or people. I don’t even intend on giving specific examples pertaining to situations. What I do intend on discussing are the particular lessons I’ve learned, be they good or bad. So buckle up, here we go.

1. Integrity is essential.

Even though I have not been in what I call the real working world for that many years I have seen more instances than I would have ever imagined of individuals lacking integrity. According to Dictionary.com integrity means adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. To me, this means doing what you say you’re going to do. Period.

2. Follow a code of ethics, if nothing else, a personal one.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary ethics can be defined as a set of principles of right conduct. I have witnessed on several occasions people in authority breaking the rules and laws that govern the particular industry I was in at the time. And directly after breaking these rules and laws the individuals would turn around and insist their subordinates follow those rules and laws. Remember, doing the right thing is not always easy and doing the easy thing is not always right.

3. Set the tone at the top.

I have learned that an organization has the tendency to mimic the person in charge. If that person sets a good example the organization will typically function as intended and things will typically turn out well. If, however, the person in charge sets a bad tone (unethical, backstabbing, immoral, rude, etc) the organization will adapt a similar tone.

4. Stand up for your actions.

I learned at a very early age that a person must stand up for his or her actions. If your actions lead to a reward then the reward is your due. If you actions lead to a punishment, then that too is your due. Good or bad, always stand up for your actions.

5. Do the best you can.

It was third grade when I learned that I should do the absolute best I can. Any task you can’t give 100% to (I don’t go for that over 100% stuff because you can never give more than your all and last time I checked, that’s 100%) is not worth doing. The opposite of this rule is any task worth doing is worth giving 100% to.

6. Give credit where credit is due.

I have heard it said that everybody wins if no one is concerned about who gets the credit. I don’t always agree with this rule. I especially take issue with this rule when it is a superior who has very little to no input or impact on a project and then proceeds to take all the credit for solving the issue.

7. Lead with authority.

What I mean by this is you have to have a spine when you are in charge. When you are in a position of authority you cannot allow others to dictate your actions. I believe that it would be acceptable to listen to any advice from trusted advisors, but the leader must make the final decision. Also, as a leader you cannot try to please everyone. I have seen on several occasions a leader make no decision at all because someone might get offended or may be unhappy about it. I have also seen leaders that are afraid of confrontation and therefore side with the path of least resistance.

8. Support your employees.

Too often I have seen those in a position of authority throw their employees to the proverbial wolves at the slightest sign of a conflict, even when the employee is in the right.

9. Focus on job performance.

I have always said that I do not work in order to make friends; I work in order to perform a job. What I mean by that statement is that I do not care if you are my friend, if you are a male or female, if you are young or old, if you are white or black or any other race (as far as I’m concerned we are all humans). Too often I have seen superiors make decisions based on friendship, sex, age, race, etc, even if it is not the best decision for the organization.

10. Maintain confidentiality.

A superior must always remember that they are the boss and not divulge information that should remain confidential. Be that information a trade secret, a conversation between the superior and another employee, or a conversation between the superior and customer confidentiality should be maintained.

11. Be adaptable.

Too often organizations refuse to adapt or change and fall back on the old maxim of "This is how we've always done it." Even when the way in which things were done in the past is completly wrong, inaccurate, or completely out of date. Any organization that refuses to adapt is destined to go the way of the dinosaurs.
I’m stopping here for tonight. When it comes time for me to open my own business and have employees I promise to do my absolute best to remember and apply the topics I’ve just discussed.

Creativity

I posted a question on StartupNation.com that can be found here. It's asking for ways to gain the entrepreneurial mindset (by shear coincidence there happens to be a book by this same name which I intend on purchasing in the near future). I'm getting some really good ideas and suggestions. Feel free to check it out and let me know if you have any ideas for me.

Goals

So I have already discussed that step one in my journey was doing what I can to make sure my finances are in order. Luckily, they are in decent shape. According to some statistics I found online everything is pretty much in line when it comes to our budget and the national average (and yes, I realize I should be doing a lot better than average and I intend to do so in the future). The only place we are out of whack is how much we spend on vehicles. This will change when my car is paid off in 19 months.

Now imagine this, step one is interconnected with step two, which was to set some goals. So I set a few goals. Don’t worry, I didn’t use any complicated method to set my goals. Nor did I sit down and try and set goals for every aspect of my life. I have tried doing that in the past. Twice. Planning out my whole life just does not seem to work for me. I find it too time consuming, too inaccurate (hard to plan my every action and goals do change), and too annoying to keep up with.

So what I did is I thought of a handful of goals that have a time frame out to about five years. Although I’ve discussed these goals with Skye, I have not even written these goals down as of yet. This will be the first time they appear in a “concrete” form.

Here are my goals. I’ll discuss them in more detail below.

1. Take the CPA review and pass the exam – Starting Jan 2008
2. Have credit cards paid off by Dec 2008
3. Move to new location when Skye graduates – End 2008 or beginning 2009
4. Purchase a house – Sometime in 2009 or 2010
5. Have a business of my own – Prior to the end of 2011

Let me explain the thought process behind coming up with these goals and what I hope each one will accomplish.

Take CPA review and pass exam – Starting in Jan 2008

This goal is fairly obvious for those who know me. I went to school for accounting and received my masters in it. Most of my work since graduation has dealt with accounting in one way or another. This goal is a natural progression of the process that was started when I choose accounting as my major. But that is only part of why this goal made the list, and a small part at that. The main reason this goal is on the list is because I think it will help me start my business when the time comes. I feel that having those three little letters after my name will lend credibility and trust to me from both future clients/customers and from lenders. I think most people place a decent amount of respect and value on the CPA designation because of the testing/standards involved and the experience necessary to gain the certification.

Pay off credit cards by Dec 2008

This is where the first step ties in with the second step. Around about December of 2006 I sat down and made a spreadsheet to show me how long it will take to pay off my credit cards by paying different payments at different times. It showed me that we should be able to pay them off in two years by being financially disciplined and living below our means. This will help me start a business by improving my credit and eventually lowering my expenses (no more credit card payments), which will allow for more money to be used in the business.

Move to new location when Skye graduates – End 2008 or beginning 2009

Skye will be graduating from grad school probably at the end of 2008. Since she’s focusing on medical libraries we will need to move to where ever she gets a job. We both figure it will be a lot easier to get a job in accounting than it will be to get a job at a medical library because there are a lot more positions open for accountants. Moving will help out my business endeavors because we will move to the most opportune location within a certain radius of her work. This new location will be where I start my future business.

Purchase a house – Sometime in 2009 or 2010

I plan on purchasing a house sometime in 2009 or 2010. This will give us up to two years in our new location before the deadline comes. I’m planning it this way for a couple of reasons. First, this will provide us with some time to determine where we will prefer to live in our new geographic location. Secondly, this will give us the time needed to ensure we get the best deal for our house. My experience in real estate taught me that if you have patience and the ability to walk away if not satisfied you would get the best deal. Purchasing a house will help my business by providing an available source of credit/financing if needed.

Have a business up and running by Dec 2011

This gives me five years from when I really started thinking about my own business until I get it open. I have every intention of having a business operational considerably before this date, but Dec 2011 is my outside limit.

As you can see, I have put a little bit of thought into my goals. Each goal has a personal as well as business related aspect. Also, each goal has a tentative deadline.

Now, I’ve given myself a financial checkup (budget) and I’ve prepared a road map (goals) to where I’m going. My initial preparation for this journey is complete. From here on out we will be discussing ‘scenery’ as we march forth on this epic journey.

Budgeting Benchmarks

I found these numbers online the other night (for the life of me I can’t remember where) that show national averages for budgeted numbers. Here they are:

Housing 32.9
Transportation 19.1
Food 14.1
Apparel 4.0
Healthcare 5.9
Entertainment 5.0
Personal Care 1.3
Reading 0.3
Education 1.9
Tobacco 0.7
Miscellaneous 1.5
Cash Contributions 3.4
Personal Ins and Pensions 9.9

For any of you who end up using these numbers for your budget I warn you to keep one thing in mind. If you do what the average person does, you are going to be average. So you have to ask yourself, “Do I want to settle for being average or do I want to be better than average?” Remember, the great men and women of history are not remembered for being average. They are remembered for going above and beyond what others did.

I married a genius!!!

Ok. So I have the best wife EVER! No questions asked. Skye found a way for me to be able to put my budget spreadsheet on here. Look at the bottom left side of this page (scroll down) and you'll see a section titled "Downloadable Files". You'll see a page with a pie chart on it. Click it once and it highlights, click it twice and a little window pops up. Now the text in this window looks a little garbled because she edited the HTML to make it fit. But you CAN see "Download". Click that and specify where you want to save the file. Wa-la. You have the spreadsheet I mentioned in my last blog.

My first step - Budget

Hello my faithful readers. It’s another week and time for another posting. Let me start by giving you a quick update on whether I’ve listened to my last posting and focused or not.

Believe it or not I’ve done a decent job of focusing for the week (don’t knock it, that’s an accomplishment for me). To help me remember my ideas and attempt to expand upon the good ones I started an entrepreneurial notebook (Skye’s idea). I’ve written down two ideas for businesses. One I really like and may or may not make something of it. The other is a gym idea I’ve had since I was working out heavily two years ago. Also, in my notebook I’ve placed numerous websites I heard about while listening to StartUpNation (SUN) radio. Haven’t had the time to check out all the websites, but that’s ok. Like I said, I did a decent job of focusing.

I’ve read more of my current book, Quality or Else, and refrained from buying any more books (although I did fill the buggy at Amazon.com with numerous books I plan on buying in the future). It happens to be the inspiration of one of the business ideas, the one I’m most excited about. I’ll discuss the idea at a later date. I’m a little over half way through.

I’ve told several friends and family members about my blog as well. Most say, “That’s awesome!” and say they’ll check it out. Some are more interested than others. It all serves my purpose of talking about my blog though.

Ok. I said I’d make that a quick update, so I’ll stop now.

What I’d really like to talk about today is the first thing I did to prepare myself for this journey, which just so happens to be a financial checkup, in the form of a budget.

To be honest, I made my little budget spreadsheet not for purpose of starting my own business, but to make sure that we have enough money for Skye’s schooling. She was about to start grad school and I wanted to make sure we had enough extra money in order to cover all the necessary expenses. In order to do that I needed to know what was coming in and what was going out. So I made a nice spreadsheet that has numerous tabs. A brief description of the spreadsheet follows. Unfortunately I don’t think I can post the spreadsheet here (if you can neither Skye or I see the way), so if you’d like a copy let me know and I’ll email it to you. I find it very useful.

The first tab is a monthly summary of our total revenues and expenses. So for any given month I can see if we had a surplus or a deficit. We tend to break even, imagine that. What’s the old saying, “Expenses will grow to match income.”? In our defense, the main reason our expenses match our income is because I’m paying down credit card debt I acquired while trying to make a go at real estate.

The next tab is a paycheck breakdown. What I do here is enter each paycheck that either Skye or I receive. On the left I place the gross amount. To the right of that I have before tax deductions, taxable income, federal taxes, state taxes, FICA, Medicare, and retirement deductions to arrive at net pay. This is the amount we bring home each payday. I have totals for each month and then at the top I have a grand total for the year.

The next tab is for our net revenue. This tab may be a little redundant because all it shows our take home pay. I guess I really just have it here because it shows our net pay, without all the ‘background noise’ of how we arrived at it.

The next tab is probably the most useful tab out of all of them and that’s the expense summary. Here I have the totals from each expense tab, by month. I also have a row across the top for grand totals by type. Another useful feature of this tab is I have percentages all over it. On a monthly basis I show what percent of total expenses each exp is. I also have the average yearly percentage per expense class. So if we start spending too much in anyone area I can pinpoint it immediately.

After this tab I have individual expense classes. For instance the first expense tab is for utilities. This includes items such as rent, renter’s insurance, phone, cable, gas, and electricity. The next tab is food. On here I have groceries and eating out. I have a total of eight separate expense classes and a total of thirty-five separate expenses.

I understand that I probably just spoke the equivalent to Latin to most people out there. For that, I apologize. Skye said she’s going to see if she can’t find a way to place a copy of my spreadsheet on here so all you’ll have to do is click on it and see what I’m talking about. Trust me, it’s more useful than it sounds.

The only thing that might bother you about this spreadsheet is that it must be updated on a constant, regular basis. I pretty much update it each evening that I’m home (we have a tendency to visit friends on the weekend). So each day I gather all receipts (if we have any) and place the amounts in the spreadsheet. It’s a bit of a chore at first, but now it’s a habit. Supposedly, you only have to do something for 21 days in order to make it a habit.

What you learn from the spreadsheet may or may not be a surprise. We learned that we spend more on our cars than anything else. We also learned that we ate out WAY TOO MUCH when we started keeping track of our expenses. Once you see where you are spending the money you can then determine if it is discretionary or not and what you can do to reduce it. For instance, with our eating out we cut back A LOT. We were spending more eating out then we spent on groceries. Now we spend a lot less on eating out then groceries.

So since I made the spreadsheet I know where money is coming from and how much we make and I know where we spend the money and where we need to cut back on our spending. I’ll be the first to admit that budgeting is not a cure all if you’re in financial troubles, but I do think that it is a very important first step to gaining financial health.

Right now I would give us a C in terms of financial health. We are not doing bad, but we are not doing well, either. But I would say we’re a C heading towards an A, instead of a C heading towards an F. The main items that are holding us back are 1) credit card debt and 2) Skye’s pay. Fortunately, both will be much better within two years. In two years the credit cards will be paid off and Skye will be graduating from grad school. Upon graduation she can expect to make two to two and half times more. Both of these items will help us greatly.

So remember, before you start your own business it’s a great idea to find out where you stand financially. If you’re in trouble you need to do what you can to straighten things out BEFORE you start your business because during your initial couple of years it will be fairly challenging to separate your financial health and that of your business. By the time I start my business I will be in good financial health.

(I’ll let everyone know if and when Skye figures out how to put my spreadsheet on here.)

Focus!

So I started this blog up right? And now I find my self thinking about what I need to do next on my journey all the time. I want to go in 100 different directions at once. I want to explain what it is I’ve done already to get myself into position for my journey. I want to go to Barnes and Nobles and buy a dozen different books and read them all. I want to check my blog to see if I’ve received any feed back (I have, THANKS!!! everybody). I want to post a book review I wrote a couple weeks ago. I want to do so many things so I can say, “Look at me! I’m doing what I can to start my business.”

What I’ve decided I’m going to do is calm down and focus. I know myself. At least a little bit. I know that I’m prone to getting very excited about an area one week and completely turned off by it the next. This is not going to happen again. Period.

In his book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino has a quote that I intend on getting engraved and mounted on some sort of decrative display (my father is an AWESOME furniture maker) that reads as follows, “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” (Pg 26) My determination is strong. I WILL succeed.

And while listening to StartUpNation radio today either Jeff or Rich told a caller who was venturing into several different businesses at once that he should focus his energies and get one business stable and secure before he jumps to another business. If he doesn’t focus all the businesses are likely to fall apart and he could burnout. So I’m going to take this common sense remedy and apply it to myself.

I’m going to calm down and focus. I realize that I can’t do everything that I want to do at one time. I will remember that I already have part of my plan in the works and I will continue to work that part until I am done (obtaining my CPA, will cover in a later post). I will keep in mind that I have a wife whom I love and want to spend time with, so I must prioritize what I plan on doing for my journey and my family life. I will finish the book I’m reading before I buy another book, and then I will only purchase one book at a time (I have a tendency to go broke in Barnes and Nobles or at Amazon.com).

As far as this blog is concerned, I will set a goal of at least one posting per week. I will probably produce more posts over the next few weeks while I explain the preparation I’ve already gone through and begin to get a feeling for where this journey will lead me.

I will also tell other people about my blog. I’ll do this for two reasons. 1) Accountability to my goal of opening my own business. 2) I learned in Real Estate that I don’t like talking about what I do to others (there are exceptions). I’m going to force myself to talk about my blog to get me in the right mindset for my future business, because regardless of what that business is I will have to talk about it to others to get business. I will practice with my blog.
I will persist. I will succeed.

In the beginning...

The Announcer: (Screaming) AND THEY'RE OFF! Warhorse takes the lead, followed by Crazyleggs and Chestnut.

I'm sure everybody can picture in their head the excitement and quick speaking announcer at the start of a horse race. The pop of the gun, the gates flying open, the horses taking off like bullets.

Now imagine having that same feeling about your life. Or a part of your life. That's what happened to me last week.

I was taking lunch halfway through yet another wonderful (note sarcasm) day at work when I stumbled upon startupnation.com (link is to the left and I definitely suggest you check it out). Startupnation.com is a site devoted to people who start or want to start their own business. On their site you can find all kinds of information about starting your own business (all FREE by the way). You can also find pod casts, archived radio shows, and a community designed for social networking of entrepreneurs. Well this site provided the spark I've been needing. Let me explain.

As you might have noticed when you first stumbled on this blog I'm currently working as an accountant for the City of Macon. You might have also seen that I started accounting so that I could find out how businesses operate. The reason I wanted to know that is so that I could start my own business one day. I've said that ever since I started studying accounting. Even though starting and running my own business has always been my dream I've never taken the step to be a true entrepreneur (I was a real estate agent for a while, but that's a story for another day). I often think about what I could do as a business of my own, but that usually lasts 30 minutes or so and then I keep doing what I've always done.

Me staying in the same old rut changed last week (permanently I hope) when I discovered startupnation.com. I came across the site while reading business articles at lunch (regular habit) and have since been hooked on it. I've been reading all the articles on the site and listen to the archived radio shows all day at work. This has served to get me really thinking about being an entrepreneur.

The thought process and the actions I'm taking and going to take are the reason for the name of this blog, The Entrepreneurial Journey. Because I'm going to be on a journey over the next few years or more. I figured this blog will help me stay focused on my goal of starting my own business. I intend on posting steps I take, ideas I have, things I've read and anything else I feel the urge to. The end goal of this blog is to show how I get from where I am now to where I want to be. A secondary goal I hope it serves is to provide other entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs a source of information, ideas, or humor as you follow along on this journey.

Right now I would say I'm in the process of gathering the necessary supplies for this multi-year journey. I got the idea for a blog from Neal, a great friend of mine from school who has a very interesting and thought provoking blog at autodogmatic.com (link at left). Him and I were talking and he pointed out that a blog could be a great way to come into contact with like minded individuals. At the time (three or four weeks ago) I didn't have a clue what I could or would talk about. Tonight, this idea hit me, so here I am. Thanks Neal, I would've never done this without you.

Other necessities I've gathered are my experiences from my varied jobs since graduating. I've been an auditor, a management intern at GEICO, a real estate agent, and a staff accountant. I've learned things from all of these jobs that will serve me in my future business. I'm thinking I'll describe some of the things I learned in future posts.

I've also gathered a decent formal education. I have a Masters and an undergrad in accounting from the JM Tull School of Accounting at the University of GA.

I also have my first advisor/mentor in the form of a childhood friend who has already started a couple different businesses. I don't think he realizes that I'm going to pick his brain of everything he can teach me about running your own business, but I bet he does now. Thanks Dan. Check out his company links to the left. ADWInternational.com and eStorePros.com

I also have to say my biggest asset is a supportive wife. She encourages me every step of the way and has complete faith in me. She also has to listen to me ramble on for hours about everything I do, find, and learn. None of this would be possible without her. Thanks Hun.

Alright y'all. I hope I've given you a taste of what I plan on doing here. All I can say is I hope you're ready for great journey down the road to me becoming an entrepreneur.