What Line of Work Do You Do?
What Line of Work Do You Do?
I started my path into self-employment in the early 1990s, when I left my career in higher education, by starting a business where I created stenciled wallhangings and floorcloths, which I then sold at juried craft events. Since I wasn't enjoying my work and the business wasn't performing well, I made the decision to enrol in an entrepreneurial training program in the hopes that the knowledge I would gain there would help me launch and expand my company.
A discussion on the actual businesses that each of us was in is among the more fascinating anecdotes from the seminar that I can still clearly recall. Naturally, I believed that I was in the craft industry, as anyone could see by the look on your face. During this process, I learned that we are frequently not in the business we believe we are, and changing your perspective could have a huge impact on your venture's success. The franchise of McDonald's restaurants was one example given. Call me ignorant, but I've always assumed that McDonald's operated restaurants. However, it appears that McDonald's is actually involved in the real estate industry.
Yes, that one too caught me off guard. McDonald's appears to have as its strategy looking for extremely desirable commercial real estate to put their structures. By doing this, the land and the location turn become their true assets, which are frequently far more valuable than the restaurant itself.
A few weeks back, I got the opportunity to pose this query to a possible client. This family owns and operates an entertainment center where social gatherings and dances are hosted at night. The building is vacant for the majority of the day since they are unable to operate a restaurant there. When I asked what industry they believed they were in, they said, predictably, that they were in the entertainment industry, which is a difficult industry for them. I informed them that, in actuality, they were involved in the rental of space. When they weren't utilizing the facility, I asked them if they had thought about renting it out for events like proms, school dances, baby/bridal showers, kid's birthday parties, family reunions, class reunions, etc. This had never even occurred to them. In addition, I said, the secret to raising their income was to consider how they could make money from this enormous facility when they weren't utilizing it for business. They had never addressed this topic previously because it didn't "fit" with the line of work they believed they were in, but it gave them a whole new perspective on the company.
Are you really in the business you claim to be in? I wasn't really in the crafts industry when I ran my stenciling firm; rather, I was in the interior design industry. I'm actually in the "help me fix my business" business with my coaching. Consider carefully what kind of business you are in. You can come upon a completely different viewpoint and untapped prospects.
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