Going IT Alone…
Mar 10th, 2008 by Chancer
Bootstrapping, flying solo, micro-business owners, “lifestyle” businesses or solo-preneurs; it’s all the same thing when you boil it down…going it alone.
We all have seen or read about the successful small business person who has a “light bulb” moment and sets off to start their new budding home-based business.
After all their trials and tribulations they become a roaring success. We the public only hear about the three “Gs” - the Glamour, the Gold and the Girls (or guys).
What we don’t hear about is the fourth “G”. The most important one actually. This is what one small business friends named the “Grind”.
Admittedly my “solo” career is just over a month old as of this post, but already I know that it’s this last “G” - the “GRIND” that will make all the other rewards of business possible. We never hear about the this because the “Grind” doesn’t make good TV.
Great ideas are fine but its the “Grind” that takes a shaky concept and turns it into a workable process. You can be charming and charmed and do the meet-n-greet with clients. But it is the “Grind” that will keep them happy and returning for more business.
The “Grind” means doing the work, no matter what else is going on in your personal life.
The “Grind” means busting your hump for people who will disrespect you and what you do but whose checks help pay your bills.
The “Grind” means staying up late and getting up early, to get the job done on the deadline you promised.
The “Grind” to make a living can become all consuming. So how is the “Grind” different from a regular job with its stresses and strains? The answer to that is simple…when working on your own; you are doing what you love best.
That old saying, “Do what you love and you will never have to work again…” has a lot of truth in it. Being self employed is scary. VERY SCARY!
Without your love of your work, the “Grind” would be made up of just you, your “Big Idea” and a Internet connection; all alone with your fears in the dark.
But by doing what you love, you turn the “Grind” to make a buck into something different. Something less greedy, less self-serving.
Now you will still have to work hard, probably harder than you would like at first - that’s the “Grind”, but by doing what you love best (what you are good at) you start making a difference in the world around you.
And as you grind it out your life’s work, do some good and have some fun, the money will eventually come to you.
At least I hope so…