NOTE from Phil: What follows is a fantastic guest post from Carol Roth about something I am very passionate about: Entrepreneurship. I hope you enjoy it!
Aspiring entrepreneurs usually believe one or more of the following:
• Their idea will get them rich
• Their idea will get them rich quickly
• They can escape the corporate grind
• They can be their own boss and have the freedom to do what they want, when they want
• They can work shorter hours and have more free time for their hobbies, families and other passions
• They can be in control of their career path or their own destiny
• They can leave their mark on the world
• They can do more of what they love to do; and/or
• They should open their own business because they will “do it better”
However, most aspiring entrepreneurs don’t understand what it means to be an entrepreneur.
What you are about to read is a mostly lightly edited version of a conversation we recorded to put right here on this very blog. The parts where we talk about my desire to run away with her love interest, the gloriously bekilted Marty Whitmore, were heavily edited.
ND. Okay. Can you please explain in short words exactly what you do?
MEM. What an excellent question! For the purposes of this conversation: I run a positive impact network called Ideaschema. Ideaschema’s job is to provide as much support structure and as many resources as we can to help motivated people grow their ideas. To that end, I do a lot of consulting work, idea catalyst work for special lovely people like yourself — running IttyBiz, in other words — and putting together learning packages to pro-active-ize the mindsets of people with spectacular potential. And very recently, I’m helping people look at normal situations from creative standpoints.
ND. Those were not short words.
MEM. I thought you were kidding.
ND. I thought you knew me better than that. I will translate. You do idea generation, building, and putting projects together, and you either do that by helping people find ways to do their thing, or by actually getting your hands dirty and helping them do it.
Plans are being put together for Business Development in Context to go private in March. Soon it will exist as a resource for my clients or by paid subscription only.
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Here are 3 quick examples of training areas that work in good times and bad:
* Right now, people realize that job security is an illusion. There’s never been more interest in starting up small and home-based businesses. It’s a huge training market that’s getting bigger due to uncertain economic times and general dissatisfaction with working for someone else.
* Technology is marching forward at a blistering pace. People need to be educated in software and technology tools for career changes and better productivity. The aging population needs clear instruction on how to do basic things that others take for granted. It’s a huge training market that’s getting bigger due to rapid change and the advancing age of the Boomer Generation.
* Personal development training is in high demand. Because basic needs are well satisfied in many Western nations, people are looking for more. They’re looking to the top of the needs pyramid, which is self-actualization. And due to the way our brains are wired, we value advice we pay for more than free and often untrustworthy information.
Those three huge training categories only scratch the surface of the potential. New opportunities for profitable paid training programs arise every day thanks to the relentless pace of change.
If you are interested on some Productivity Skill training, send me an e-mail (stephen @ hdbizblog . com) and we can talk about it.
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April 7th, 2010 by Stephen
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