An Observation Part 4

…the main thing that all people can take solace in is the fact that NO ONE can manage the social world. Everyone is unsure about other peoples’ motives and goals. The key is to be selfish. Do not think about what others are thinking. Do not cater to others or make calculated moves in order to manipulate the social world to your liking. Managing and anticipating the social world is impossible and if you try to do it you will be overwhelmed. You must shrug your shoulders, trust your intuition and go into situations with unfounded confidence.

This is especially difficult for me because I am obsessive about manipulating situations. In the business world, I can manipulate. I do not have to have unfounded confidence; my confidence is based on fact that I know the motives and goals of companies and employees. Once a goal is known, I setup a strategy and execute.

In conclusion, the business and social worlds are separate entities. They do not share one underlying principle that one can learn and capitalize upon.

An Observation Part 3

…when goals and motives are completely known, it is possible to go into a situation with the utmost confidence. All that needs doing is concocting the plan of action. The business world is beautiful in this way. I dream of being a ‘Beast of the Industry.’ I know what this entails. The rise to the top is a chess game in which everything can be anticipated and managed because all the variables are right out in front of me.

I have no clue what success as a socialite entails. I use to think I knew, but my motives and goals change so frequently that defining success as a socialite can only bite me in the ass. I would likely define it differently a month from now.

Socialization is not “cut and dry.” It cannot be anticipated or managed, thus it is difficult to be confident when seeking social upward mobility, no matter what your definition of this upward mobility is…

An Observation Part 2

…What type of friends are important? There are goofy, smart, party loving, listening, garrulous ect ect. Which friends add to one’s success as a socialite? Is one amazing romantic interest superior to multiple mediocre ones? Everyone has different opinions as to what makes someone a successful socialite. A sorority girl might desire accumulation of friends, romantic interests and associates regardless of quality, while a goth might want one friend and one romantic interest. Ultimately, social choices come down to what gels best with one’s lifestyle.

There is something to be said for being a desirable/respected person that way you can attract the friends you want and carve your social life to your liking. While being respected maybe a tangible aspect of social success, it is only one element of sociality.

The fact is social success cannot be defined because everyone has different motives and goals. Moreover, friends, romantic interests and associates all wash together and change titles frequently i.e. sometimes a friend will become a romantic interest; is this upward mobility or just change of title? Depends whom you ask.

Now, lets look at the business world. Upward mobility is clearly defined as increased finances and status. The goal is universal. There is no ambiguity as to why a financial analyst might do an excel spreadsheet on a Saturday morning when he/she could have been sleeping. The motives are clear. He/she increases the financial wellbeing of the company, increases the chance that he/she will be promoted, and the chance that he/she will receive a pay raise.

In the business world, people complete projects: tasks with ostensible conclusions. How to reach that conclusion may not always be simple. Yet, motives and results are void of ambiguity. The business world is “cut and dry.” I like this, I thrive upon this…

An Observation Part 1

I have been thinking lately about the connection between the business world and the social world. Does a single underlying principle connected the two? If a person could succeed in one world, could he bring that same mindset to the other world and also be successful? Before I began my analysis, I hypothesized that the two worlds would indeed parallel one another. Each would have different constituents and goals but the same underlying principle would apply.

While my analysis simplifies things greatly, to the point in which I cannot declare it as truth, I believe that I have caught onto something. I would need more factual information in order to be completely credible. Let me start by listing the goals of the social and business worlds.

Business: 1. to increase the financial wellbeing of one’s parent institution 2. to increase one’s own financial wellbeing 3. to increase one’s status/position.

Social: 1. to make friends 2. to make associates 3. to make romantic interests 4. to be respected.

The business world places an emphasis on upward mobility and accumulation. The social world is much more ambiguous. ‘Making friends, associates and romantic interests’ can be seen as upward mobility and accumulation, but it not necessarily need be. Some people don’t desire this social accumulation. Others are fiends for it. Upon further analysis, the social world only becomes murkier…

Utilize Connections

(In starting a Biz) I must stress the importance of making use of every possible thing at your disposal. This includes all of the connections you might have i.e. people with whom you are associated. If you are starting a bank, talk to your Dad’s second cousins grandma who is the Vice President of a local bank. Get tips from her, see what she can do to aid your business.

There is a temptation to make use of one’s connections judiciously. This is because you do not want to seem imposing. Calling someone for their services is certainly imposing. But… remember two things. One, this is YOUR BUSINESS that your trying to get off the ground. Very few things in your life will be this epic. There is no better time to utilize a connection, so don’t try to save the connection for a more important time. Either you will lose the connection by that time or a more important event will never arise and you will regret not making use of the connection.

Two, unless the connection you are trying to utilize is a potential competitor, the person will likely be happy to help you. Its human nature. Other people like being a part of epic events and your starting a business qualifies as epic. Thus, remember that other people will likely enjoy helping you in your endeavors. This should make you feel confident in asking for their services.

I’m Stubborn

Something I learned about myself while starting my pastry business: I’m stubborn. Don’t be stubborn! In social settings its good to make compromises, because people enjoy you more. In business, stubbornness can lead to failure, because you could wind up operating your business in the wrong way and fail to change course. For example, I had my heart set on starting a stand from which to sell my pastries. Never mind that there are no food stands in Seattle. I devoted ridiculous amounts of money and time to making this stand a reality. In the end, it was a poor venture; I lost more money than I gained. I had some idea that this was going to happen even before I created the stand. I had just spent so much energy on my current course of action that changing would have seemed like failure and my stubborn head could not fathom a bruised ego.

A key in business and life is to be flexible. If you believe that everything you set your mind to must become a reality, you will run into problems. Before I started my business I was unaware of the degree to which I was stubborn. Now I understand this part of my personality and work to fix it. Entrepreneurship, indeed, helps you understand yourself.

The World is Flaky

You LEARN so many major and subtle things about life, the business world and yourself, from starting your own business… In this entry I will discuss how: The World is flaky.

A very small percentage of people in both one’s social and work lives are responsible about timeliness. Moreover, they rarely complete what they say they are going to complete 100% of the time. Other people’s inabilities to stay true to their word impacts your life, because in this day and age people are busy and it is imperative that one keep a schedule. One untimely person can ruin your whole schedule. You must take other peoples flakiness into account if you want to keep your life in order.

Discovering that people are flaky may not seem like that much of a revelation: everyone who is at least 12 years old has experienced some girl or guy friend standing them up for some activity. Everyone has come to know that people flake out in social settings quite frequently. What blows my mind, however, is that, in the business world, people still tend to be flaky. I had thought the word “professionalism” had come to exist because it encapsulates how professionals act. This is not the case. Professionalism, timeliness and sticking to one’s word 100% of the time, is still as spotty in the business world as it is in social settings. For example, every piece of hardware I ordered for the Mochi Stand failed to come in on time. To compensate, I told producers that I needed the items earlier than when I actually did need them: an almost childish adjustment, but flakiness is a fact of life.

Uncomfotable Situations Part 2

…The best way to deal with uncomfortable situations is to be completely knowledgeable about all facets of your business. Knowing that you can cover all the bases should any difficult questions or doubts arise will help you go into situations with confidence. This will allow you to put on a performance: you will articulate and persuade. Your chances of success are at their greatest.

Another issue with constantly throwing yourself into uncomfortable situations is burning yourself out mentally. Humans only have so much energy. The mental exertion that you inevitably spend adapting to each new situation wears on you. It doesn’t help that you often have poor nights sleeps and million other things to do besides just dealing with people when starting up your business. To minimize energy expenditure while still doing a good job, you must learn to be carefree. If you put too much emotional investment into each interaction or stress about about the interactions too often, you will burn out quickly.

Being carefree is highly difficult; a business is your sweat and toil. The key is to have perspective. Your business is not the be all and end all. If worst comes to worse you are employable (companies love entrepreneurs because starting a business indicates that you have initiative and passion). You can drift back into the working world should things go sour.

Uncomfotable Situations Part 1

In my fourth installment in a series of less than uplifting take away points about entrepreneurship I will discuss how:

(4) Entrepreneurship is UNCOMFORTABLE… You have a product in which you are passionate about, but soliciting others to enter into contracts with you, knowing that rejection is a likelihood, simply feels unpleasant. No one will feel as passionate about your product as you. When you talk to other potential business partners and you see their lack of excitement it takes the wind out of your sail. You can’t let that happen. You must sell them on your product. You must win them over so that you can garner their services.

An hour before asking someone for services (in a meeting type setting), you feel nervous. For example, I had to meet with the head of product placement for Metropolitan Market. I had to convince him that my pastry should be on the shelves of his grocery store. I knew I would have to exert a great deal of energy, come off as intelligent, and argue convincingly. The task in front of me seemed harrowing. Nevertheless, I summoned up the energy and convinced him to carry my product. After it was over, I felt extremely good. You feel a high high when you succeed. Most of the time, however, you don’t succeed, in which case you feel negatively.

The high highs and the low lows make starting a business an emotional roller coaster. If you can’t handle this, you should probably avoid starting a business…

Money Part 2

…I was wrong. I calculated that a piece of the pastry (Mochi) cost 14 cents to make, with just taking into account the ingredients that go into it. I figured I could sell a piece of Mochi for anywhere between $2 and $2.50. This appeared to be an ungodly profit margin. Hotels, who frequently retain 80% of revenue as profit, couldn’t come close to this margin. I did not even begin to consider that my costs could exceed revenues. Nevertheless, renting a kitchen for $15 an hour, paying $500 a month to rent a space for my stand, driving from home to kitchen to stand to home everyday (about $150 in gas per month) made the money add up.

I had banked on a high volume of sales because my location had some of the highest foot-traffic in Seattle. When sales were slow, variable costs greatly exceeded revenues. Sales ended up being slow too often. Total costs exceeded revenues on a monthly basis. I had to either shut down and take substantial losses or find an ulterior business model…

My assumption that costs would outweigh revenues was simply unfounded. Every budding entrepreneur should look at his cost structure meticulously. He should also come up with a reasonable projection for revenue, perhaps based on market research. Ensuring that the one’s financial resources will not deplete is critical. Ingredients must be bought and rent must be paid: the fact is, a business cannot function without money. While it is impossible to derive a completely dependable source of money, you must find sources that have a high probability of producing. This way, you are at least hedging your bets that your income will cover costs.