Tag Archives: entrepreneurs

Welcome to the Covid 19 Zone

Have you ever been under pressure to get a project started? And then, once almost delivered, have to put it on hold at the very last moment? Better yet, have you ever had a spark of creative genius that kept you up at night? You can’t rest until you act on it, only to have outside forces tell you to wait. Welcome to the Covid 19 Zone.

The Twilight Zone
Image by Merlin Collaboration

This is not a dream

Nope, this is not a dream. It’s more like a nightmare. For the first 30 days of this pandemic, I awoke each morning thinking that the previous days events were simply a dream. It took me 5 minutes to shake the sleep from my mind, only to realize that this is reality. Covid 19 was going to disrupt my plans for the foreseeable future. I can’t fast forward life and relocate to a new city, state or even country. That isn’t going to make this go away. All of us are in The Covid 19 Zone. As the phrase goes “We are all in this together”. By the way, that phrase at first sounds warm and fuzzy as if we are all pulling together for a common goal. The reality of it is that we are all mired in a deep pool of poo. It stinks and nobody gets a free pass.

An idea for an industry that is on hold

My genius idea that I have is now officially on hold. The industry that my idea is for is Theme Parks. The Covid 19 Zone has thrown spike strips into the path of my idea to stop me dead in my tracks.

Spike strips

Spike strips are great to stop a moving vehicle. Covid 19 is a great way to prevent people on the entire planet from assembling together. That is most of the time. Scores of industries are being hamstrung by something that most of us didn’t see coming. We have been told that we were overdue for a pandemic as the last one occurred over 100 years ago, the Spanish flu of 1918. This type of thing NEVER comes at a convenient time. It just shows up like a dreaded house guest that doesn’t know when they are wearing out their welcome!

5 things to do if you are chomping at the bit

If you find yourself in a similar position like me, waiting to give birth to that new idea and feel as though you are a horse chomping at the bit, here are some ideas to help while you wait.

  • Make a game plan or outline from start to finish of what your project looks like once it is completed.
  • Spend the time now to research the talent and assets that will be needed to pull it off.
  • Is this a solo project or will you need to collaborate with others? If you will need to collaborate with others, choose these people and then come up with why this project will benefit both them and you.
  • Spend time looking at similar ideas. What worked for them? What didn’t work for them? How is yours different?
  • Realize that you may not be the only one with this idea and that The Covid 19 Zone may be giving you an opportunity to put your project through a well needed training to work out all the kinks so that it is ready when we get to the other side.
Horse mouth and bridle

This too shall pass

One way or the other, this too shall pass, hopefully sooner than later. The big question is when. If this virus slowly fizzles due to the world shutting down until the virus can’t find any new hosts that is one way. I’m hoping and praying for a vaccine that will eradicate this unwelcome guest as was done for polio and small pox.

Until then, don’t give up on your idea, just use the time wisely and work on it so that when it’s your time to shine, you have done your homework and are first in line.

Hey Entrepreneurs, LIGHTEN UP!

Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?

I have been self-employed most of my life. An entrepreneur is all I’ve ever wanted to be. As a child, I had businesses that I started; they weren’t much, but I knew that I wanted to create something that was lasting and create my destiny. I grew up with stories of my relatives who invented things like the peanut harvester, shock absorbers, and other machinery. Many of my relatives had made the trek to Alaska and started their own business to take advantage of people moving there to seek their fortune. I knew that I wanted to be part of that history as well.

entrepreneurs  are born, not made

Entrepreneurs are born, not made

I have always had that entrepreneurial spark. I thought that since I had that entrepreneurial spark, everyone had it. What I have found is that I was wrong. You see, If you compare people’s personalities to vehicles, I have been trying to make very lovely sedans into sports cars.  A sedan is excellent for getting around town, dependable and a good value for your money, a sports car, not so much. It is made for two things and two things alone, speed and maneuverability.  I can put a cool steering wheel and nice rims on a sedan, but it’s still a sedan. I’m not saying that you can’t add some skills to people who want to learn new leadership skills, you can. But to try and take someone that wants to be great at their job and shoving them into a leadership position is just wrong.

The quicker you learn this as an entrepreneur, the better

Ok, so you are the entrepreneur, you are wondering why everyone that you give an opportunity to is not taking you up on it and not meeting your expectations. “If I can do it, then they can do it.” you think to yourself. WRONG! If they had that entrepreneurial spark, they probably wouldn’t be working for you. If you hired an administrative assistant, let them be a great assistant, don’t try and shove them into a position they never wanted. If you are looking for people who have an interest in learning to develop that entrepreneurial talent that they ALREADY possess, then that is fine, make sure you know what YOU are looking for in potential employees.
happy being me - an entrepreneur

To those past and present employees that I have tried to make into something you never signed up to be, I am genuinely sorry.