■ You’ll need benefits. Even employees of the largest companies are not being provided with the same level of insurance and retirement benefits as in the past. When you’re starting your own business, you have the same kind of decisions to make as the largest Fortune 100 companies: What kind of health benefits will you be able to afford—both for yourself and for any others you employ? Which insurance company (or companies) will provide them? How will you fund these benefits? Likewise for retirement savings—both your own and for any employees. Will you contribute to a 401K? What you decide will depend upon your personal as well as business priorities and resources.
■ You must cope with constant change. The one constant you face is change. And just when you think you have everything under control, something new will come along—count on it. You will need to develop your capacity for dealing with the unexpected.
Traditional to Entrepreneurial
Just about any skill that has historically been harnessed to fulfill a traditional job can be turned into an entrepreneurial venture. Likewise, people are increasingly leveraging their hobbies to build successful businesses. Here are some examples of how traditional jobs and skills can be applied to entrepreneurial goals.
| TRADITIONAL JOB/HOBBY | ENTREPRENEURIAL APPLICATION |
| Skilled cook/baker | Open a restaurant, bakery, catering company; start a line of specialty food products |
| Associate in law firm | Open your own legal practice; contract your services to other law firms |
| clotheshorse | Open a retail clothing store; design clothes; start a fashion company |
| Engineer in large manufacturing company | Found a startup based on a new idea in your field; become a consultant to manufacturing companies |
| Sports enthusiast | Develop new equipment; open sporting goods store; offer personal training services; start a sports camp |
| Animal lover | Open a grooming business; offer pet training services; open a doggie daycare facility; start a dog walking service |
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Your Vision
To begin building a business, you have to start at a very high level, first identifying your overarching vision and then drilling down deeper into the opportunities until you come up with an actual concept for a real business.
■ The vision. You have a vision. There are two aspects of this vision: personal and professional. Your vision encompasses your passions and talents; your business, personal, and financial goals; your lifestyle; and everything else that will determine the quality of your life as you start and run your business.
■ The opportunities. Next, identify the opportunities that exist in your chosen field. How will you apply your vision to the real world? What are the new or improved products or services you can offer?
Finally, you get down to the specifics. How do you exploit the opportunities you’ve identified to create an actual business? Your business concept must include all the details about making the product/service, financing it, and getting it to market.
The Four C’s
When you start out, it’s important to understand your personal goals. Some entrepreneurial ventures fail and others flounder precisely because their founders or executives are uncertain of what they really want to achieve. They don’t structure the company and their responsibilities in ways that satisfy their personal needs and ambitions.
Most entrepreneurs’ personal goals can be summed up by the Four C’s: creativity, control, challenge, and cash. Of course, everyone wants all four of these to some degree, but knowing which ones you most want or need can help you structure your company to best achieve your goals.
Which of the Four C’s motivates you most?
■ Creativity. Entrepreneurs want to leave their mark. Their companies provide not only a means of making a living but a way for them to create something that bears their stamp. Creativity comes in many forms, from designing a new “thing” to devising a new business process or even coming up with a new way to make sales, handle customers, or reward employees.
If you have a high need for creativity, make certain you remain involved in the creative process as your company develops. You’ll want to shape your business so it’s not just an instrument for earning an income, but also a way for maintaining your creative stimulation and making a larger contribution to society. But don’t over-personalize your company, especially if it’s large. Allow room for others, particularly partners and key personnel, to share in the creative process.
CASE STUDY
Mona Lisa Sound: Rocking the Classical World
What happens when classically trained musicians take on Pink Floyd? An entrepreneurial success story emerges that all music majors should hear.
The Grammy-nominated Hampton String Quartet was created in 1985 by RCA, which wanted to record an album of Christmas music played by a classical ensemble. The debut album of the group, “What if Mozart Wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’” was a smash hit, selling more than a million copies. The quartet is made up of Regis Iandiorio, first violin; Abe Appleman, second violin; Richard Maximoff, viola; and John Reed, cello.
After releasing another best-selling album that featured the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” the group received so many requests for its classical arrangements of popular rock songs that the group’s cellist, Reed, along with his partner, Janna Glasser, created Mona Lisa Sound, a sheet music publishing company and record label, in 2000. The Hampton String Quartet later released three albums through Mona Lisa Sound.
“When we started publishing our sheet music, we expected to sell the arrangements primarily to professional musicians—quartets like ours,” says Reed. “But, surprisingly, we’ve really found our niche in the education market.” What apparently happened, says Reed, is that high school string teachers discovered Mona Lisa Sound’s arrangements and eagerly snapped them up for students bored with the usual classical repertoire. Once he realized what was happening, Reed placed advertisements in the American String Teachers’ Association (ASTA) magazine, String Teacher, and in String magazine, and participates each year in ASTA’s annual convention. So popular are Mona Lisa Sound’s arrangements that Reed has to operate two booths there.
One of Reed’s biggest challenges is managing the intellectual property issues that arise from arranging the work of other composers. For each new work he arranges and publishes, he has to track down the copyright holder—which is not necessarily the composer of the work—and negotiate a licensing deal. “When we started, no one would pay attention to us when we asked to license the music,” he recalls.