Friday, November 30, 2012

Are you creating a business for yourself or just a well paying job?


The amazing wedding photographer who gets paid $10,000 for a days work has an amazing business right? Not necessarily. That same wedding photographer falls ill or decides they don’t want to photograph 30 weddings a year and their income stream dies down. That wedding photographer has created a well paying job for herself.

The phenomenal public speaker who gets paid $8,000 for an hours work and speaks at 70 events a year – that’s a wonderful business right? Depends how you look at it. If that same public speaker sent Joe Blogs employee in their place to do a keynote speech – do you think the client would go for it? The public speaker has created a well paying job for himself.

The retail store owner who can sell anything to anyone and has 5 staff members. Now that’s a business right? Not if the moment he walks out the door sales drop 50%. He’s created… you guessed it – a well paying job for herself.

Now – I’m not saying that having a well paying job isn’t wonderful – especially if you love the work.

But…

-       it’s hard to sell a well paying job as an asset
-       a well paying job suffers if you’re off “work” for an extended period of time (illness, pregnancy, taking time to explore the world)

The great thing about everyone above?  There’s ways for them to create business aspects to what they do.

The wedding photographer who sells prints, does other work that can be put into a book or exhibit finds ways to create leverage.

The public speaker who leverages their brand into a book, an e-series, an online educational program or a subscription based website instantly creates an income stream that works for them day or night.

And the retail store owner who lets go of being the face and trains her staff to take the fore can turn his job into a business – and a saleable one at that.

Do you have a business or a job? Do you want to start your own business or create a job for yourself? Is what you’ve built saleable? Does it work for you whether you spend the day in bed in your pjs or you’re out in the field. Mmm…. I’m writing this in my pjs!  

By Anonymous with 2 comments

2 comments:

You nailed in it one Kirsty. I've known those principles for a while but it's always good to have a refresh.

Everyone who is thinking of going into small business or is in small business needs to keep them front of mind. :)

Thanks - glad this one resonated with you! It's an all too easy thing to avoid seeing in the beginning I think. cheers, Kirsty

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