Would You Hire Yourself?
Would you hire yourself? I mean, think about it. If you are an entrepreneur or aspire to own your own business, this should be one of the first questions you ask yourself. Knowing who you are, your weaknesses, strengths and shortcomings, would you extend the offer letter to yourself? Take a second to think.
Are You Ready to Intern?
“Oh, you want me to be an intern? So, I should do all of this work for free? Um, no thanks.”
That is a typical response, especially in today’s hot labor market. With the abundance of jobs available today, who wants to work for free? Who wants to sit behind someone and sulk up knowledge, run errands and pour coffee all while returning home with just as much money as you started the day with? Well, if you are not ready to be an intern for your own company, then you are not ready to own one.
Yes, you will put in all the work. Yes, you will get the coffee and run the errands. Yes, you will study and read about other subjects to familiarize yourself with them. And, yes, initially, you will not get paid for it. So, the first position you will have in your company is — an intern. Not in the traditional sense because you won’t have to answer to anyone above you. You don’t think so? Well, working without compensation sounds like an internship to me. But, it also sounds like a business owner, or entrepreneur, in their first year or two of business.
And, for those who think “intern” is a curse word, let me shine the light on this — here are a few business moguls that started out as interns.
1. Sean (P.Diddy) Combs.
Do you want to talk about humility? Sean Combs reportedly begged the late rapper Heavy D. to connect him with someone at Uptown Records. He just wanted a shot and when he got it, he worked harder than everyone at the record company. The rest is history.
2. Oprah Winfrey
She interned for the CBS affiliate channel, WLAC-TV in Nashville. Following her internship, she was offered a full-time position as an anchor-reporter, making her the first black female news anchor at the station.
3. Kanye West
Get this — Kanye West, after the multiplatinum success of his hip-hop albums, became an intern for Fendi. Yes. This, seemingly prideful and arrogant rapper, willing became an intern at one of the most famous fashion design companies in the world. In an interview with Hot 97, he said that his duties included coffee errands and making photocopies at the Italian fashion house.
4. Steve Jobs
He landed an internship at 12-years-old by working on an assembly line and Hewlett-Packard. Through that internship, Jobs connected with Steve Wozniak and the two of them later went on to launch Apple in 1976.
Commitment to the Process
Who wants to hire an employee that will quit a few months after their first day? If you’re already searching for another job because “this idea or business venture might not work”, then you’ve already quit on yourself. There are steps to take when forming a business — knowing if there is a market for it, understanding how to scale, etc. But, after that information is collected and everything is a go, commitment is what plays a big factor in business success.
“If you’re already mentally looking for another job after a bad day or a bad week, then you’re already out the door. You’ve got to have it in your mind that you don’t have any other options. This thing, whatever it is, has to work. It is going to work,” said Brandon Thompson, a sales representative for an insurance agency in Milwaukee, WI.
That is the same mentality we need when starting our business ventures. We have to put in the work as the intern — as the employee. If we don’t, then how can we expect anyone else to? I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to hire an employee to work for my company if they weren’t truly committed to the process.
If your boss walks past your desk and sees your web browser open to career builder, monster, zip recruiter or another employment website, what would that imply? Maybe your boss should prepare for your exit. Now, in the same light, if you started a business but you have your browser open to other employment websites, is it time to question your commitment? Are YOU the right employee for YOUR job?
A One-Person Army
At the beginning of your venture, you may not have the capital. Further, you may not have a building to call your own or even a team of people to help you take care of business. So, it all falls on you. Marketing. Planning. The budgeting. The vision. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, especially in the brick and mortar stages of the company. This is why the initial question becomes more important.
“You have to put in the work,” says Thompson. “Yeah, you’re gonna have to read a lot. Study a lot. Learn to do some new things. It is gonna’ take time, but eventually, you’ll have a team or at least a few people that will see what you’re doing and believe in you. Some get (that team) right away, but others have to get to work a little bit until they attract the right people. Either way, in the beginning, it’s all on you and if you don’t want to work, then it’s not gonna work.”
Interview yourself. Sit down in front of a mirror and ask yourself if you have what it takes to stay committed. To remain hardworking. To go hours upon hours working at things until they are right, just to strip it down and start over if you have to. Oh, and this is all without seeing a dime return to your pockets.
Determine if you have the right hard and soft skills for the job. This is the interview stage — and during the interview stage, the employer wants to know if you will be a good fit for them. They want to make sure that you will not only thrive in their culture, but you will help increase profitability for their business. It is a mutually beneficial agreement. When you go into business for yourself, it has to be the same way. If you want your passion to monetize, you need to become your own employee.
Punctuality. Commitment. Hardworking. Diligent. Patient. Leadership. These are the soft skills that employers seek in their candidates — likewise, they are the same skills that you need to maintain your company from the ground up. So, after all of this, I’ll ask you again — would you hire yourself?