October 31, 2005
Why Every Student Should Think Like an Entrepreneur...
A CENTURY ago, the overwhelming majority of people in developed countries worked with their hands. In the early twenty-first century, it's likely that a quarter to a half of workers in advanced economies are knowledge workers whose primary tasks involve the manipulation of knowledge and information.
I mean, for God's sake, there's actually a person whose job it is to create and choose the colors that Apple uses for its products. You're not going to find that job listed in a book anywhere. Furthermore, your guidance counselors, teachers, and parents wouldn't know about it, and it's not their fault either.
Here's the situation:
Career counselors are trained to be experts in careers. While they may give you advice on "hot jobs" and "hot industries", breaking into those can be very competitive and not build on your strengths and passions. On the other hand, parents will often give you the advice that they think is the safest, which is often the choices that worked for them. While much advice is timeless, other advice has become outdated.
What's the solution? You need to think like an entrepreneur would. You need to proactively find your passions/strengths and match them with opportunities in the marketplace. This DOES NOT mean looking at what's popular and copying it. It means using introspection and market research to find a niche where you can be at the top now or in the future.
Keeping in mind that these labels are generalizations and that are many great parents and counselors, what do you think?
Posted at October 31, 2005 05:27 PM
Listen to your parents and guidance counselors if they inspire you to find what you love to do... and most importantly think for a living.
Great thoughts! This really is about finding what turns you on and makes you move every day with a smile on your face. I didn't latch onto entrepreneurship until age 30, and I am "one of those counselors." However, in my work I've always told my clients that in order to be happy at work (whatever it is), it has to be something you feel strongly about.
Good points Dan and Michael, not every parent or counselor will steer a person wrong and tell them to do something popular, simply because it is...
Good work!
Steven, you mention that you didn't latch onto entrepreneurship until age 30, what led you to the light?
I am in my early twenties and I think I have finally caught the bug for good. I have made feeble attempts in the past but I have never persevered. This time complete discontentment with having so much and not being able to enjoy it because I am always at work has got me dedicated. No-one can say what that is like, not even a Careers counselor or parent, it is something you have to experience.
I have tried though. I have tried telling some good friends that they need to take action now so that when they do become discontent they don't have to deal with it, but as I say it is something you have to experience.
Thoughts?
Great post. I couldn't agree more. As a current college student I found myself being pushed by parents and teachers to choose a career as a lawyer or dentist. These are respectable and safe career choices. After a year of forcing myself to struggle through pre-dental requirments I detected my passion was for entrepreneurship. I am so happy now. Knowing that the work I do is fullfilling and limitless. The real world is not orgainized in little boxes but is an open space free to explore. Thanks for the great post.
Lee,
What led me to the light? Well, in my regular work I help low-income families become self-sufficient. Some of those families want to start small businesses to lead themselves to self-sufficiency. I often point them to the local SBDC. They have an Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP) that lasts for 8 weeks.
I wondered what my clients were getting from the classes and if they were able to understand the concepts. So, I decided to enroll in the ETP myself.
I entered with an open mind and no business ideas of my own. Within the first class, I knew that having a business idea to work on would be incredibly helpful to understand each concept and apply the lessons. So I chose one that popped in my head.
It turned out that idea would have been incredibly expensive for me to start-up. But after the ETP course was complete another idea came to mind.
I think I've always wanted to own a business and start it up, but I'm not a high-level risk taker. So I never pursued the idea until now. Not until after I had been shown the basic concepts and mechanics of small business startup.
I saw in my head that it could be done by ME. So I decided to try it out, part-time as a sideline to my regular career. It IS fun and I hope it takes over my career one day.
