Missing Out on What You Can’t See
School has trained people to think a certain way, look for certain things, and work towards certain goals. It is through this training that people miss the opportunities that are there for the taking as an entrepreneur. Robert Kiyosaki lays out the basics of the different mindsets made up in his Cashflow Quadrant; E, S, B, and I. I want to take that model of the Cashflow Quadrant and break it down into more detail as to why service professionals get stuck in what Kiyosaki would call the “S” quadrant. In school, we are taught to focus on an area of study that interests us and then in college, narrow down our area of study to become a specialist. This is a great model for someone who wants to be an employee and who does not want to worry about running a company.
If you look at the current economies of the world, it is getting more apparent that people are on their own as far as a career goes. While it is great to work for a company and gain experience and exposure, you should also be prepared should the worse happen- being without a job.
The Break Down
Here is where the break down occurs. The “E” wants to get to the right side of the quadrant to become a “B.” Yet, not having a lot of business knowledge or team of advisers to help them, they do it themselves, taking on anything and everything that needs to be done for their company. Their train of thought is that, “to get the company started, I’ll do it myself. It will be faster that way.” They have just become an “S,” a self-employed individual who has created a company based on their own skills, experience, and expertise, and therefore must work constantly to keep the business going. It is fine to create a company based on your skills, but it must be a separate entity from yourself. It is this distinction where many E’s become S’s and fail to become B’s.
Why Does This Happen?
It is a natural transition from being an employee to being self-employed. In school and as an employee, we are trained to follow the rules, listen to our teachers or managers, and not make mistakes. If this is how you have been trained, then being an “S” makes sense. As an employee, people are trained to follow a structure, or simply do what they are told. When they start their own company, if they have not created a system, they tend to do everything themselves, not wanting to outsource for fear that it may not come out right. Many people who are self-employed have the characteristics of someone who is very detailed oriented in their technical niche and who likes things done a certain way.
In any case, the trouble comes when they have too much work to do. Having focused so much on their trade, they don’t bother to focus on the big picture. How is the company structured? What are your hiring policies? Are you just hiring contractors or employees? Not knowing this ahead of time can cause delays in projects, which can hurt the business.
Another reason that this happens is that the “technical entrepreneur”, as Michael Gerber calls them, wants out from the corporate world, as they like to call it. They may be tired of the rules, having a boss, etc. Yet, instead of going to the root of the problem, which is how the former company was structured, they want to just continue doing the technical work without thinking about the business aspect.
Focusing On The Details
It is important to know the details of how your company is structured as well as the technical aspect. However, from the onset, the entrepreneur needs to make a decision whether they are to be a manager working in the company or play a role such as Chief Operating Officer working on the company and hiring others to run the business side. Once you have made that clear, then you can fill in the missing pieces. It is the “S” who vows to do it all themselves that get into trouble because they have no set system and no defined roles.
