Bulk Trash Pick-Up Week - The Entrepreneurs Are Out!

Here, in our neighborhood, the bulk trash is picked up once a month. This week is pick-up week. Looking out my front office window, I saw that same Gritty Entrepreneur from a few months back! I was reminded of my past post about this guy and how I admired his grit.

This week he had quite the haul - looks like he hit the "junker" jackpot! Sometimes I envy the simplicity of his business structure as I stare at the multi-page tax packet my CPA just sent along. Sometimes, I'd rather sort through other people's trash than complete my taxes. Just going to have to "grit" and bear it, I suppose.

Great Forbes Article: "5 Warning Signs You May Have Entrepreneurialism"

This is the best, comical article on the disease sweeping the nation: Entrepreneurialism Disease. I found this piece to be spot on! Gosh, the constant urge to work for oneself coupled with all of these crippling symptoms really does feel like a disease sometimes! I thought the author showed a great deal of insight. I love that moment when all of things you've been feeling are finally capture perfectly!

I particularly liked this happy quote:

"A natural optimism and a cheery, cooperative personality could, unfortunately, spell entrepreneurial success as you age."

The only cure to ED… start your own business. Plain and simple folks!

Enjoy!

5 Warning Signs You May Have Entrepreneurialism

- Stay Gritty

Inspiration: Richard St. John

I loved this quick and simple presentation by Richard St. John. I stumbled upon it in the TED.com archives - it dates all the way back to 2006 but it still rings true today! Richard St. John interviewed 500 people over 7 years and has distilled what he's learned into a quirky, fun three and half minute presentation.

Are you a work-a-frolic?

Being Sick is Hard for us Gritty Folks

I've been pretty sick for the past week - just a nasty cold. Fall allergies have been the worst this year here in Texas. Even the dogs are having sinus problems! At any rate, I have to tell you that yesterday was awesome. It was the first day that I was able to wake up and stay awake! Oh boy, I'm in trouble if that's considered a big accomplishment! I got so much done and my inner entrepreneur was screaming, "Hallelujah!" 

I felt I had been stagnating in terms of growth - not looking for new enterprises, outlets, ways to make money. The guilt and self-loathing was all compounded by the fact that I'd been sleeping about 50-70% of my day. Having a cold is not helped by my already compromised immune system and lots of time that could be misconstrued as "free" time to spend getting well, aka sleeping. One day, I woke up at 10 am, decided to take a nap by 1:30 pm and woke to the sound of my significant other coming home. He came in to check on me and I snarfled awake saying, "Is it 5:00 already?!" He laughed, I groaned.

Needless to say, I feel the same way about being sick as the wise philosopher, Sweet Brown. She said, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

At any rate, I was thrilled to get back to work yesterday. I made great strides in accomplishing some new goals, found a new sales outlet and have made some good progress in my investments. It was an all-around great day! I hope my rediscovered energy holds out while I continue to fight off the remnants of this cold. Fall is a great time to be a retailer and I need to have my wits about me to take as many pieces of the pie as I can!

Grit it together, woman!

Forbes Interview: Warren Buffet and Jay Z

This Forbes interview with Warren Buffet and Jay Z is so very odd! Major props to whoever thought up this old versus new, multi-millionaire/billionaire mash-up interview but, unfortunately I don't think it worked quite the way it was supposed to!

Warren Buffet and Jay Z both come across as very approachable and amiable, but there's just not much connection between how they each made their fortunes. Yes, they're both very capable, smart businessmen - but they just don't relate to one other. Jay Z tries to bring together their two disparate business philosophies to bridge the gap between their styles but it just comes across as forced and confusing.

I was really excited to watch this interview, but quickly found myself disappointed. Not only because it was a little boring, but because Warren Buffet and Jay Z's fortunes were developed in one similar way - completely and totally from their singular talents. As a viewer, I found myself longing for their success without any actionable nugget or idea as a take away.

However, it cannot be denied that Jay Z and Warren Buffet are some of the grittiest of the gritty. They both keep their heads down and will work until they die.

So strange, this idea!

Unexpected Inspiration: Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher is clearly a wealthy man but, knowing what little I do about the entertainment industry I never truly considered actors much in the way of entrepreneurs. After watching his acceptance speech at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards, I wondered why this group of wealthy Americans escaped my, and I'm sure others', consideration because Mr. Kutcher is truly an inspiration!

Sure, the best actors are generally very successful at making large sums on money; however, whether or not they can retain those funds and keep their savings accounts in the black varies greatly. But, really I think I overlooked actors as businessmen and women because it often takes a team of managers and public affairs representatives to make an actor a lucrative business.

Sure, nary a member of the billionaires club did it all alone, but we've all heard so many times that actors didn't know they were broke until their manager told them they were. Since the attitude towards money varies so greatly in the acting profession - it just never occurred to me that actors could truly be gritty entrepreneurs. Shame on me!

So, where did all this love for Ashton Kutcher start? I found this amazing t-shirt with the quote, "Opportunity Looks a Lot like Hard Work" a few weeks ago at iwearyourshirt.com. I circled back around to it, considering finally purchasing it when I read the description of the shirt for the first time:

If you haven't heard Ashton Kutcher's speech at the Teen Choice Awards, you should watch it immediately. Not only is it surprising coming from him, it's also extremely poignant, and it hits home for so many entrepreneurs.

Naturally, I followed the directions promptly and looked up Ashton Kutcher's speech. I was blown away. I'd always considered him to be as goofy and dim-witted as his doppelganger Kelso from That Seventies Show. Again, shame on me!

His acceptance speech was indeed poignant, meaningful and inspiring. I think it was so wonderful that he crafted a speech such as this for an audience of teens - those who, unfortunately are least likely to remember his words but have the most to gain from his experience and advice. Cut to 1:35 for the good stuff:

Here it is transcribed:

So, its really three things. The first thing is about opportunity, the second thing is about being sexy, and the third thing is about living life.  

So, first thing - opportunity, I believe, looks a lot like hard work. When I was 13, I had my first job with my dad carrying shingles to the roof, and then I got a job washing dishes at a restaurant, and then I got a job in a grocery-store deli, and then I got a job in a factory sweeping Cheerio dust off the ground.  

And I never had a job in my life that I was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. And every job I had was a stepping stone to my next job, and I never quit my job until I had my next job. And so opportunities look a lot like work. 

Number two: being sexy. The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart, and being thoughtful and being generous. Everything else is crap. I promise you. Its just crap that people try to sell to you to make you feel like less. So don't buy it. Be smart, be thoughtful and be generous. 

The third thing is something that I just re-learned when I was making this movie about Steve Jobs. And Steve Jobs said, when you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way that it is and that your life is to live your life inside the world and try not to get in too much trouble, and maybe get an education, and get a job and make some money and have a family. But life can be a lot broader than that when you realize one simple thing and that is that everything around us that we call life was made up by people that are no smarter than you. And you can build your own things. You can build your own life that other people can live in.  

So build a life, don't live one. Build one. Find your opportunities and always be sexy.

Self-Employed is Often Misunderstood to mean Unemployed

I'm sure that many entrepreneurs have experienced this very same, deflating conversation. But it was my first time since becoming self-employed over two months ago:

A good friend of ours, who has been so very supportive of my new journey into entrepreneurship, told me about an exciting new job opportunity he saw on his employer's website. "You should totally apply, you'd rock at that!"

I know that this "head's up" on the job opening was meant to be kind. I know that it came with all the best intentions. I knew then, in that moment, that he just doesn't get it. And so, I took it in stride and nodded with raised eyebrows and feigned interest. I might have muttered something like, "Yea! Ok... sure."

But, my head was spinning a little bit. This is the same friend who gave me a big high five for quitting my job and pursuing small business ownership. The same guy that asks every time I see him, "How's owning your own business, boss?"

What happened? Why the sudden change in tune?

I haven't given him any indication that I regret my decision or that I want to go back to being an employee, because, I certainly don't. So, then, I started thinking why would he suggest that I get a job? Does he think I'm bumming off my boyfriend? Does he think I only quit out of spite and that I don't know really what I'm doing? Does he think I'm panicking on the inside and regretting my decision?

Then, I realized that its just his own misguided perception that everyone must have a job.  I mean, I'm not unemployed. I'm proudly self-employed.

Entrepreneurship is a completely foreign concept to some and I understand that. But, I have to admit its hard to buck the trend when even your most fervent cheerleaders are telling you to stop following the path less traveled and jump over to the hustling, bustling city-sponsored walking trail.

It took a few days, but I shook it off and reminded myself that I'm made to hack and trudge and to pad down my own path. Yes, there's the occasional spider web, irritating and sticky. But its all part of the journey. I'm just going to take that self-doubt that I let eek in for a moment and turn it into fuel for my grit!

Haters are going to hate, but grit don't quit, people! 

Mark Cuban vs the SEC: Cuban Wins!

I've been very lightly following the SEC case against Mark Cuban. As a fellow Dallasite and Mark Cuban fan, I was excited to hear that he was cleared of all charges this week!

Apparently, back in 2004, Cuban sold 600,000 shares of Mamma.com stock before the company made a private maneuver that was seen as unfavorable to its current stock owners. He effectively sold off all of his shares in the company, amounting to nearly 8 million dollars, a few weeks before the company made the impending, unpleasant public announcement.

Among a number of other details Mark Cuban was made aware of this private equity offering when Mamma.com executives invited major investors to participate in the new placements. Cuban declined when he found out that the company had begun to associate itself with a known stock swindler, Irving Kott.

He also claims that he was never asked not to sell his existing shares nor was he bound to confidentiality. The jury agreed with his version of events considering there was no written confidentiality agreement to prove otherwise. Seems likely that one of the grittiest, shrewdest men in business today would want anything that he's agreed to in writing. Oral confidentiality agreements are worthless and I'm surprised that the SEC went to trial with nothing but a claim that, 'he promised!'

Cuban spent more than the potential punitive SEC fees and fines defending himself against these charges since the case was dropped and re-opened in 2009. He declined to settle with the US government based on principle, knowing he had not committed illegal trading activities. He's fortunate he had the funds to fight these charges.

All in all, I feel its foolish to forget that he foresaw the pop of the internet bubble so many years ago. He sold all of his Yahoo.com shares he earned in the sale of broadcast.com, just before the stock devalued shortly thereafter.

Mark Cuban is just a talented, opportunistic businessman who knows his way around the trading floor. That's why he's one of my grittiest entrepreneur idols!

Unexpected Inspiration: Macklemore

I love this song, "Cant Hold Us" by Macklemore. As I was listening to it, realized that it was pretty inspirational for me as a small business owner. "So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us
Like the ceiling can’t hold us" Heck, yea! No ceiling. No glass ceiling. No earnings ceiling. The sky's the limit, people!

Also, Macklemore is a true inspiration, a true gritty entrepreneur. He worked for 13 years as a rapper and hit it bigger than he ever expected. All without a label. His story is repeated so many times because very few artists in the music industry have accomplished what he has without the support of a record label. Its remarkably impressive and its exciting to think that he keeps a huge percentage of each sale on iTunes. Brilliant.

Well, played Macklemore. Well played.

I Love Mondays!

Now that I've quit my job and am self-employed, I found myself exclaiming today, "I love Mondays!" Without even a hint of sarcasm. It was totally genuine! I swear!

You see, I give myself weekends, for the most part. I work a bit here and there; check in on sales, e-mails and customer service needs. I don't mind and I don't want to be blind-sighted by a big problem on Monday - otherwise I might hate Mondays!

But, as it stands, its one of the better days of the week for me. An exciting new week to tackle, no weeks are the same.

Another five days to make money.

Another five days to analyze, improve, cut, calculate, drive sales, run promotions, invest, buy and sell.

Another five days to be self-employed!

The Reason I'm an Entrepreneur: #1

Genetically, I'm not an employee. I tried that for 6 years. Yes, I worked hard and made my team look great! I gave that company all of my time, efforts, thoughts and energy. Admittedly, I was happy achieving success over and over when I was employed. I was dedicated and hard-working. It didn't matter that I was paid the same everyday, I was driven. I am driven in just about everything I set out to do.

I'm not going to leave something undone or leave someone hanging. I'm proud that I was employed by the same company since graduating college and I'm proud to have been promoted twice during that time. But, I just could not stand to be managed. I was sick of being afraid of what my choices would render down the line if I didn't ask someone to ask someone to ask someone only to get an answer after the deadline. It was a crazy train of bureaucracy and I wanted off! Off I say!

For the last year and a half of my employment, the only thing that got me out of bed was Dr. Pepper. Dr. Pepper? Yup. I'd wake to my alarm, realize all the interpersonal hurtles I had to jump that day and get disheartened. I'd only get excited when I realized I could get a Dr.Pepper on the way in to work. I'd get dressed and ready thinking about it. Now... that's not physically or mentally healthy.

But, seriously, the number one reason that I am an entrepreneur is that neither nature or nurture have guided me to be a satisfied employee. My mom's dad was a cattle rancher and her mother owned a fabric shop. My dad's dad started a very successful air conditioning company. My father tried his hand at plastics manufacturing in the late seventies. And my mom...she's had a business since I can remember: custom drapery, a successful crafts business and now she's excelling at online retail. My family has set the example over and over - don't be an employee!

The problem, for a long time, was capitol. But I gritted my teeth, saved every penny and made it happen!

An Entrepreneur's Bucket List

A few items from my Entrepreneur Bucket List. I'm pretty proud of my few accomplishments so far and am more than excited to accomplish the whole lot! I'll circle back around to this list when I find something inspiring to add or when I reach a new goal!
_____________________________________________________

Entrepreneur Bucket List

- Quit my day job. Stop being an employee
- Start an online retail business
- Create multiple streams of income:
   - 2
   - 3
   - 4
   - 5+
- Invest a portion of my earnings and savings with the purpose of creating additional income
- Save significant amounts of money to, in effect, have my retirement funds squirreled away at at an early age.
   - Don't use the above for anything except income generation and retirement
- Self-manage at least a portion of my brokerage account
- Invent something, manufacture and sell it
- Have the ability to work remotely, abroad
- Give 10% of my income to worthy causes
- Make my first million
- Save my first million
- Go to an exotic location for Google for Entrepreneurs Week
- Go to more conferences, exhibits and fairs related to my businesses

Life Gives You Lemons? Make Lemonade. Then Sell It.

In my last post, I talked about looking for entrepreneurial avenues and ways to make money. One of my proudest entrepreneurial moments is turning a huge life-lemon into a good, old-fashioned lemonade stand. Heck, why not? I found out several years ago, in my mid-twenties, that I was whole-hog allergic to gluten. In fact, Celiac Disease runs in my family, many of the women on my mom's side of the family suffer from gluten intolerance.

So, my sister and I started a gluten-free related business and turned the tables on that nasty little protein that has made life so difficult. Its one of my smallest sources of revenue, but the most meaningful.  Now, I see life problems, even someone else's life problem, as a hole in the market. That's an entrepreneurial perspective I'll never be able to unlearn. Its in there, in my noggin, waiting to help me turn a profit on something else one day in the future.

I love talking to other entrepreneurs and listening to TED.com talks so much because I invariably get a "nugget" of an idea that I can store away for the day it becomes relevant. Some of them are so exciting that they stay in the forefront of my mind, cropping up when I'm in the bath, about to fall asleep or while I'm cooking. Annoying me, reminding me that I don't have endless capital... yet.

At any rate,  like I said, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade then sell it!" That's the best way to conquer an obstacle - turn it into opportunity.

The Grittiest Entrepreneur, Ever

I'm sitting at my beautiful West Elm desk, typing on my super fancy Apple Macbook Pro laptop, drinking expensive Teavanna tea while crunching numbers and ordering inventory that I no longer even touch, lift or pack myself. As I looked over my recent sales and expenses, lamenting how large my business loan payment seemed this month, really thinking that I was bootstrapping this business together. Hanging on to make it work. Gritting my teeth and scraping the barrel...

When I see an old man stop in front of my house to dig through the bulk trash we've put out. I couldn't believe the things he found value in! Just last night, I finally threw out the window blinds the previous owner had stored in our backyard shed. They were bundled together unceremoniously in a stack, bug leavings and strings everywhere. I cut the strings that had become interwoven so that I could move this mess to the curb in manageable hunks. Not even one set of blinds were spared from my crazy knife wielding exercise. I finished by piling the rest of our stinking, sopping wet trash on top - I had collected random bits in our wheelbarrow before it rained heavily this week.

Nothing stopped this guy! He examined each of the sets of blinds and found three that were in reasonably good shape. As I watched, I said out loud, "Really, dude? They're all broken and worthless!" Then he dug through the box of soaking wet, old electronics I'd dumped on top - stirring the box with a nearby stick. He didn't find anything he was interested in, but he was sure to look thoroughly.

As I type, here comes a second trash capitalist. Today is the day the pickers come out to pick - just a few days before the real trash men come to collect! However, his style is very different. He has a business partner, it seems. He sent his passenger out of the truck a ways down the street and they reviewed the piles on each side of the street and met back up mid-street, in front of my house. Much like how the laziest parents trick-or-treat with their kids!

It occurred to me that as gritty as I think I am - this guy had me beat by a long shot. He was out there digging through refuse to fund his small business. Saving reusable consumer goods from the garbage dump and reselling them to less picky buyers at some sort of secondary market outlet. Perhaps he's a professional garage sale-r? Perhaps he fixes up the trash and goes to trades day events. Who knows, but after I finished my critical thoughts and opinions, I was struck that entrepreneurs really do come in all shapes, sizes and styles... Do you think he's incorporated?

All jokes aside, this reminded me of a bit of motivational advise my sister passed on to me years ago. And it happens to be exactly how we both got started in our small-business ventures. If you're broke, but you are an entrepreneur at heart, there is money somewhere in your house. We started with our college textbooks. I don't even recall how much money I made on Half.com, but it couldn't have been too much more than $500 because many of the books I listed were outdated by the time I got started selling. I sold these books, however, because there were community college courses using these outdated books to keep the overall price of their courses low. The content was still perfectly viable.

At any rate, I knew Half.com wasn't where I wanted to stay but it sure got me started and watered the seed! It taught me the true meaning of the old adage: someone else's trash can be someone else's treasure. It taught me to look for any and all avenues in which I could sell. This same seed, I feel, is still being watered and developed. I want many streams of income and I'm excited to develop the streams of income I've found so far, but am anxious to find more.

My observation today also reminded of my absolutely favorite TED talk...the one that really got me excited about being an entrepreneur early on, Cameron Herold's 'Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs.' He tells his story about feeding his entrepreneurial monster by selling none other than the dreaded... "wire hangers!" back to dry cleaners... among a number of other incredibly insightful and opportunistic ventures. Cameron Herold is one of my favorite creative thinkers and bootstrappers. Enjoy:

I hope this got just one other person's cogs turning! Remember, grit don't quit.

Down to the Nitty Gritty

I think its fitting to start "The Gritty Entrepreneur," a blog about my adventures in the realm of self-employment, by discussing the very inspiration for this journal's name: Angela Lee Duckworth's theory on Psychological Grit and its relation to success.

I started my third week as an entrepreneur by watching a TED video...or two... or three per day.  There's never a dull moment over at TED - so many golden nuggets of ideas! I sorted by "business" and just let the videos play. If I didn't grab an actionable idea from a talk, I almost always found that I was reassured of the path of self-employment-enlightenment-enjoyment-fulfillment that I'm on. I was reassured that I can do this 'workin' for myself' thing.

By the third day of my motivational marathon, I stumbled upon Angela Lee Duckworth's talk about her research on "The key to success." A seemingly intangible, enigma many have tried to grasp, define and understand over the years. I think she and her team have unraveled the mystery. She has determined that true and simple grit is the key to success. Grit. That's it.

Well, what is grit? Grit is a psychological trait measured by one's passion for their goals and their innate motivation to achieve these goals despite set-backs, extended time frames and lack of peer support. Sound familiar, fellow entrepreneurs?

She explains it best:

Being a native Texan, the grittiest of the gritty, this spoke straight to my gritty little heart! Grit don't quit and this little lady ain't afraid to get dirty!