What Color Is Your Parachute? (34 page)

Doubtless at this point you would like an example of this whole process. Okay. Our job-hunter is a woman who has been making harps for some employer, but now is thinking about going into business for herself, not only
making
harps at home, but also
designing
harps, with the aid of a computer. After interviewing several home-based harp makers and harp designers, and finishing her own self-assessment, her chart of
A – B = C
came out looking like the following.

If she decides to try her hand at becoming an independent harp maker and harp designer, she now knows what she needs but lacks:
computer programming, knowledge of the principles of electronics, and accounting.
In other words, List
C
. These she must either go to school to acquire for herself, OR enlist from some friends of hers in those fields, on a volunteer basis, OR go out and hire, part-time.

Click
here
to view a PDF version of A - B = C.

No matter how inventive you are, you’re probably
not
going to invent a job that
no one
has ever heard of before. You’re only going to invent a job that
most
people have never heard of before. But the likelihood is
great
that someone, somewhere, in this world of endless creativity, has already put together the kind of job you’re dreaming about. Your task: to find them and interview them thoroughly. And then…well,
A – B = C
.

If there isn’t someone doing
exactly
what you are dreaming of doing, there is at least someone who is
close
.

For example, let’s suppose your dream is—here we take a ridiculous case—to use computers to monitor the growth of plants at the South Pole. And suppose you can’t find anybody who’s ever done such a thing. The way to tackle this seemingly insurmountable problem, is to break the proposed business down into its parts, which—in this case—are:
computers
,
plants,
and
the Antarctic
.

Then you try combining any
two
parts, together, to identify the kinds of persons you need to go talk to. In this case, that would mean finding someone who’s
used computers with plants here in the States
, or someone who’s
used computers at the Antarctic
, or someone who has
worked with plants at the Antarctic
, etc. Get names, go talk to them, and along the way you may discover there
is
actually someone who has used computers to monitor the growth of plants at the South Pole. Then again, you may not. In any event, you will learn most of the pitfalls that wait for you, by hearing the experience of those who are in
parallel
businesses or careers.

It is
always
possible—with a little blood, sweat, and imagination—to find out what
A – B = C
is, for any business you’re dreaming of doing.

I and my Web consultant, my son Mark, have combed through the various home-based business
sites
, testing them for sensible advice, ease of use, and trustworthiness
in our judgment.

The following list is excerpted from our book,
Job-Hunting Online
.

Try these sites for more on self-employment:

Business Owner’s Toolkit

www.toolkit.com/small_business_guide/index.aspx

Yikes, there is a lot of information here for the small business owner. Everything about your business: starting, planning, financing, marketing, hiring, managing, getting government contracts, taxes…all that stuff.

www.sba.gov

The SBA was established to help start, manage, and grow small businesses (bear in mind that it defines “small business” as one with less than five hundred employees; it should be called the “Almost All Businesses Administration”). Lots of useful stuff here; also, check out the Starting a Business resources at
www.sba.gov/starting_business/index.html
.

www.businessownersideacafe.com

Great site for the small business owner.

http://online.wsj.com//files/86/06/f8606/public/page/news-small-business-marketing.html

The
Wall Street Journal
brings its considerable resources to bear on this site for the entrepreneur. Many articles, how-tos, advice, and resources for the business owner.

www.fastcompany.com/online/12/freeagent.html

The workplace is changing dramatically. Among these changes is the fact that for some, self-employment has become a broader concept than it was in another age. The concept (for some) now includes not only those who own their own business but also free agents: independent contractors who work for several clients; temps and contract employees who work each day through temporary agencies; limited-time-frame workers who work only for a set time, as on a project, then move on to another company; consultants; and so on. This is a fascinating article to help you decide if you want to be part of this trend, on the site of the popular magazine
Fast Company.