I don’t like the word “entrepreneur”. I get what it means and what it implies. That concept is fine. However, using a term like that comes with a certain level of expectation. Think about this: if one million people are calling themselves “entrepreneurs”, it is not really exaggerating to say that at least 90% of them are broke (as far as profit and income from said business).
I suppose by definition that I am an entrepreneur. I work on my own business ventures, but it’s not in the traditional sense of the word. As a (currently independent) author and recording artist, I must take the initiative in promoting my own work.
Actually, this sort of begs the question of what the opposite of an independent artist is. I mean, if you’re a big name professional celebrity or whatever, you’re not “independent” anymore. Even if you did the work, went through the rejections and haters, clawed your way out of the trenches and made a smash hit, what exactly did you become?
This is one form of entrepreneurship (ironically, I’m OK with that word), and producing entertainment is hard work any way you look at it. In reality though, I don’t want to graduate to the point of being a “dependent” artist, if you will. I want all the rights full control of my content and releases. It is my intellectual property, and I’m dang proud of it!
Back to the dirty e-word, it seems too easy to call yourself that, especially if you haven’t actually built up something. Anything at all. In fact, if you don’t have a “real job” while you’re on your personal grind, I question just how good your own “business” is (or could be).
NOTE: I will excuse those with disabilities/illness/etc., of course. There are numerous options for selling products from home or a work-from-home job. I’m speaking to those who are so convinced they’re all that and everyone should know it, but they have nothing to show for it. That’s just pride.
Pride is bad. Being proud of something is fine. I can personally say that it’s a bad idea to not work. Swallow that pride and get to work. This had to be told to me, and I didn’t like it, because it was true. This isn’t to say give up on whatever you’re trying to do. If you’ve got a product, song or something else, SELL and PROMOTE IT, however you can, no matter your situation.
In my book Selling to the Worst Customers, I tell about a personal experience of being a bad customer myself. As they say, it takes one to know one. I was crawling through those trenches for quite awhile, and that day, it came to a head.
The person in question was a self-proclaimed “entrepreneur”. I can appreciate what he was doing, and he had actually built up a real company and had clients. Wonderful. So far so good. Once he said the e-word, I could only see him as a giant question mark. I need more information than that.
Obviously, no one should be forced to go over all the paperwork and intricate details of their business with anyone (other than what the law requires). I didn’t expect that, but I wasn’t convinced by a stream of promises without any indication that it will work for me. Nor was there any guarantee it would.
I’m a business minded sales person. For that reason, I cannot be only about the money, nor should anyone else, regardless of what you’ve heard. Money is simply a medium of exchange, only as good as the person using it. That’s reality.
Without people, there is no business and there are no sales. That’s a fact. The billionaire is just as valuable as the homeless person. Whether we can serve either is a different question. We are all the same.
That portion of the book was difficult to write, because it was a very bad experience. I can look back and will be quick to admit my own mistakes that day. I cannot, and will not, excuse one of the employees for hanging up on me on another day. The same goes for a personal letter I wrote to the business owner that was never responded to.
I get it. I can be a difficult person. I work on that everyday. One thing I can say is that I felt like I was being backed into a corner and pressured beyond what I could handle. If that’s what they think sales is supposed to be like, they really need to get out of the business.
Paraphrasing the great Maya Angelou, people forget what you say, but they never forget how you made them feel. Seriously, people. Watch what you say, and more importantly, LISTEN. I was interrupted several times. I was hung up on. I was not responded to. Years later, it still makes me cringe.
I cannot confirm it, but I was probably being profiled by the way I looked and was dressed. No, that was not “qualifying” me. There’s a difference, and even then, your eyes can lie to you.
“Walk up and qualify!” – Victor Antonio
There’s more to be said, but for now, you really ought to get my book and read about it. I hope that company does.
Selling to the Worst Customers
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTCMCWLM
Zenith Apex 