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Growing up my father used to tell me that every day was “the first day of the rest of my life”.He would mostly use the expression when I was starting something fresh like the first day of a new school year.The expression always seemed funny but never really had any meaning for me, until today.
As you may know, Friday was my last day at my job in a position that I occupied for the last 3 and a half years.I had a great title and I grew tremendously while I was there but at a certain point, the growth stopped and I felt like I was stuck in some sort of routine instead of being excited about each new project that came along.I had gotten all that I could have from the job and it was time to move on.
This morning, I didn’t have to get out of bed, but without an alarm clock, for the first time in a while, I got up on my own, earlier than usual, jumped out of bed and had more energy than I’ve had since I wrestled in college.I didn’t have to hit the snooze button, rush to the train or sit for an hour and a half on my commute.Instead, I took my son to school, made a real breakfast and helped my wife pack for our big move next Sunday.
All day I was full of excitement for what the future holds because for the first time in years, I felt that I was in charge of my destiny and I am taking control.I broke free of the hold that the corporate world held on me.I feel like the genie in Aladin when he was liberated and was now free to discover the world.
For the next 2 weeks I will be packing, moving, unpacking and settling into my new home in Montreal, Canada.After that I am opening up the virtual doors of Flid Media, a social media consulting company aimed at helping small businesses and non profit organizations use new technology and media to the fullest extent to improve the way they function.Since I will be making my own hours, I will have time to have breakfast with my family take my son to school and not have to rush off to the office hoping that I won’t be late.I will also be working on this blog along with a few other side projects that I’ve been playing around with.I haven’t had much time over the last month to spend on this blog but once I am settled, I plan of giving it the attention that it needs.
Back to the title of this post, I actually felt that today was the first day of the rest of my life because my future is an open book waiting to be written and for the first time in my life, I have the pen and I know how to use it.Everyone can write their own future, it just takes some luck.
Yesterday I was discussing iphone applications with a friend who just started developing them.We then moved the conversation to the web and business in general.When I suggested certain ideas, at first them were shot down because “people don’t need that” or “they already exist”.I then explained that contrary to what the people of the United States of America think, they are not the “world”.
The world is a very big place.It is getting smaller each day through new technologies but that doesn’t mean that one size will fit all and that anything that exists in the US will work for people living in smaller countries across the world.For example, Craigslist is extremely popular in the US and it is the first place that many people go to post or look for things they need but if you just move a little north or the border, you will find that it is not as popular and a site called kijiji.com for the same service.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when thinking about a new web based application or business:
One Size Does Not Fit All
Just because a web service is available everywhere, it doesn’t mean that it is used everywhere.Because of cultural differences, languages, marketing and word of mouth in the other countries, the service may not catch on in the other countries.
You Can Be the Next Facebook
You may never be as big as facebook or as popular or even ever come close to having 100 million users but you can take the idea and recreate it for a country that hasn’t caught on yet and market the site specifically to them.Today, you don’t need a new idea, you just need a new place to use an old idea.
You Now Have a Global Market
Your customers are no longer just the 5000 people in your town; they are the billion plus internet users around the world. If you sell a service online for $50/month to 2000 of them, you will make over $1 million each year.
Do you have any other suggestions to add to this list?
Yesterday I wrote about my decision to start a business instead of finding a job. Taking this step is the most exciting and scariest thing I have ever done in my life.There are so many unknowns that it is so hard to plan for.I looked at buying a house in Montreal but I have no idea what I will be able to afford on a monthly basis so we’re going to rent for the first year.It’s scary because it’s a giant leap of faith into the world of the unknown.When going into a job, you know your salary and can budget according to that.There is no starting salary for your own business but more importantly, there is no cap either.
The excitement
The excitement from this leap is enough to push aside my fear and take the leap.It will mean that I make the rules, I run the business how I want to, I make the decisions, I make my work hours and I decide when it’s time for a vacation.If I want a raise, I can just work harder or find new ways to generate income.I will be able to make time to do things that I wasn’t able to do at a job.
Have you ever taken a leap of faith? If you have or haven’t yet, leave a comment.
When we decided that we wanted to move, I started looking for jobs in different cities and we would move to the city that gave us the best offer.What I found was that I wasn’t putting as much effort into job search as I should have if I wanted to get a job.I was sending out resumes but not really following up as well as I should have.I was updating my profiles on all the job sites but not actively participating in the communities.Something was holding me back.It took me some time but I realized that I was holding back because I didn’t want to get a job.
Starting a business
I have been talking and thinking about starting my own business for a while and this is the perfect opportunity.If I get a new job in a new city I will be starting the cycle all over again.Work extra hard to prove myself, learn the new systems and the business culture.It will be at least a year before I can relax a little and create some free time to work on my side projects.It will be a step backwards toward my goals and I’m not willing to take that step backward.
Have you ever been in a similar situation where you didn’t put in the full effort because you really didn’t want it?
On Thursday I wrote that Seth Godin only likes to do something if he can do it “really well” which is consistent with his message to companies to be “remarkable”.Now while that is great advice for a company to only do things well that you can be remarkable at, I don’t believe it to be true for the individual in general.
Companies, to be successful must have a mission and have everything they do fit into that mission.If they put in half efforts, they will get less than half results.It is the additional 20% or the “extra mile” that gives a company their results.
Individuals are different in that sense because people have to discover their mission in life.They don’t have a great idea one day and define their life based on that idea.They have to keep trying new things and see what they enjoy and what sticks.People go to school to get a rounded education to see what is out there and hopefully begin their journey in life.Each new day brings new opportunities to the individual.He can change jobs, careers, start new businesses volunteer, vacation and retire.Each step of the way he can try new things and adopt them or drop them on his journey through life.It is the trying new things out that will prepare him to get lucky down the line.I must say though that this advice is only when you are playing around on your own and testing out the waters.When you are starting a business, applying for a job or to a school, or giving a presentation, the individual must also be remarkable.It is the best way to guarantee that you will be successful.
For companies, every step has to be so well thought out and they can’t just pick things up and drop them whenever they feel like it.It would look terrible for a company to start a blog and not update it for a month or to get a twitter account, collect followers and never update.An individual can do these things.If he enjoys keeping the blog or updating his tweets, he can do something with it.But if he doesn’t, nobody is really going to think differently about him.
If you are a business, be remarkable and only do what you can do better than anyone else.If you are an individual, try anything and everything that even remotely interests you because it is the journey that defines who you are and who you become.
