Boy was it a hot one today! Looks like summer is almost here. I spent most of my day in my office while the kitchen crew was sweating their butts off getting all the food made for Mondays deliveries. Vegin’ Out is a vegan weekly meal delivery service and Monday is delivery day, which makes Sunday cooking day.
In the early days and until just recently I was part of the kitchen crew in addition to all my other responsibilities. I realized many years ago that my passion for food included eating it, getting it to people that appreciate it, and talking about it, but not slaving away in a hot kitchen for 12 hours making it. I used to think that I had to like cooking food to own a business that makes food. I’ve realized that there is nothing wrong with not being passionate about the technical side of your business as long as you are passionate about the finished product. We should all focus on the things that we are passionate about and find others who are passionate about the things that we are not. This way everyone enjoys what they are doing which creates a better product or service.
There is a wonderful book that I have read a couple of times that really enabled me to see the light. I should say listened to. I’m a big fan of audio books, my brother and I started listening to them in the kitchen years ago. I highly recommend getting a subscription to audible.com. they have pretty much every audio book there is. Anyway the book I speak of is “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber. This is the book that made me realize that I was headed down the path towards owning a job, not a business. What’s the point of owning a job? Often times when you own your job it’s even harder to take vacations and focus on the things that you really want to do. Not to mention the financial risk you take as a business owner. If you just want to focus on one particular task and get a steady paycheck then entrepreneurship is not for you. There is no point in owning a job, yet many business owners find themselves in this position. You have to work on your business not in your business as Mr. Gerber says. I highly recommend “The E-Myth Revisited” it changed the way that I view myself, and business.
Since I majored in music performance in college I didn’t learn much about the fundamentals of business and the economy. Although looking back I can’t believe that there were no business classes required to get a degree in music performance. Most of the skills needed to be a successful freelance musician involve common business skills. All the successful artists and musicians I have ever met looked at their career as if they were building a business. A business who’s sole product was their talent. Sales and networking are obviously a huge part of any business, especially for anyone offering a service. In my short time as a musician I have come to the conclusion that if you’re really bad a selling yourself, then you had better get someone to do that work otherwise failure is inevitable. You could be the most talented musician, lawyer, doctor, graphic designer, plumber, accountant, etc…….., but if no one knows you exist, you’ll starve. I guess that’s why we say “starving artist”. I have worked with so many musicians over the years that are world class, but can’t pay their bills. They don’t know the first thing about how to market their skills, and to be honest until recently I didn’t either. It’s just not something that is talked about among artists. When I was 22 and had just moved to L.A I thought that if I just practiced 4 hours a day that the phone would just ring. Why wouldn’t it? Nobody ever told me otherwise.
There have been so many books that have changed the way that I think about business, marketing, and life. In my next post I will put together a list of some of the books that have influenced me and guided toward the light.
Thanks for reading!
Dan
