Mikey P said:
Lets pretend John Dawn lays you off ...
Is there something going on I don't know about? Is this your way of breaking it to me gently? Go on, Mikey, spill the beans.
Steve "Up till now working for Jon-Don" Toburen
http://www.SFS.JonDon.com
PS So what would I do if (perish the thought!) I had to start up a business and do "honest work" again. Hmmm ... I think I would first:
1. Start with the end in mind. This isn't just New Age guru-speak. Too many people in this business have no idea of how they want their life to play out. They are too busy running like hamsters in a cage just surviving each day. So I would look at my income requirements (not too high since we have zero debt and could dial back [sob!] our lifestyle), my physical condition, the amount of TIME per week I would want to devote to the business, the size of my my local market, the amount I would want to invest in the start-up (did the Dominican government take ALL my "millions"?) and my projected exit date on when I would sell the company.
2. Given all of the above for ME at 58 but in reasonably good health I would probably go start a "boutique" type carpet and tile cleaning operation targeting high end consumers. Yes, I know the market is crowded there but with Value Added Service and my winsome (love that word) personality I think I could make inroads. My van would be wrapped, my equipment the best (maybe it could be my severance package from Jon-Don!) and I would do lots of "personal branding". I would hire one quality helper (is there such a thing?) that would speed up my work but more importantly ease the strain on my 58 year old body. And I would run the business out of my home and bring my always cooperative wife Sioux out of retirement to charm those phone callers. And I would absolutely invest in a killer web site.
3. Would I buy/take over an existing business? I doubt it. Not because there aren't some great ones out there. But given my requirements above the big ones would be more than I want to deal with and the small ones probably are "small" because they aren't run right/ don't have my desired mix of customers.
4. So how would I do all of the above? Devour everything on
SFS.JonDon.com and instead of just reading about it actually do it! My favorite Lisa Wagner quote? "Movement trumps meditation any day."
All of the above being said I HOPE Mikey is just blowing smoke and Jon-Don isn't going to get rid of me. I would miss the family feeling and sense of being part of something great that permeates their corporate culture. And they ARE very generous too!
Plus our
SFS team has been together for 15 years! Say it ain't so, Mikey!
And only because it wouldn't be a Toburen post if I didn't shill SOMETHING much of the self-analysis I did above is profiled in a Special Report I've done called "Avoiding the Road In-Between". People tell me it is pretty good and it is free:
http://sfs.jondon.com/861/resources/spe ... ad-between
