Looking Back: One Year As A Business Owner

It’s been just over a full year since I took my web design company full-time. As I was driving home from a customer’s office tonight, I had a few thoughts about past year and think about the things I’ve learned. Here’s a short list of a few particular ideas I think are worth sharing.

If you’re going to college, get your degree in whatever you want

When I was in my teens, I had no idea what I wanted to do professionally. All I knew was that I didn’t want to work outdoors. Aside from that, I had no career track in mind. Would I go into Medicine? Business? Education? Who knew.

Secretly, my passion was music. But even as a young teen, I figured that I couldn’t get my passions wrapped up in my professional track. To me, passions were hobbies and things you do “after hours.” So I figured I would do something sensible and get a business degree.

You know what I’ve found though? Most small business owners I know either don’t have a degree at all, or have one that’s completely unrelated to their business. My old boss builds custom homes, and he has a bachelor’s degree in Geography. Has that ever helped him in business? Never. My old manager oversaw that same construction company, with a degree in biology. My Realtor has a degree in acting. My mechanic doesn’t have a degree at all. A lady I know who answers phones for a living has a four year degree in marketing.

See what I mean? I only have a two-year degree at this point, but even so, when I started going to college, I figured that my sensible option would be to go for a fast-tracked MBA. It was a great plan on paper, but what I ended up doing was drop out of college, get married, have two kids, then go to night and weekend school to finish up. And was I in the business program? Nope. I ended up studying photography. And it took me six years to earn a two year degree.

Here’s the point: after having had to earn every penny I make by going out and finding customers, landing deals and building a product, then delivering it, my clients don’t give a damn what I learned in school. School is extremely overrated. It has helped me in a very, very small way. Personally, I use what I learned only about 8% of any given business day. So as long as you’ve decided to go to college—if you do—study something that you’re passionate about. It’s not going to make nearly the difference you think it will.

School is NOT preparation for the workforce

No matter what the marketing departments at universities want you to think, college is NOT preparation for the workforce. On the contrary, I’ve seen a huge disservice done to college grads. A lot of them finish school believing that they’ve got the keys to the kingdom, when in fact, a lot of graduates have nothing to show for their time in school besides a truckload of debt that will take thirty years to pay off, and four wasted years of classes they didn’t pay attention to.

I don’t say this because I have a grudge with colleges, or even the students; I say it because it’s true, and because I don’t understand why people spend so much time and money on it. It doesn’t make business sense. The classes you learn in college simply do not prepare you for the kinds of situations you’ll face in business. Discussing Jung’s interpretation of dreams will simply not help you in a business interview. And it’s a bummer that colleges aren’t telling this to their students.

I’m not saying school’s a total waste of time, but I am thoroughly convinced that all going to college proves is that you can pass a test. It has no actual bearing on how you’ll do in business. And being a good student doesn’t mean you’ll be good in business.

A true business education would be to shadow a smart business man for a year or so. Watch what he does. Sit in on negotiations. Go to the events he goes to. Listen to him give speeches. That’s one way that I can think of where you’d actually get your money’s worth. But you’re not going to get any of that from a traditional college.

You CAN make it on your own

From what I’ve seen, most people are deathly afraid of having to make their own money. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard people say “You’re self-employed? I’m not brave enough to try that.” You know what? I’m not a particularly brave guy either, but c’mon… I’ve been doing just fine. It’s just a matter of waking up on time every morning, making a pot of coffee, and working. Every day, without fail.

Take the plunge. If you’re smart, if you can work hard enough, and stay focused, you can make it on your own. And it’s a very healthy thing to do anyway. As a salaried employee, have you even been called on the carpet and told to explain exactly what you did all day long and asked to justify why you should receive a paycheck? I have to do this every single time I invoice a customer. If I do a bad job, I get fired. If I over-bill, I get fired. If I don’t listen carefully enough, I get fired. (Fortunately, none of these have happened to me). But working as an employee for a larger company often allows you to get away with all kinds of small talk, distractions, inefficiencies, taking care of personal duties and more. Being self employed removes that safety net. You either sink or swim.

So the majority of people will go through life wondering what it would be like to work for themselves, and never know. Let this not be said of you. Even if you try it and fail, at least you can say “I tried and it didn’t work. But I gave my best effort.“

Bigger is NOT better

I could write pages and pages on this topic, but the notion that a bigger company can do more or is more efficient is old-fashioned, outdated, and simply untrue. I’m reminded of this every time I meet with a large company. Committees, focus groups, meetings, paperwork, politics, red tape, legal departments, waiting for approval, and the other “necessary evils” of a big company all hamper progress. Trust me—they aren’t there to make things work better or faster. Think about it: would any smart businessman ever sit down and write out a plan for a profitable company that includes layers of bureaucracies and bottlenecks? No way. And what I’ve noticed is the bigger the company, the worse the problem. When’s the last time Wal-Mart ever did anything innovate? They can’t. They have too much momentum that it’s all they can do to keep going in a straight line. The tired metaphor still fits: it takes the Titanic a long time to change course. And it’s true.

A one-man shop is a viable business model, and a very attractive idea

I have a graphic designer I work with often. He’s been a one-man-shop for over twenty years. When I first met him a few years ago, I asked him about his business experience, and was shocked to find out that he’s never worked in an agency and never wanted to. Why? I wasn’t sure at the time, but now I am. I never even thought of a one-man operation as a sustainable model, but it really is—more so than a corporation with employees. If you’re on your own, you’re the president, CEO, CFO, secretary, salesman, marketing department and janitor all in one. This is a good thing, because you’re all on the same page and there’s never any disagreement. There are no layoffs, no politics, and getting a decision made takes all of thirty seconds. The one man shop can just get stuff done.

Learn how to write: it’s the most important skill in business

Of all the skills a businessman (or woman) could ever learn, I think there are two that trump all the others: speaking and writing. And if I had to choose one, I’d choose writing, because far more people will see things you write (emails, brochures, letters, résumés) than will ever hear you speak. From what I’ve noticed, the single most professional thing you can ever do is craft an idea in writing that is thoughtful and articulate. And it’s really shocking to me how awful at writing some professionals are. I’ve seen terrible résumés, powerpoint presentations, letters of introduction, product copywriting and company bios, even from corporate executives. It’s a fly in the punch bowl: no matter how great the total package is, it’s all ruined by what may seem extremely small.

Focus on writing. Spend time on it. Obsess over the small things. Check your spelling. Read it out loud. It’s the most cost-effective way to spend your time.