This past month, I’ve been editing and putting the final touches on my upcoming book. (I’ll be talking about it soon, but here’s a primer.) Having gone through the experience once now, there are many things I will be doing differently for my next book.
For example, I am not comfortable writing in a vacuum. I love getting feedback on my ideas, and the thought of publishing my first book with very little community feedback is making me a little crazy. So for my next book, I’m going to get some online feedback early.
60 Days to Entrepreneurial Freedom – The Not-yet-a-Book Experiment
I wanted to re-kick off this blog (after a short hiatus) with a series about something I write about often – entrepreneurship. I’m calling the series 60 Days to Entrepreneurial Freedom, and every day for sixty days I plan to write about some topic in entrepreneurship, with 3 actionable items to help you succeed as an entrepreneur. At the end of the 60 days, I might take some of the material, edit it, restructure it, add to it, clarify it, and turn it into a book. Or I might not. I’m simply using this blog as a playground to test ideas about (and my understanding of) entrepreneurship.
If this sounds completely vague, it is. But if you are interested in starting a business, hang out here every day for the next two months and let’s just see what happens.
Which brings me to…
Action Item #1: Discover your personality type.
Many people would not be okay with starting a 60 day series on their blogs without knowing what they were going to talk about, but I am. That’s because I’m an ENTP, and we’re comfortable with blueprints and improvisation.
I strongly recommend that everyone understand their personality type before trying to start a business. You need to know what your strengths and weaknesses are, and if your company ever starts expanding, you will need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your coworkers.
There is also strong evidence that small companies take on the personalities of their founders, and that the founders’ personalities become embedded in company culture long after the company passes out of the startup phase. One example is Steve Jobs and Apple – another example is Walt Disney from Disney.
Action Item #2: Learn as much as you can about weaknesses of your personality type.
I read tons of descriptions of my personality type so I know where I’m going to fail, and so I can hopefully circumvent the process. Here are some things I struggle with:
Finishing Projects
I am a classic “P” – I like to start things, but I have trouble finishing them. While I am capable of managing projects well, I have trouble when I must both manage and execute the project. Not only that, but I start way more projects that I can finish, keeping me slightly more busy than physically possible most of the time.
Taking Risks
I have a tendency to dream big and as such, rarely take the traditional route. While I try to take calculated risks, some of my ideas are really out there. This is typical of entrepreneurs, but knowing when to not pursue something or when to quit something is valuable. Sometimes I have trouble seeing that.
Abandoning Relationships
I like relationships that help me grow, and I am quick to end relationships that don’t. This can come across as harsh or unkind to some people, when I’m really just trying to manage my time better. I don’t take emotions into account often enough in my business dealings.
Action Item #3: Plan an attack on your weaknesses.
To give yourself a better chance at whatever entrepreneurial pursuits you undertake, it makes sense to figure out how you are going to compensate for your weaknesses. I’ve come up with three ideas, one for each weakness I’ve uncovered:
Finishing Projects Solution
Hire or find someone to manage you. For my upcoming book, I hired an editor who is also an excellent project manager. He not only edits my book, but helps me keep the entire book on schedule just by talking me through deadlines. If you can get a spouse or coworker to manage your creativity, even passively, you will accomplish much more than you can on your own.
Taking Risks Solution
I stay grounded thanks to my husband. He’s happy to give me a reality check, so I run all my ideas by him and talk it out with him. Find a confidant who has an opposite personality type – he can balance the extreme aspects of your personality.
Abandoning Relationships Solution
I try to relax at least a few times a week with people I don’t feel pressured to “optimize” – like my spouse, friends, and extended family. I remind myself to just have fun with people, and to not make everything about business. I try to convert business partnerships to friendships when I enjoy talking or hanging out with the person, so that the relationship doesn’t end when the partnership does.
Notice that with each of the solutions, I don’t necessarily try to change any of my weaknesses. For the most part, you can’t. What you can do is make a small improvement on your weaknesses and find someone else with those strengths to help you balance.
What’s your personality type, what are three weaknesses you have that could impair you in entrepreneurship, and how can you combat them? Feel free to respond to the action items in a comment, or share your results on your own blog.
If you have an idea for future topics, I obviously could use some. Feel free to email me at m@twentyset.com.
I look forward to hearing about your path to entrepreneurial freedom!
A great way to start this series Monica! I love the idea of discovering your personality type BEFORE you get started. This is commonly overlooked as most of the time you think you are supposed to completely focus on getting the BUSINESS started and not starting with looking at yourself and if you can create, build, and manage the business you have in mind!
I also like the point of identifying the weaknesses of the personality type so you can create plan of action for how to solve them. I'd say treat it like a business problem. These "weaknesses" are threats to the success of your business, so why would you not one to fix/solve them as soon as possible before they create what I call "damage points" that end up hurting your business.
Weaknesses are a bit like a business problem, and you have to compensate for them in a small business because they amplify themselves. If you are starting a business with founders, you have to get founders whose strengths compensate for your weaknesses.
1) mPower Consulting - boutique strategic marketing consultancy for SMB's 2) B2B Guidebook - (partnered) direct-mail catalog/web portal to promote and advertise B2B businesses
I also agree with needing something to compensate for your weaknesses. In the case of B2B Guidebook where I am a part-owner, my partners fill in my gaps. In the case of my firm mPower Consulting, I have aligned myself with other businesses in the area who not only can fill my service gaps to clients, but we are starting to regularly meet together to who educate and grow one another to hopefully smooth out those weaknesses in one another.
sbishop
Great post Monica. I'm looking forward to this series and will be following it closely. I know I can expect some great things to come.
Hey Monica! Long time, no chat. :-) I'm way excited to see what the next sixty days bring.
I do want to chime in with a quick comment... I can't say that I agree with you that the first step should be learning about your weaknesses. If you want to get a businesses profitable as quickly as possible, you should focus on A) what you're good at, B) what people will pay you for, and find the few things that satisfy both of those categories.
That will help you decide how to make money. That is something a lot of people struggle with if they want to break into the entreprenurial world.
I totally agree that being aware of your weaknesses is extremely important. But weaknesses aren't something that you can just 'solve.' They're probably going to stick with you for a very long time.
You've personally probably spent a lot of time figuring out what you're interested in and how to make money from it ... Now that you know that and know how to generate revenue, you can focus on putting systems in place to deal with your weaknesses. But none of that matters if you don't know how to turn a profit.
I like your methods. In some ways, discovering your weaknesses also helps you discover your strengths, which is similar to A). I think people will approach the task differently, and while working on your weaknesses isn't always the very first step, it should be one of the first. (I'm probably not going to go in order for the series, since I haven't planned it all out yet.)
I do like your criteria though. I always think of the big three 1) What you're good at, 2) What you're interested in, and 3) What people will pay you for. #2 is important because most people are already doing 1 & 3 - it's often their day job.
I love the idea of finding out about your personality first. (Why try to force a square peg in a round hole?)
My results say: ENTJ "The Executive" / Field Marshal (Only 2% of the population is this type).
The type relationships are interesting too, as they give you a way to see who can help you, and with what. For example, your type is listed as the "Complement" to my type. It says that means "compatible strengths with opposite emphases." Pretty cool, huh? Now I know why I enjoyed your interview with Jun Loayza (awhile back) so much when I first discovered his site. ;-)
Great series you're working on. I'm new to the entrepreneurship/blogging world, so now I know who to look to as my "market leader." Thanks!
Wow, Ryan, that's a kind compliment! ENTJ is such an interesting personality type. You will likely go far in the business world - most CEOs have ENTJ personalities.
And I'm glad you enjoyed the interview with Jun! He's a good friend of mine.
How to be an entrepreneur despite your personality type
For example, I am not comfortable writing in a vacuum. I love getting feedback on my ideas, and the thought of publishing my first book with very little community feedback is making me a little crazy. So for my next book, I’m going to get some online feedback early.
60 Days to Entrepreneurial Freedom – The Not-yet-a-Book Experiment
I wanted to re-kick off this blog (after a short hiatus) with a series about something I write about often – entrepreneurship. I’m calling the series 60 Days to Entrepreneurial Freedom, and every day for sixty days I plan to write about some topic in entrepreneurship, with 3 actionable items to help you succeed as an entrepreneur. At the end of the 60 days, I might take some of the material, edit it, restructure it, add to it, clarify it, and turn it into a book. Or I might not. I’m simply using this blog as a playground to test ideas about (and my understanding of) entrepreneurship.
If this sounds completely vague, it is. But if you are interested in starting a business, hang out here every day for the next two months and let’s just see what happens.
Which brings me to…
Action Item #1: Discover your personality type.
Many people would not be okay with starting a 60 day series on their blogs without knowing what they were going to talk about, but I am. That’s because I’m an ENTP, and we’re comfortable with blueprints and improvisation.
I strongly recommend that everyone understand their personality type before trying to start a business. You need to know what your strengths and weaknesses are, and if your company ever starts expanding, you will need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your coworkers.
There is also strong evidence that small companies take on the personalities of their founders, and that the founders’ personalities become embedded in company culture long after the company passes out of the startup phase. One example is Steve Jobs and Apple – another example is Walt Disney from Disney.
So if you are serious about building a company, you better know yourself. Take an online Myer-Briggs test here.
Action Item #2: Learn as much as you can about weaknesses of your personality type.
I read tons of descriptions of my personality type so I know where I’m going to fail, and so I can hopefully circumvent the process. Here are some things I struggle with:
Finishing Projects
I am a classic “P” – I like to start things, but I have trouble finishing them. While I am capable of managing projects well, I have trouble when I must both manage and execute the project. Not only that, but I start way more projects that I can finish, keeping me slightly more busy than physically possible most of the time.
Taking Risks
I have a tendency to dream big and as such, rarely take the traditional route. While I try to take calculated risks, some of my ideas are really out there. This is typical of entrepreneurs, but knowing when to not pursue something or when to quit something is valuable. Sometimes I have trouble seeing that.
Abandoning Relationships
I like relationships that help me grow, and I am quick to end relationships that don’t. This can come across as harsh or unkind to some people, when I’m really just trying to manage my time better. I don’t take emotions into account often enough in my business dealings.
Action Item #3: Plan an attack on your weaknesses.
To give yourself a better chance at whatever entrepreneurial pursuits you undertake, it makes sense to figure out how you are going to compensate for your weaknesses. I’ve come up with three ideas, one for each weakness I’ve uncovered:
Finishing Projects Solution
Hire or find someone to manage you. For my upcoming book, I hired an editor who is also an excellent project manager. He not only edits my book, but helps me keep the entire book on schedule just by talking me through deadlines. If you can get a spouse or coworker to manage your creativity, even passively, you will accomplish much more than you can on your own.
Taking Risks Solution
I stay grounded thanks to my husband. He’s happy to give me a reality check, so I run all my ideas by him and talk it out with him. Find a confidant who has an opposite personality type – he can balance the extreme aspects of your personality.
Abandoning Relationships Solution
I try to relax at least a few times a week with people I don’t feel pressured to “optimize” – like my spouse, friends, and extended family. I remind myself to just have fun with people, and to not make everything about business. I try to convert business partnerships to friendships when I enjoy talking or hanging out with the person, so that the relationship doesn’t end when the partnership does.
Notice that with each of the solutions, I don’t necessarily try to change any of my weaknesses. For the most part, you can’t. What you can do is make a small improvement on your weaknesses and find someone else with those strengths to help you balance.
What’s your personality type, what are three weaknesses you have that could impair you in entrepreneurship, and how can you combat them? Feel free to respond to the action items in a comment, or share your results on your own blog.
If you have an idea for future topics, I obviously could use some. Feel free to email me at m@twentyset.com.
I look forward to hearing about your path to entrepreneurial freedom!