Create Your Own Job
How to Become Self Employed Without a Plan
I wrote this book for you. When I first started my business 26 years ago, I wished someone told me what the rules were, what to watch out for and the steps to create a business. This is that book.
Book Orgin Story
Why I wrote this book
I started writing this book about 10 years ago. Over the years I had created several documents outlining different processes that I would use to run my business. Many of these ended up as handouts that I would give to my clients that would explain how to run their businesses better. They were continuously updated with new techniques and methods to help their businesses become more efficient and productive. At some point I joked I should write a book and hand it out to all of my clients instead of constantly updating these documents, and it stuck. The goal was to write a book that cuts through all of the chatter and teaches you actionable steps to start creating your business today.
When you Create Your Own Job, you see and interact with the world differently. Not only has it taught me to be self reliant, it's taken away a lot of the fear that I have with money. Once you know how to make money from nothing, the fear of losing a job or leaving a terrible job, dissipates.
Time and again I’ve met people that feel the need to start a business for themselves, need more flexibility, dislike their jobs or just got laid off. A lot of people want to start their own business, but have never done it before and need good solid advice. This is that book. I take you step by step and show you how to figure out what your new job will be, how to get organized and how to make money. This is the beginning of a wonderful journey for you. It’s time for you to Create Your Own Job.
What you will learn
Create Your Own Job is written like a manual. All of the chapters stand on their own so you can select the chapters that interest you or you can read it all the way through. Every chapter contains real life stories for context, as well as, goals and actions to help you get your business set up quickly. The following are a few of the lessons I teach you on your journey to Create Your Own Job:
This is the best time to Create Your Own Job! - For the last 30 years the majority of new jobs created were from small businesses and it keeps growing year after year. You will be successful. The statistics are in your favor.
How to set up your business the right way - Many entrepreneur books tell you to spend money unnecessarily on processes, software, people and equipment you don’t need. I show you how to get up and going fast and not go into debt.
Organizing yourself to be productive and profitable - Every business has a process. I show you how to break down your business into pieces for what you do daily, weekly and monthly, to get customers, learn to solve their problems and keep them coming back.
How to make money and keep it - Most businesses find the easier part is to make the money and the hardest part is to keep the money. They are actually one in the same. I show you ways to organize the way you make money that will put checks and balances in place that will have you keep it too.
Sample Chapters
Chapter: Preface
My wife was three months pregnant, we had just bought a new house and I was laid off in January, the worst time of the year to find a new job. When I came home, sat on the couch and told her, she put her head in her hands and sobbed. With a kid on the way and a new mortgage, the situation looked bleak. It was the second time in my web development career that I had been laid off and I started to notice a pattern.
We bought our first house in 2001, an hour North of San Diego in an up and coming area called Temecula Valley. Everything about our home was great, except Internet access. There wasn't any. Coming from cable Internet in San Diego, this was surprising. DSL was two years away, so our only option was dial up. Being in the Web Development business, this felt like going backwards. The best I could find at the time was “high speed dial up” (HSDU) so we went with that. In my monthly bill, the company advertised we could re-sell HSDU and “Start your own business!” Most of my neighbors complained of slow Internet too, so I started reselling HSDU. I wasn't even interested in starting my own business, I loved my job, I really just wanted Internet access.
After I started working at the new company they pivoted from doing web development to creating their own software. Eventually, we were not prepared for the billing cycles in the industry our new software targeted and we ran out of money. It was a great few years and I learned a lot. I loved the experience. My wife had just opened a new hair salon, an hour away in San Diego and my HSDU business had slowly evolved into building websites and hosting. With much to do to prepare for the baby, we decided I would work full time on my business and capitalize on the new found flexibility of my schedule.
I didn't set out to be an entrepreneur. It sort of evolved out of necessity. I've often said, “I've never been fired, but I've been laid off plenty.” My whole employee career has been spent working for tech startups and it can sometimes be volatile. You can find yourself unemployed for many reasons, money spent too fast, revenue came too slow, too much debt, grew too fast, made too much money, inexperienced business owners, I could keep going. The irony is, the years that I had the most consistent income, were the ones that I was self employed.
The evolution of this book came to life after years of helping others create their businesses online. It started with building websites, telling them to do this, but don’t do that. Later, I coached entrepreneurs wanting to create a better process and increase profitability. As time went by, I noticed the same patterns over and over again. With this book I hope to take some of the mystery and fear out of starting your own business and provide freedom and flexibility for those that need it in their lives.
Chapter: Introduction
I can’t wait for you to read the Introduction! This chapter is where I explain the structure of the book and how you can use the tools within it to Create Your Own Job. The Introduction is about three pages long, so I’ve put together a PDF that you can download, that also includes some additional sections of the book including the Table Of Contents. After you fill out the form below, you’ll get an email with a link to download the Introduction chapter. Thank you for your interest in my book and I hope you enjoy reading the sample chapter!
About the Author
Realizing that marine biology wasn’t for me I quickly needed to find a new major in college. It was 1997 and the World Wide Web was just taking off. Staring down at the ground walking to my counselors office I stepped on a flyer advertising New Media! That was what they called the web back then. They were creating a new major in the Communications department to start teaching people how to build websites. From that moment forward my consulting career took off. Every company wanted to bring their business to the web. As I was building my business, I was learning everyone else’s business, so that I could bring it online. It was a crash course in business creation. I really took to the web. It fascinated me.
I wanted to know how it worked and particularly how businesses could use it to make money. Eventually I moved up, holding titles such as, Web Designer, Web Developer, Production Manager, Director, Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Increasingly, my role has been to seek out and implement technology to make companies perform their best. From eCommerce solutions to marketing, to back office, moving the company forward is the goal. My experience is my strength. I am able to take over two decades of lessons learned and apply them daily to help companies become successful. It’s been an incredible career and yet I can’t help but feel the writing of this book is the beginning of a new chapter. The time I get to give back and help others just like my mentors helped me. Here’s to the next adventure ahead!
