Entrepreneur-thinking is the New Job Security

Entrepreneur-thinking is the New Job Security I meant to write five blog posts this week about being an entrepreneur.  Many of my users are looking for a job, but they are also looking for security, and thinking about starting their own business. So I wrote two posts about being an entrepreneur but I need to wrap up my thoughts before the weekend on this entrepreneur stuff. (my two posts: When an Entrepreneur Quits and Has to Find a Job, Funding Your Business: The Four F’s and A Novel Idea) We all know job security is gone. Im not saying that entrepreneurship is the new job security, Im saying that thinking like an entrepreneur is the new job security. I think having a job is simply one revenue stream.  It might be your only revenue stream, or it might be your biggest of multiple revenue streams.  But its just one revenue stream.  In the olden days, when there was such a thing as job security, you would not worry about whether you were going to have a paycheck come in the next two weeks it would automatically come. Entrepreneurs dont usually think that way.  They are always concerned about the top line (revenue), the bottom line (profit, or how much might end up in your pocket), and cash flow (when you can pay your own bills). Today, we need to think about top line income (how much money we bring into our household), bottom line (how much we get to keep after taxes and all of the bills), and cash flow (when the money hits our account, and how that matches up with our bills). We need to have the financial mindset that entrepreneurs have.  This means: We think about our revenue streams more than we had to before. We think about our pipeline who are the prospects that we are courting (or should be courting). We think about our current income streams, and how long well have them. We look at our competition and the market, and try to make decisions based on where things are headed. We think about our product (aka, ourselves): are our skills outdated?  What can we do to be more market-worthy? We think about our relationships, and who in our network could help us, and how we can help them. The stuff I wake up thinking about is the stuff that every person who needs to make money should think about.  Your degree aint going to cut it, nor is it going to be the thing that gets or keeps you that job.  I got a CIS undergrad and an MBA, neither of which (a) saved me from getting laid off, and (b) helped me get another job. What is it that will provide you INCOME security? How are you positioning yourself to create income security? Those are two of todays new career questions that we need to get serious about. Entrepreneur-thinking is the New Job Security I meant to write five blog posts this week about being an entrepreneur.  Many of my users are looking for a job, but they are also looking for security, and thinking about starting their own business. So I wrote two posts about being an entrepreneur but I need to wrap up my thoughts before the weekend on this entrepreneur stuff. (my two posts: When an Entrepreneur Quits and Has to Find a Job, Funding Your Business: The Four F’s and A Novel Idea) We all know job security is gone. Im not saying that entrepreneurship is the new job security, Im saying that thinking like an entrepreneur is the new job security. I think having a job is simply one revenue stream.  It might be your only revenue stream, or it might be your biggest of multiple revenue streams.  But its just one revenue stream.  In the olden days, when there was such a thing as job security, you would not worry about whether you were going to have a paycheck come in the next two weeks it would automatically come. Entrepreneurs dont usually think that way.  They are always concerned about the top line (revenue), the bottom line (profit, or how much might end up in your pocket), and cash flow (when you can pay your own bills). Today, we need to think about top line income (how much money we bring into our household), bottom line (how much we get to keep after taxes and all of the bills), and cash flow (when the money hits our account, and how that matches up with our bills). We need to have the financial mindset that entrepreneurs have.  This means: We think about our revenue streams more than we had to before. We think about our pipeline who are the prospects that we are courting (or should be courting). We think about our current income streams, and how long well have them. We look at our competition and the market, and try to make decisions based on where things are headed. We think about our product (aka, ourselves): are our skills outdated?  What can we do to be more market-worthy? We think about our relationships, and who in our network could help us, and how we can help them. The stuff I wake up thinking about is the stuff that every person who needs to make money should think about.  Your degree aint going to cut it, nor is it going to be the thing that gets or keeps you that job.  I got a CIS undergrad and an MBA, neither of which (a) saved me from getting laid off, and (b) helped me get another job. What is it that will provide you INCOME security? How are you positioning yourself to create income security? Those are two of todays new career questions that we need to get serious about. Entrepreneur-thinking is the New Job Security I meant to write five blog posts this week about being an entrepreneur.  Many of my users are looking for a job, but they are also looking for security, and thinking about starting their own business. So I wrote two posts about being an entrepreneur but I need to wrap up my thoughts before the weekend on this entrepreneur stuff. (my two posts: When an Entrepreneur Quits and Has to Find a Job, Funding Your Business: The Four F’s and A Novel Idea) We all know job security is gone. Im not saying that entrepreneurship is the new job security, Im saying that thinking like an entrepreneur is the new job security. I think having a job is simply one revenue stream.  It might be your only revenue stream, or it might be your biggest of multiple revenue streams.  But its just one revenue stream.  In the olden days, when there was such a thing as job security, you would not worry about whether you were going to have a paycheck come in the next two weeks it would automatically come. Entrepreneurs dont usually think that way.  They are always concerned about the top line (revenue), the bottom line (profit, or how much might end up in your pocket), and cash flow (when you can pay your own bills). Today, we need to think about top line income (how much money we bring into our household), bottom line (how much we get to keep after taxes and all of the bills), and cash flow (when the money hits our account, and how that matches up with our bills). We need to have the financial mindset that entrepreneurs have.  This means: We think about our revenue streams more than we had to before. We think about our pipeline who are the prospects that we are courting (or should be courting). We think about our current income streams, and how long well have them. We look at our competition and the market, and try to make decisions based on where things are headed. We think about our product (aka, ourselves): are our skills outdated?  What can we do to be more market-worthy? We think about our relationships, and who in our network could help us, and how we can help them. The stuff I wake up thinking about is the stuff that every person who needs to make money should think about.  Your degree aint going to cut it, nor is it going to be the thing that gets or keeps you that job.  I got a CIS undergrad and an MBA, neither of which (a) saved me from getting laid off, and (b) helped me get another job. What is it that will provide you INCOME security? How are you positioning yourself to create income security? Those are two of todays new career questions that we need to get serious about.