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Entrepreneurship: The Opportunity to Create Your Next Big Gig
Taking Action
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” Milton Berle
Have you ever found yourself hoping for something or someone to change your life, for something to shake you out of what you expect or for a way to create your perfect new professional opportunity? It’s like waiting for a bus … if you just wait long enough, one is bound to come along and whisk you away to a new place, a better place.
In my experience, new opportunities are much more likely to knock when I am taking action … doing something to stir the pot or actually hanging a new door for myself. And one of the most effective new doors to hang is to explore entrepreneurial opportunities regardless of your age, experience or life situation.
Over the past 30 years, I have started four companies … different types and kinds … each time seeking to design the professional opportunity that would best fit my life, interests, desires and the needs of the moment. Most recently, I launched Last Big Gig, a company helping women design their most amazing, satisfying and fulfilling next professional gig. Starting with how you want to feel in your new “job”, we use proven tools to fuse your experience with your desires to create new professional possibilities. Often, the possibilities are entrepreneurial, enabling women to create the opportunities that suit them best, at that time and in their own way.
Creating your Next Job
How do you know if taking an entrepreneurial path might be the right way for you to create your next big professional gig? Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you consider creating your next job:
1. Are you the person who always seems to come up with the creative solution to the problem? Whether at work, at home or in your community, are you the person who creates a solution to resolve a problem or challenge?
2. Do you get excited about new ideas and possibilities? Do your juices flow and your energy build when you learn about new things, meet new people or hear interesting ideas? Do you keep lists of places you want to visit, people you want to meet, things you want to do?
3. Do you crave flexibility and spontaneity? Does doing the same thing every day, the same way make you feel a little crazy? Are you always challenging your GPS to find new ways to get to the same places or new places to go?
4. Are you good with people? Do you attract other people with your enthusiasm, energy and sense of adventure? Are you someone who seems to be able to make a group more effective in whatever they are doing?
5. Do you make things happen? Are you always leaving a path of new events, activities and things as you move through your day? When you set your mind to it, can you make something important happen?
If you have answered yes to a couple of these questions, you may want to consider an entrepreneurial opportunity for your next big gig. You can explore starting your own thing or working with an existing start-up team committed to a need or vision that inspires you.
Common Hurdles
As you explore the entrepreneurial path, don’t let the following common hurdles deter you:
1. Questioning your own experience and abilities: the only way to build entrepreneurial experience is to get in, roll up your sleeves and take action.
2. Paralyzed in planning and figuring it all out: there is no way to figure it all out. By definition it will change, often for the better. So just start.
3. Looking for the perfect partners: Remind yourself that playing the field will often bring you exactly who you need when you need them, without having to make a long-term commitment.
4. Not knowing where or how to start: There is no perfect starting point. Jump into the water, follow the current and swim as well as you can. You will learn more, faster than standing on the side of the river waiting for the perfect time to jump in.
What new doors can you build today to invite in an entrepreneurial opportunity? Start by building a small door just to get the hang of it, because opportunity really is waiting for you to create it!
And if you want some help, reach out to me at Last Big Gig and start a conversation about how to create your most amazing, entrepreneurial Gig – doing what you love, the way you love to do it, for the rewards most important to you.