Being Your Own Boss: Advice from a Pro

This is the latest in a series of guest columns from a marketing pro and ‘practicing entrepreneur.’

Being “my own boss” for over thirty years has taught me quite a bit about persistence, resilience and discipline.

While on the subject, feel free to toss in the words, focus, collaboration, creativity, and boldness. I’ve learned a lot through the years, although the more experience I’ve gained the more I don’t understand.

Here are five areas that still leave me scratching my head.

Mike Marchev

I don’t understand  . . . why self-employed individuals are so scared of “failure.”
Failure is a good thing.

Missing your target is the fastest way to determine whether you are on the right path or not. Activity is the key. I’m not suggesting that you fail foolishly.

If you learn a better way to approach the problem by making the correct mid-course corrections, you will soon be doing your personalized “happy dance.”

‘I don’t understand why people are not failing more.’ My advice: fail faster.

I don’t understand . . . why many self-employed individuals are so scared of “success.”
This is “BIG.”

What if what you are doing actually works? That would mean more work, more responsibility, more . . . .

And if you do actually succeed, you may be thinking,  “What if people find out that I am not as good (or as smart) as they think I am?” What if they find out I’m a fake?

It took me years to come to terms with this fear.

Do yourself a favor and get over it. Let me help you. “You are not as smart or as good as you are pretending to be or as you are going to be.” Your clients do business with you for what you can do for ‘me.’

Be you. Flaws and all. Win or lose.  Get on with your business.”

I don’t understand why people can’t relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor. My advice: Bask in your success stories.

I don’t understand . . . why many self-employed individuals refrain from speaking in public.
A self-employed individual who does not feel comfortable speaking in front of groups is like an airplane pilot being frightened of heights. Some combinations just come with the territory.

This is a textbook study.  Say things once, and have multiple audiences hear your message. Is this a lesson in time management? You bet it is. It is also an example of “leverage.”

You are not researching and preparing to write a best-selling novel. You are simply sharing your excitement of what you already know with a room full of interested people.

Talking comes naturally. (Most of you have been doing it for years.)

I don’t understand why business practitioners don’t schedule more public appearances. My advice: Share your knowledge with others.

I don’t understand . . . why most sales people fail to “follow-up.”
If you have no intention of doing something, don’t say you are going to do it. If you say it, do it.

Don’t confuse your job with one that involves running for political office. You can’t hide behind bureaucracy. You don’t have to candy-coat my expectations.  Shoot from the hip. Tell me the truth. I can take it.

I want to believe you. I want to trust you. Just do what you say you are going to do.

I don’t understand why it is so hard for so many to complete the task promised. My advice: Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Clean your plate.

I don’t understand . . . why many travel professionals blame their lack of success on “everything and anything” but their own decisions and activities.
The late Michael Jackson said it best in his song titled The Man in the Mirror. “If you want to make the world a better place take a look in the mirror and make a change.”

Forget the economy. Forget the weather. Forget the stock exchange. Forget your next-door neighbor, your grade school teachers, your parents, your priest or your rabbi.

 The only tool you need to build a future you can be proud of is staring back at you when you look into the “glass.”

I don’t understand why most people don’t have more confidence in themselves. My advice: Remember you did not get this far by accident. Pick you.

I suppose if I stop to think about it, there are many other areas that I find confusing and difficult to come to grips with.

But these five are enough for now. I think I have given myself a headache.  I plan to take a good long look in the nearest mirror and then go out and find another person I can help.

Mike Marchev dances to the beat of his own drum. He has been sharing sales and marketing ideas with travel professionals for nearly 35 years, and he has not missed a meal during that entire era. What’s amazing is his clients keep asking him back for more. For a copy of his Special Report, Your 12-Word Marketing Plan, send Mike an email . . . along with a kind note. (He too is fragile like the rest of you.) Mike@MikeMarchev.com.