Much of this article probably goes against ideas held by majority of people, but the truth is that when a person is willing, that which the majority regards as impossible, can become that which can be done with adequate intelligent effort.
In our daily conversations certain expressions we use(such as “man-of-many parts”, “multi-talented” “utility player”, “multi-skilled”, “wears many hats” etc) indicate that we acknowledge that some of us have such abilities – and are therefore potential Multipreneurs. However, sometimes human beings tend to question and/or resist attempts by such individuals to make use of their skills in a formal manner e.g. in business.
This article offers suggestions based on real-life experiences about how a person can increase chances of securing needed financing, by intelligently applying his/her multipreneurial abilities.
WARNING! In order to get maximum value from this article, the reader must keep an OPEN mind free from the influence of whatever societal myths s/he is familiar with about doing more than one thing at a time.
If you cannot do that, then you are NOT ready to use the information provided here.
You may find it useful to read my detailed article titledHow To Be A Jack Of Many Trades™ And Why It Can Make You Succeed More Often before you read this one.
“The mind is like a parachute. It only works best when it is open” – Anonymous
Keep This In Mind For When You Meet A (Potential) Multipreneur!
The fact that YOU find it difficult to switch from doing one thing to another, at will or within a short space of time DOES NOT mean every other person will experience similar difficulty. You simply cannot impose your limitations on others in that manner. If you think it’s not possible, no matter who you are or what you think you’ve achieved, that does NOT mean it’s not possible.
Someone else, a child even, with the appropriate skills set, desire and self-belief(as Napoleon Hill would say) would bring that same thing to reality. Examples abound as to how this has happened in the past. So, when a person chooses to market not one but a number of potentially income generating skills to different markets, do not be quick to cast aspersion on the person. He might be just as good as he says he is in all of them to justify wanting to earn a living by offering service or products using those skills.
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” — George Bernard Shaw
Essential Qualities A Startup Entrepreneur Needs
1. Mental Stamina.
If you have been doing any reading about what it takes to startup a business as an entrepreneur, you will have read that you need to be able to deal with (and recover quickly) from setbacks; work long hours etc. You need to have mental stamina or the ability to persevere. I mention this particular attribute because I believe it is the most crucial for ANY entrepreneur to have. Without it, no matter how gifted, talented, or skillful a person is, s/he may just not be able to carry on long enough to achieve the success s/he desires.
2. Other Attributes.
Various authors, and books have described the many qualities that make a good or successful entrepreneur. There are even quizzes designed to help the aspiring entrepreneur discover how suited s/he is to successfully functioning as an entrepreneur. “Googling” the search string “What attributes does a person need to succeed as an entrepreneur”, should turn up a few useful links that you can follow to learn more about this subject.
3. Ability To Juggle Many Tasks Or “Multipreneur”.
You may find you need to be able to do many different things at the same time. As some experienced writers on this subject have admitted, you will during this period have to do most of the work by yourself.
That includes preparing the business plan, keeping your business data/records(especially to enable you cater for the legal tax obligations etc), planning for marketing/advertising, sales and so on. Many of these activities you will probably be able to leave to employees in the future(if you business is the type that requires such), but at the beginning, you will need to demonstrate reasonable mastery of these tasks to move your business forward.
Robert Kiyosaki recommends to persons in paid employment planning for a future in business or self-employment, that they plan to work in as many different departments of their companies as possible with the main intention of learning how those they are not familiar with function. That way, when they eventually startup their learning curves would be shorter or less steep.
Do You Really Lack Capital? Really??
Sometimes individuals who wish to startup their own business ventures complain of lack of capital. But history is replete with examples of people who had little or no capital and still managed to get their businesses off the ground and up to a point here they found willing investors.
Dan Kennedy once wrote that he had become convinced that all the noise being made about lack of capital was nonsense. I particularly found quite instructive Dan’s advice to prospective investors in this regard. He told them their money would be likely well spent if they sought out and invested in the business run by a startup who had demonstrated that she could survive on her own without capital. Very good thinking!
How Do You Survive Without Capital?
1. Develop ways to keep more of your revenue in your pockets or coffers as tangible profits – negotiate better; get concessions when you make purchases, maintain low overheads/running expenses.
2. Find a way to get the things you want done, without having to spend money e.g. product or service barter exchange.
But how do you do all this?
Using Multipreneuring To Get Around The Problem Of INADEQUATE Capital
Let’s face it, if you are anything close to a true entrepreneur, you never really lack capital at startup. This is because you will have one or more assets that your belief in your business ideas will convince you to sell to raise needed capital. What you will encounter is INADEQUATE capital. The money you raise may not be enough to meet your needs.
It is my strong conviction that if more people can learn to acquire multiple self-taught competencies(relevant to their chosen business interests), they will not only increase their chances of succeeding in business, but also “immunise” themselves against potentially devastating setbacks, since they would be able to fall back on their skills set to either prevent, avoid or recover from such setbacks.
You will only save significant amounts of money when your skills are self-taught.
Therefore learning HOW TO LEARN should be the first priority you have. Buy a book, tape, CD tutorial etc that teaches how to do something you need to learn. Diligently apply yourself for as long as necessary, and until you have the desired proficiency. Then put your new skill to use in a way that benefits your business.
As I said elsewhere, sometimes having multiple marketable skills can help you attract “bread and butter” jobs to tide you over the periods of slow patronage you may encounter in starting or running your business. Being able to earn income through a variety of channels, based on multiple skills, certainly increases your chances of sourcing needed capital to push your business forward and/or win the confidence of prospective investors.
Anything Wrong With A Humbling HUMBLE Beginning?
Even if you have what you consider adequate capital, that should not be reason to spend carelessly. You can still adopt the prudent approach.
And if you do NOT have enough capital, you need to ask yourself some questions:
1. Can I get this done myself?
2. If I can’t, can I learn how to do so in enough time to get the business off the ground on schedule?
3. Or can I get someone to do it for me without my paying cash(maybe you offer a service using a special skill you offer, equivalent in value. As a multipreneur, the chances of one or more of your marketable skills coming in useful as a negotiating tool are high).
If a startup entrepreneur can acquire the skills to function intelligently as a multipreneur, her chances of success will increase, because she would accumulate less avoidable overheads/operating expenses, and therefore retain more of her earnings as profits.
In addition she would be able to turn potential setbacks into profitable outcomes.
Quick example. As a multipreneur, apart from speaking and training on Self-Development, I offer custom excel VB spreadsheet automation, web design, and freelance writing services. While working on two different projects in 2004 (a webdesign job, and an excel workbook automation job), I lost access to the laptop I was using due to a fall out with my partner.
In order for me to complete the projects for my clients, I negotiated with one of them, who runs an IT/Telecom company, to have a computer system built for me as part payment for the web design job I was doing for him.
He agreed – for the obvious reason that it meant he got to pay me less cash. In addition, he had many of the needed components for building the computer system left over from previous projects. So, just over a week later I had a brand new computer system, AND I was able to finish off both projects!
While starting up, I chose to function as a multipreneur in order to make myself more capable of giving value to my identified target audience who have varying needs due to the different areas of endeavour they are in.
This ability later became even more valuable when I discovered I could get many other resources I needed, but lacked cash to purchase, by simply offering to use one of my many skills in exchange for the item(s).
As a multipreneur, I have had many instances in which I got things done without spending half as much as my fellow entrepreneurs simply because I took out time to learn how to do it myself.
No matter how you look at it, an entrepreneur who can function as a multipreneur, is likely to have more choices open to him/her when it concerns raising capital or securing alternative means of getting access to needed resources.
By putting yourself in a position where you have more options to choose from, you increase your chances of succeeding. When one door closes, your other skill(s) might just open your eyes to another possible route to achieving your intended purpose!
Still not convinced? Or worried about what others will say? Read my detailed article titled How To Be A Jack Of Many Trades™ And Why It Can Make You Succeed More Often.
PS: This article was first published 6nline in 2006.