Day One: Decide on the one service you will offer.
“Once you become comfortable with providing that one service, you will naturally expand what you offer.”
This is so embarrassing.
I searched through my knowledge bank.
I tried several variations on names I felt it might be it.
And, then by a few terms I associate with it.
Then the approximate date.
But, I can’t find the source.
About a half an hour later the name came to me out of the blue.
I just searched the web for it and found the name AnyWired, but not the original.
The new one helps students with writing their term papers.
The old one laid out 30 steps for starting a lifestyle business.
But, enough about that.
The key is I needed a resource for developing a curriculum about becoming a ‘Preneur.
For a workshop in my new job at the university’s MBA program.
Back then my pivot took me from consulting to full-time advisor to moonlighter.
And along the way, an intrapreneur.
An internal entrepreneur with the mandate to innovate, to create new services but within an employer.
With the executive MBA population, I enjoy discussions about their situations, thinking outside of the box and giving them new inspiration and innovative strategies.
Full disclosure?
I’m not the most focused kind of guy.
I’m a lateral thinker.
I need to have several projects aka knowledge laboratories running at the same time – a “network of enterprises” – attributed to Brian Eno in a chapter of “Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives” by Tim Harford.
According to Harford, if one of the enterprises in Brian’s workshop hits a dead-end, he pivots to the next most promising.
So all, I’m saying is step one was the most difficult for me.
Decide on the one service you will offer.
I had what I felt was a working title, “Western Skies, Island Currents.”
And, a tagline:
“From the desert, to the mountains and the seas – and all the pristine rivers and lakes in between.”
- A product or service about Island get-aways and local off-the-beaten paths.
- Maybe something about best fit and best places.
- Infopreneurial and lifestyle options in different geographical communities.
I already identified those things that matter to parents, mid-lifers and empty-nesters and their extended families – kind of overlapping interests and priorities like:
- a spiritual foundation,
- life stage challenges,
- generational issues,
- recreation,
- the environment,
- education,
- friends,
- family,
- values,
- home and community life —
- more of the relationships –
- both social and political on the planet.
Some of my initial brainstorms:
- Maybe somehow the product or service could be play and adventure selections for people working through their bucket lists.
- Maybe like how to produce knowledge products – guides or coffee table books – from your checked off your bucket list of thrills and chills – in this case about the West and Tropical Islands.
- Maybe how to’s: A tool for picking the best fit for you.
- And writing about your adventures.
I liked the part about expanding it with follow-up products.
More maybe brainstorms:
- A guide to best places in the West and Hawaii.
- Subscriptions for narrowing down your choices so you don’t make the biggest mistake of your life.
- Memberships with access to local guides and recommendations from others just like you.
- Quality of Life Choices throughout the West — states communities and neighborhoods.
And then I lost focus with those lateral network of enterprises.
Damn you Brian Eno.
If a field guide crystallizes – everything you need to know to make the best possible career decision – then, why not include the best place to live out that decision?
If the Mobile KnowCo takes you step-by-step from moonlighting to launching a lifestyle business, why not pack it up and take it with you?
- Find a Market Before You Move
- Sample the Town over the four seasons before you move
- Live and Play Where You Want
Why not go on vacation or move to your dream location, while your KnowledgeATM accepts deposits any time day or night?
Focus, Focus, Focus.
More tips from my notes taken from the missing-in-action, AnyWired:
“This approach will help you become skilled in the service you provide very quickly.
Since you want to be taking on your first client in 30 days, it’s crucial that you develop your skills to an adequate level.
Once you become comfortable with providing that one service, you will naturally expand what you offer.”
Day Two: “Gather learning materials to help you practice your service before taking on a client.”