What Color Is Your Parachute?

the same kind of business, so you don’t make the same mistakes they did. Your interviewing, then, should have three steps to it:

1. Finding out what skills, knowledge, or experience it takes to make this kind of business idea work, from several business owners. This is “A.”

2. Then making a list of the skills, knowledge, or experience that you have. This is “B.”

3. Then subtracting “B” from “A,” we arrive at a list of skills, etc., required for success in such a business, that you don’t have. And you must go out and hire someone with those missing skills. This is “C.”

Let me explain this in a little more detail:

1. You first write out in as much detail as you can just exactly what kind of business you are thinking about starting. Do you want to be a freelance writer, or a craftsperson, or a consultant, independent screenwriter, copywriter, digital artist, songwriter, photographer, illustrator, interior designer, video person, videographer, film person, filmmaker, counselor, therapist, plumber, electrician, agent, soap maker, bicycle repairer, public speaker, or what?

2. You then identify towns or cities that are at least fifty to seventy-five miles away (so they won’t feel you are in competition with them directly down the block, as it were) and by using the Yellow Pages or the chamber of commerce, or some smartphone apps, try to identify at least three businesses in those towns, that are identical or at least similar to the business you are thinking of starting. You drive to that town or city, and talk to the founder or owner of each such business.

3. When you talk to them, you explain that you’re exploring the possibility of starting your own business, similar to theirs, but seventy-five miles away. You ask them if they would mind sharing something of their own history, so you can better understand what pitfalls or obstacles one runs into, when starting this kind of business. You ask them what skills, knowledge, or experience they think are necessary to making this kind of business successful.

Will they give you such information? Yes, most of the time. People love to help others get started in their same business, if they love the way their business turned out—although, let’s face it, occasionally you may run into owners who are of an ungenerous nature. But if that happens, thank them politely for their time, and go on to the next name on your list. When you’ve found three people willing to help you by relating their own history, you should now know enough to make a list of the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience they all agree are essential. If not, go visit another city and find some more fellow business owners. When you have a list you’re satisfied with, give this list a name. Call it “A” of course.

4. Back home you sit down and inventory your own skills, knowledge, and experience, by doing the self- inventory described in chapter 13, the Flower Exercise. Give this list a name, also. Call it “B.”

5. Having done this, subtract “B” from “A.” This gives you another new list, which you should name “C.” “C” is by definition a list of the skills or knowledge that you don’t have, but must find—either by taking courses yourself, or by hiring someone with those skills, or by getting a friend or family member (who has those skills) to volunteer to help you for a while.

6. For example, if your investigation revealed that it takes good accounting practices in order to turn a profit, and you don’t know a thing about accounting, you now know enough to go out and hire a part-time accountant immediately—or, if you absolutely have no money, maybe you can talk an accountant friend of yours into giving you some volunteer time, for a while.

I can illustrate this whole process with a case history. Our job-hunter is a woman who has been making harps for some employer, but now is thinking about going into business for herself, not only making harps at home, but also designing harps, with the aid of a computer. After interviewing several home-based harp makers and harp designers, and finishing her own self- assessment, her chart of A – B = C came out looking like this:

Skills and Knowledge Needed to Run This Kind of Business Successfully	Skills and Knowledge That I Have	Skills and Knowledge Needed, Which I Don’t Have, So I’m Going to Go Out and Hire Someone Who Has Them
Precision-working with tools and instruments	Precision-working with tools and instruments	-
Planning and directing an entire project	Planning and directing an entire project	-
Programming computers, inventing programs that solve physical problems	-	Programming computers, inventing programs that solve physical problems
Problem solving: evaluating why a particular design or process isn’t working	Problem solving: evaluating why a particular design or process isn’t working	-
Being self-motivated, resourceful, patient, persevering, accurate, methodical, and thorough	Being self-motivated, resourceful, patient, persevering, accurate, methodical, and thorough	-
Thorough knowledge of: Principles of electronics	-	Thorough knowledge of: Principles of electronics
Physics of strings	Physics of strings	-
Principles of vibration	Principles of vibration