Larry@Flor.io

Taking a Chance on Myself

As some of you may know, I’ve recently taken a bit of a left turn in my career. Whereas before I was in-house counsel at a financial company, pretty directly using (to most minds of most people) both my MBA and law degree, I have now taken a move in the realm of recruiting. You may wonder why I took such a seemingly drastic step away from my chosen profession (a perception I disagree with, to be discussed in a later post).  The answer is actually incredibly simple: I’m taking a chance on myself.

As an attorney not in a law firm setting, the expectations for me were to do my work and do it well. It was not my role in the company to generate business, but rather to keep business moving. Being a smaller legal department, I was blessed to have a broad diversity in what that “business” was, but the goal was the same regardless. As long as I kept doing my work and doing it well, I had a job and a salary. That sort of safety and security is a wonderful thing and I appreciate that I was fortunate enough to have a good job and work with a fantastic group of people. The issue, however, arises in that I constantly want to push myself to do more and achieve more. Enter recruiting.

How do I make money in recruiting? By getting people jobs. Yes, the fundamentals of recruiting are actually that simple (thus, fundamentals). The more people I can find jobs for, the more money I make. In a great economy with a lot of hard work and some luck, you can make a lot of money.  The inverse, however, is also true. Bad economy, bad luck, or bad work ethic and you’re not making much, if any.

This leads me to me. I believe that I can work harder than is necessary to succeed in this role. The fact that my job is to help people find a position that is professionally satisfying is an incredibly rewarding bonus (and great motivator) as well. Belief, however, can only get you so far. Unless you actually try something, you’re operating solely in the realm of the theoretical. To prove the theory true, you need to try.

I’m taking a chance on myself because I believe I have the capability to succeed and excel. I’m taking a chance on myself because I would rather fail than wonder “What If?” I’m taking a chance on myself because if I don’t no one else will either.

When are you going to take your chance?

- L

Why Does Business Love the Letter P?

There’s an amazing trend in business. I’m not saying it’s particularly new, but I think it’s hitting the tipping point. That trend goes by a few different names, among them are “Not-just-for-Profit” and “social entrepreneurship.”  I think these terms are relatively self-explantory (and if not, I hear Google is fairly useful), so I’m not going to sit here and explain them for you.  Instead, I’m going to share my take on a few different aspects of these trends and business in general.

Purpose

I hope this one goes at least a little without saying. This is what drives your business, the reason for its existence. When people say “I want to own my own business, but I don’t know what I want to do,” this is what they’re lacking. Too often, people run blind into a business without really clarifying what the business will do. I’m reminded of George Constanza’s Art Vandelay and how, before he was an architect or a latex salesman, he was an importer-exporter. Yes, it’s a business. No, it’ s not specific enough. Hone your purpose to a point. If you don’t know what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it, neither will anyone else.

People

This is important on two levels. First, and probably/hopefully more obviously, if you don’t hire the right people, you will almost be guaranteed to fail. What makes a given person “right” for a business? Personality and skill set. I’d make the argument that personality matters significantly more than does any particular skills. It may not be easy to train somebody to succeed at a task or in a role, but it’s still exponentially easier than trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole.  If the personality doesn’t mesh with the other people in the company and with the overall culture of the place, don’t be surprised to see morale and productivity take a nosedive in the near future.

The second set of people probably is more applicable to those companies providing a good rather than a service. These people are the vague and distant groups up- and downstream from your organization. The upstream people – the supply chain folks – matter.  These are the people and companies that produce everything your company needs to provide its own particular good or service. If you ever pick up a bag of coffee and go for the organic, shade-grown, or fair trade varieties, then you know that the source of a good matters. For better or worse, the supply chosen by a company echoes down into the market and affects your brand. Maybe you’re the “feel-good but expensive” one that has no-HFCS organic fair trade energy bars packaged in biodegradable recycled plastic in a factory where every worker gets a deep tissue massage on Tuesday afternoons while the CEO makes cafe lattes. Maybe you’re the cheap one. Both will affect your bottom line.

Your downstream people are your customers. Everything you put in your products will affect your customers. Questionable brakes or lead contamination are bad. Maybe lax quality controls kept your manufacturing costs lower, but the massive lawsuits, horrible press, and diminished sales volume will cost more.

Product

You need one. A good one. If it’s not good, people won’t want it. Or rather, they won’t want it for long. If you’re a bad lawyer, you’ll quickly have no clients. If you make a product that doesn’t fulfill a need you’re going out of business in a hurry. Make sure you have a product and fills a niche. If you’re reading this, you’re not the head of a multinational corporation and, as such, you cannot brute-force a product into the hands of consumers. Make them want it, otherwise you should find something else to do.

Profit

If purpose is the heart of your business, this is the blood. No profit, no business. I don’t think I need to expand on this one that much.

Process & Planning

In other words, what’s your business model? While I’m a big fan of “JFDI” you need to know how you’re going to run a company before you start running it. This doesn’t need to be complicated. Here’s a basic business model that you can use: “I’m going to do X. It costs me $Y per unit/hour/mile/etc to do X so I’m going to charge $(Y+Z) for my X. Since it costs me $Y, I’ll make $Z per unit/hour/mile/etc! I know people will pay $(Y+Z) for X because I thought this through!”  You’re welcome.

So, what do you think? Have any others? Disagree? Comment away!

- L

Leap Before You Look

A good friend of mine is fond if saying “JFDI.” It’s short for “Just Friggin’ Do It,” substituting whatever you like for the ‘F’ but we’re trying to keep this PG-ish. Now, as a lawyer by training, it has been repeatedly smacked into my admittedly thick skull that undergoing any significant task without having done the necessary due diligence is dangerous, negligence, and probably professionally irresponsible (this is a scary phrase to lawyers).  I’m inclined to agree with that sentiment in some areas (please do NOT just friggin’ go buy a house, research is required), but all in all, I agree with my aforementioned friend. 

Let me qualify this a little – planning is a good thing. Thinking ahead is a good thing. Actions have consequences (note to self: future post topic). That being said, there is nothing (NOTHING!!!) that will kill a great idea like over-planning. You want to start a website? Go do it! Have a brilliant business idea? Get moving! The Internet is a stunningly incredible resource that has lowered barriers to entry in the service sector to almost nothing. If you have an idea, you can execute it.

If you dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney

Over-planning causes indecisiveness, doubt, and too much second-guessing. The longer you plan something, the more problems you will discover and the less you will like your idea. I’m not saying those problems don’t exist in reality, but more often than not you can deal with them after you get started. You may even realize that the problem isn’t even that much of a problem.

So what are you waiting for? The world is there, it’s time to act!

- L