Often, when I am reading business and marketing magazines, one of the common questions that will be asked by a writer doing a feature interview with a successful business person is “What was your first job?” I think it would also be interesting to ask people do dig back into their memory and think about what was their first small business?
Many of us started out doing baby sitting, mowing lawns, cleaning houses, or other jobs on an entrepreneurial basis. We might not have received our first income in the form of a pay check, but in actual cashed paid to us by neighbors and family members for jobs we did. Why do we overlook all the experience and entrepreneurial skills that we learn when we are actually “working for ourselves?” I know that when I was a teenager, I had a few babysitting clients, two housecleaning clients, and I worked part-time in a restaurant. That “piecing together” of jobs and income has definitely become more the standard for me than the exception. I had to keep track of my own schedule, negotiate payment terms with each of my clients, and keep my own bank account from the time I was about twelve. I feel incredibly blessed that I was able to learn about working for myself and creating different income streams from a young age.
So, how about you? Did you walk dogs, sell lemonade, or pick vegetables or fruit? Many of us actually worked as independent contractors long before got our first traditional job. It would be fun to hear about all of these entrepreneurial experiences for a change and explore the way small business owners can be encouraged and educated! So, what was your first small business and what did you learn about being a business owner from those early experiences?
See Also: Do You Think of Your Business Like Another Child?
Do You Consider Yourself an Executive?
If You Could Start All Over in Your Home Business, What do You Wish You Knew?