“Blue-Collar Gold — How to Build a Service Business from the Dirt Up” by Mark Stoner (Next Century Publishing, $14.95).The service sector of the economy isn’t confined to retailing. People forget about the blue-collar segment until the plumbing leaks, the furnace dies, the kitchen needs remodeling, etc. Stoner, like many others with skills you can’t […]
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“Blue-Collar Gold — How to Build a Service Business from the Dirt Up” by Mark Stoner (Next Century Publishing, $14.95).
The service sector of the economy isn't confined to retailing. People forget about the blue-collar segment until the plumbing leaks, the furnace dies, the kitchen needs remodeling, etc. Stoner, like many others with skills you can't learn in college, became a well-paid professional in the B2C and B2B markets. In 2003, he was a one-man chimney sweeping business; over the last 10-plus years, he built it into a multi-million-dollar chimney service business.
Stoner touts blue-collar service businesses as opportunities to start small and grow. Why? Because even in the worst economic times, people need maintenance done and things fixed. Starting a blue-collar business doesn't require lots of capital. Outside of the requisite skills and credentials, you need the tools of your trade and a vehicle, and you can work from home.
While many service people find happiness and prosperity as one-person operations, such businesses are one misstep away from going out of business. He learned that lesson the hard way — in 2003 while cleaning a chimney, he fell off a roof, broke some bones and couldn't work for months. He was out of business until he thought about growing the business by training others in the trade.
Growing that business required a mindset that went beyond “keeping oneself busy.” Stoner uses this sea-faring analogy: Remember what happens in the engine room, but also remember that you're now the captain. As captain, you must chart the course, stay on course and keep the crew motivated. He quickly learned that he was pulled in many directions. Until he learned how to lead and manage, the ship barely left port. That learning required reading, networking in professional associations, finding a mentor and continuing education (i.e. staying abreast of changes that could impact the engine room).
Key takeaway: Imagine what a successful business looks like from your view and the views of your employees. Write it down, reference it often and use it to guide your decisions.
• • •
“Insight Out: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and Into the World” by Tina Seelig (Harper One, $26.99).
Seelig, a Stanford University professor, invites you into her “invention cycle” class, which helps entrepreneurs move from inspiration through execution. Here are my class notes:
Imagination involves identifying unmet needs; it's all about alternatives based upon experiences. Logan Green's imagination kicked into gear while vacationing in Zimbabwe. He observed that most cars were packed with people. Drivers would pick up and drop off people along their route to wherever. In the U.S., he started Zimride, which we now know as Lyft.
Seelig advocates working with rigid time constraints on product development because it forces people to think creatively, which ultimately leads to better products. Also, by spending the least amount of time on a quality product, businesses obtain customer feedback faster. That feedback can be used to put the finishing touches on the product.
Visualization, as mental rehearsal, plays an important role, too. It uses “vivid, highly-detailed images and run-throughs” of planned actions. To enhance visualization, write and illustrate stories about completing your world; as you write, their plots unfold and your illustrations become more detailed. Use the illustration on page 41 to complete your first story. Also, check out Kai Kight's TEDx talk (www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGGhlLW3GUA) on visualization.
Tomorrow depends upon today's choices. Creating “what's next” stories shows you that “the boundaries you define are self-imposed.” Stories help widen your frame of reference because you can always alter the storyline to create a new ending, which promotes the mental flexibility needed to adapt to changing situations. New stories respond to an ever-changing reality.
Her message: “Entrepreneurs can do much more than imaginable with much less than seems possible.”
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
