I had never really thought of owning my own business. In fact, I had never had a job that I loved doing with all my heart. Most of my years of employment were jobs that were below boring. Jobs that I went to every day, motivated by the fact that someday I could retire and not have to go there anymore. Ever.
I remember when I was 14 or 15 years old, I was spending the night at one of my best girlfriend’s house one hot summer night. Her father was a pretty successful businessman, and although his business was still young, the discussion came up at the table that his business was growing very quickly. He was so excited that he couldn’t stop talking about it. He told us that the secret to success was finding something you love doing, and doing it with everything you have to give. He said when you find that, it doesn’t even seem like work. I thought that sounded like good advice, and I guess, subconsciously, I filed his words somewhere in the back of my mind for future reference.
Opportunity knocked on my door soon after I had been laid off from a sales job I hated, but was very good at. A friend of mine was struggling with his home based business, and he needed someone to help bring in new clients. He told me I was the best sales person he had ever met…and that he didn’t have any money to pay me, but I could work on a straight commission. He generously structured the commission rate at a 50/50 split of the profits from the sales. I raised my eyebrows, thinking that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But then I remember him saying that 50% of something, is better than 100% of nothing. That was something else that got filed in the back of my mind.
Because I had strong sales experience, as well as years of general office and secretary duty on my resume, I decided to take him up on his offer, at least temporarily. I considered him a friend, and I knew he needed my help. I didn’t know the details of what his business provided to clients, or why they needed his services and products, but I was willing to listen. I opened a door to learning something new. I opened it just far enough to walk through it…never thinking …for one minute… that this might be… the one thing …I loved doing enough …to want to do it… with all I had to give.
When I reported for work that first day, I learned how hard he was struggling on his own to make his marketing business become successful. His son had worked with him for a while, but there were problems between the two of them and his son left, parting on bad terms and deleting all the client files and data bases from the computer. My friend was trying to cope, trying to put the pieces back together, trying to make a go of it alone, and failing miserably.
I learned that he provided marketing products that were personalized with photographs of the clients. Photo business cards, postcards…he was good at photography and enjoyed doing it, so he was actually taking photographs of people in their work environment, and making them into marketing products. It was a way of helping people connect the name and the face, and remember who they did business with.
That first day, we sat down at the table and started sharing our ideas, organizing and creating a work environment that was both positive and creative, and bringing with it excitement and enthusiasm for turning his business around.
Over the next few weeks I learned more and more about what his business did. I went through all the files and recreated the data base, calling each client as I went through each file and re-connecting with them to see how they were doing, and if they needed any new business cards or marketing products, or even ideas on building their visibility to a higher level in the marketplace. They could hear the excitement in my voice, I guess, because I started setting appointments. With each new appointment, our excitement grew, and soon we went to the next level in the business… helping clients come up with their own personally unique marketing techniques by combining our ideas with theirs and writing out a plan. Since I also had a background in creative writing, we started offering more products, such as personal or company brochures. we started writing more and more orders, and producing them. With my friend’s guidance, I learned to do graphic design and layouts with photos and text on the computer, and I loved discovering new artistic talents and skills with each piece I created.
Within 90 days, the business tripled, and I truly loved going to work every day.
This business finally had a face for me. It was personal promotion. This was a time when most people did not put their pictures on business cards. Our job was to help sales professionals set themselves apart from all the other sales people who offered the same, or similar services or products. It was a way where they could leave a card that said “hello”. A card that was the next best thing to a personal smile and a handshake.