O'Connor Bootstrap Podcast

Sometimes life delivers blows to your business that knock you back. Like losing a major client, or even a worldwide disaster such as the current Coronavirus pandemic. When this happens, do not give up. Regroup and plan a comeback and then when the moment is right, come out swinging!

During WWII It was not America’s strength of arms that was decisive, rather its ability to ramp up manufacturing quickly. Today in 2020 we face an unprecedented invisible enemy. And America’s manufactures and entrepreneurs are stepping up the challenge again.

In my opinion, small business is the hope for the American economy.

Starting a business is a lot like a blacksmith forging a knife. First, you hammer out the basic shape, then you use a grinder to bring it into its final form, and lastly, you polish the blade to not only make it look good but to put a razor-sharp cutting edge on it so that it is actually useful.

When you first start out things usually are a bit rough around the edges, you usually have a ton of ideas flying around because of your excitement. This is the first stage of hammering out the basic form. Then as you settle and start to get better, and refine your processes, this is the second stage. The last stage should never end. You keep polishing and refining so that you can keep your business edge sharp.

Starting a business is like having a child. No matter how much you plan and read about it you will never be fully prepared. So if you wait to start your business until you are completely ready, you will never start. Yes, you need to have to be somewhat prepared, but you need to start. You’ll figure it out as you go. But you have to be going or nothing will happen.

By Isaiah O’Connor

I talk about many of the aspects involved in outsourcing the production of your product or services. While you may save money on the finished product you may have issues with the speed of production, quality control, and shipping among other things.

After looking at these things I have come to the opinion that the best option is to produce locally as much as you can.

So if you are stuck at home, laid off, put on leave, or otherwise unable to go to work, as usual, I have good news. This is a great time to start a business! This is the perfect time to get your business idea, training and plan together. This way as soon as things start going back to normal you can launch out of the gate. The economy all over the world has been hit hard and new business launching will help the recovery go faster.

If you already have a business that is struggling through this time, this is the perfect opportunity to do the projects that will help you come out strong, things like updating your website, planning your social media campaigns and putting together new pricing.

So in a nutshell, this is a great time to start or improve your business, just sit back and enjoy the time you have available to you.

I talk about one of the main ways you can use to discover what you can do as an entrepreneur. Look for a need and fill the need. Just doing this simple thing can open up worlds of possibilities.

Today I delve into the idea that no matter what your skill set is. Even though I focus on the trades, I also do a bit of a thought experiment where I look at the possibility of every person in the world being self-employed.

Recently I heard that Elon Musk said you don’t need a college degree to work at Tesla. That coupled with the student loan crisis has caused me to evaluate the importance of a college degree.