This is going to be short and sweet. I will be...matter of fact I AM the one percent. This is not the 1 percent you hear of in the news. No, i am referring to the one percent that will be extraordinary in everything he does. What the 99 percent is doing i will be the one percent that will do it extraordinarily.
Can YOU compete with someone like me?
99/1 rule, mindset and theory.
If there's one thing that will frustrate me to no end, it's a wannapreneur. If you're wondering what one is, let me tell you this: You more than likely are a wannapreneur. Yep, you. I used to be one, but I changed that real quick by taking action.
A wannapreneur is someone who I can't stand. The type that will talk all day about how they want to be a millionaire one day. How they want that $250,000 car. How They want VIP treatment everywhere. Never about what they're going to provide to society. Never about how they want to bring an awesome product that will solve someone's needs and problems. Worst of all, Someone who doesn't take any action whatsoever to accomplish these things
I'm currently in a deal with a wannapreneur. Actually, he was one of the three deals I had been working on for quite a while. I thought things were going well. I showed him the product line, went over how many we want to run and that's that. He promised to do his part of the deal and reach to the people that were going to make our products. That's the easy part. We've got investors so the money is not an issue at all. I'm keeping ownership of my share of the business, but I am pulling out of it to focus on my other vetnures
Because of the lack of action, this person is now left with all of the duties of the business. I was handling the hard parts, until I finally got tired of his laziness. Now he's stuck with it, because I am fucking done. Atleast until he's ready to move this business forward. It's a shame because people actually wanted the products. We got good feedback, the interest is building. But whatever, you don't really want to make money, bud.
This post is going to be short and sweet because I have been super busy and I'm ever so tired. With good reason. I just did three business deals this week. This calls for a celebration in a few weeks. The next few months will be interesting for sure :D. Can't give details as I'm not sure who reads this blog. But if you're reading this, just know, that hard work will put you in some good positions to make some moves. That is all. Goodnight everyone.
So I've decided to do a part 2, to go into further detail into the horrors of MicroManagement™. I put a trademark on it this time because it seems that companies use this sorry method so much that you'd think it was a popular brand. I also want to go into further detail on how this type of method of management can affect the human mind and psyche.
It's been a few months now since I've quit, but every now and then I'll still get flashbacks and nightmares about SB and her micromanaging ways. I remember stepping out to go to the bathroom, I hadn't been feeling good that day, one of my aunts had just died and I sort of sunk into a little bit of depression. Well with that depression comes very bad eating habits, which in turn makes the stomach fight back at you relentlessly. So I spent quite a while in the bathroom. Like around, 10 minutes. 15 tops. So When I return to my desk, not to my surprise, I get an IM. From you-know-who. "Hi", the IM says. "Hello" I write back. "Where were you?". "The restroom". "Well you were gone for about 20 minutes, that's unacceptable". What?! I was gone for about 10 minutes. I should know, I was surfing the web on my phone in the restroom. I monitor my time closely. I write back that I was not in there for 20 but more like 10 minutes, my IM status should indicate just how long. Of course she finds something else to get at me about.
Even working 12 to 14 hours a day, working Saturdays and Sundays, I was still treated as if I was always doing something wrong. Only because I wasn't the "star player". Every day, another IM, another "come see me" e-mail, another visit to MY desk to grill me on the 40 accounts that need to be worked on and completed (which by the way was impossible). Each and every day, it was borderline abuse.
The psychological effects are things that most companies tend to either ignore, or just don't know. I was hiding this secret from EVERYONE until about a week ago. It's a confession that I'm not so proud of, but I was so lost that I thought it was the only thing I could do to escape. I had finally came out to confess to my mom and my sister that was I planning my suicide, because of the stress of being micromanaged and being hit with insane expectations. I was making good money. Very good money, especially compared to my past jobs in my career. I was popping sedatives everyday, but even those weren't enough. I had more than enough to buy a gun. I could have bought any gun I wanted.
It's weird when you're planning your own suicide. It's not like the movies, where you're crying everyday or you look like a sad sack of Sugar Honey Iced tea. I looked good, I would joke and laugh with my girlfriend, co-workers. I would go out to drinks after work. Nothing was all depressing. I just had a goal. To kill myself. I would shop around for guns in my free time. I had already figured out where I was going to do it. In my car. Possibly in my car in the parking garage at my job. The song Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra would constantly play in my head as I thought about my suicide. I would feel a sense of relief daydreaming about that BANG!. That BANG! was my final escape. That BANG! was going to be my savior.
I suppose now that I am meant to be on this earth a bit longer because something odd happened that pretty much saved my life. Actually a couple things happened. The first thing that happened was my coworker that I became buddies with almost died. He was in the hospital for a good 4 weeks. My whole team had to take over all of his accounts. He had the big dog accounts too. Which meant the whole team's production went down even further. This shone the spotlight on SB the MicroManager™. One of his accounts I took over, I'll never forget her. She was angry as all hell. She cursed, she said some awful things about me and my company. I had to spend all day working her file alone to keep her from escalating. She did anyway. I won her over, she liked me by the end of the day, but after not getting any return calls from SB and HER boss. She went to my boss's boss. This got SB fired. Whew, what a relief. Funny thing is, she got fired the day I called in sick. I was so close to ending my own existence you don't even know.
When she got fired, I got moved to another team. This team was managed by a person that I will forever be grateful for. Because of SB, I had accrued a bunch of write-ups. Fuck. Because of all the write-ups, I was close to being fired, which I did not know. So this new manager called me to his office to talk. He didn't want me to tell anyone, because this sort of a secret of all the leadership, but I was on the way to being fired. I was lost and confused. Even though I went through all of the bullshit, I still loved my job. I worked hard to get there. I made good money, I was eating calamari everyday, I was in VIP at the clubs and bars. I was the man! really I wasn't the man, and I was using money to escape the stress.
Those few days were so confusing. I wanted to kill myself, but at the same time, before I was going to kill myself, I still wanted to make that money to sustain myself. I mean while I'm alive, I've got bills. That's a weird thing too, I was contemplating killing myself but I was still worried about debts. That's funny looking back. I was a total wage slave. I didn't know what to do, I did NOT want to get fired. It was not my fault, why do I deserve to get fired? Why do I deserve to get this job TAKEN from me?! I talked with my mom on the phone repeatedly, confused. What should I do? Should I quit? Should I just let myself get fired and risk not being able to find another job in this field should I decide to not kill myself? I looked at my savings. Hmmmm, that's enough to not have to work for the rest of the year. A blessing in disguise, I wouldn't need to kill myself, I can just quit and relax for a bit. I'm going give myself a vacation. That's what I did. I put my two weeks notice in and thanked all of the leaders for the opportunity. Good thing about it was I got about 3 more pay checks after that, so my savings was FAT. I can my live how I want for the next 6 to 8 months.
I quit and never looked back. Now, here I am, chilling and relaxing, and starting my second business. Had those events not happened, there's a good chance I wouldn't be here. Suicide is real, and it's not this far fetched thing. It's real and the mindset that leads to suicide can happen to anyone. Micro management is borderline harassment. Matter of fact, it IS harassment. I firmly believe companies should be penalized for promoting or allowing micromanagement. It can affect employees in a very negative way. I almost killed myself. I felt that was the only way of escape. I couldn't just go to the higher ups. Believe it or not, managers look after other managers, it's no other way to cut it. It's the truth. It's wrong, but it's a part of life. If you're going to take on one, you'd better prepare to take them all on.
I said it before and I'll say it again, SB should never, ever be allowed to work in a position of leadership again. People like her should never be given that sort of power and responsibility. fuck her.
I think a lot of my friends and family think of me as "that guy" who is always starting a new business venture left and right in a never ending search for riches. In reality, it ain't just the riches I am after. Rather, I can still die happy if I never become a millionaire. People assume that I'm some money hungry opportunist because I am an entrepreneur, but that's plenty far from the truth
Being an entrepreneur is so much more than just looking for riches. It's so much more than just owning a $100,000 car and a 50,000sq ft home. It's something much deeper than the material possessions and fat wallet. It's the feeling of living off of something you created, and watching something you created grow and become something great.
It's the freedom of doing what you want to do in your own company without the risk of losing your position within said company. If you want to sell using a weird method you created, you can do that. If you hate selling and just wish to automate a formula in which your products will be put in front of the eyes of your potential customer base, then so be it, you can do that. You are the boss of your own company, and you very well could be the boss of others if you hire anyone.
Even when I was younger, I always knew deep down that a person in this country can live his or her life working for themselves. You don't have to get a job for the rest our existence, do we? Is it bullshit to even dream of being a CEO of a company you created? Is it just a dream to imagine running your own show while reaping the financial rewards that is insanely more than that of a 9 to 5?
I chose this path because one day, one day, I know that I'll be waking up everyday, at any time I want, checking my bank account, seeing how much revenue my company made overnight, while contemplating if I want to go to the beach for while or just hang out at the restaurant bar and watch TV for a few hours. I know that one day, I'll make enough money to have my freedom to do whatever it is I want. I know that one day, I will be giving opportunity to others to have a job, to start a career, or to even make a difference through my enterprises
More importantly, I know that one day I'll confirm that I can have all the nice things in life without having had to sacrifice over half my life working a wage-slave job to attain these nice things. If I have to waste most of my life to get those things, then what is the point of even having them?
Lately, I've been feeling a tiny bit down about my direction in my life. Not my life in general, but moreso my business life. I guess it's because at the moment, there's no revenue coming in. I mean, my clothing company is about to be shut down, no sales from there, I quit my 9 to 5 job. I'm just chilling on my lovely savings account right now, and while that's all nice and all to have, even that doesn't last very long. I've got a couple ventures that I'm going to be starting, I feel pretty good about it as I do my homework on them, as I've done with all things I've done. But still, there's that inkling of doubt.
I'm getting out of the clothing game, I should have never got into it in the first place, I should have got into the tech game way back when. I've always had a thing and a passion for computers, networking, all the techy and gadgety stuff. I'm a geek at heart. I do believe things happen for a reason, but it still sucks that after hundreds and thousands spent on something that I fell out of love with.
I'm getting into web dev and app dev, but one of my concerns with that is, I need to drop some serious cash to get that started or it will take forever for that to start. While I have the money, I need to act faster than usual in order to get these things into play. But I still feel like I may waste thounands more on another venture that can potentially fail
I feel sort of lost, I've been trying to kill that pain with alcohol lately. Not a lot like I used to, but enough to get a buzz going where I feel a bit lazy. Ugh, where do I go from here? I've got the tools, I've got resources, but I think that fear and doubt is rearing its ugly face, that of which I haven't seen in a quite a while...where do I go from here?
So I finally bid farewell to my first baby, my first commercial creation and embark on a journey that I've sort of always wanted to trek, but never had the balls and know-how to: The Tech World. Web and App to be specific. It feels extremely good to be honest, the clothing industry has, without a better term, pissed me off royally and has annoyed me to no end. Not my customers really, but just the whole industry. In my own opinion and sentiment, I feel the clothing industry is just super high school and sophomoric in the way they treat business. It's left a bad taste in my mouth. I feel everyone is just trying to be too cool for school and creativity and innovation has just been thrown out the window. It's all about the cash and looking cool to your customers, oh wait, sorry, your fans. Clothing has become eerily similar to the rap industry. Showing off your "bands" and your rented exotic cars and really shitting on the same people you're selling your product to.
It's not all bad though, I've dealt with and have had the pleasure of doing business with some really cool people in the biz. There are quite a few who are standing out and trying to stand out from the rest, but unfortunately they are few and far between. It's my decision to shut this thing down, and I feel nothing but positive vibes from this. funnily enough, even though I am shutting down my own clothing business, doesn't mean that I've actually left the business entirely, because, believe it or not, I own 20% of another clothing company that I am a little involved with. Mostly on the creative and consultant side, but still I own 20% of it. It's just that I don't want to deal with this industry on my own accord anymore, I've found something that actually solves people's needs and problems
You think I jumped into this without research? *laugh*, fortunately, no. Just like everything else, I researched this business extensively and am still researching this business. What I like best about this business is that is a slight stronger barrier to entry than clothing. See, in clothing, anyone who can draw or has Photoshop™ experience, can just start printing shirts and sweaters off the bat. With app and web, unless you have the money in the bank to pay a developer (like me) or have learned how to code and program (like me), you can't really just start putting out apps and websites and services off the bat like that.
Most importantly, there are serious needs that need to be fulfilled and problems that need to be solved. I mean there's millions of coders and programmers in this world, but guess what? Not all of them are out to really fulfill needs and solve problems. Many of them are just looking to work a good paying 9 to 5 job. Because there's always a demand for coders and programmers, from start-ups to big corporations, coders and programmers aren't necessarily out to leave a positive impact on society's lives. Many of them just want a good ass job so that they can pay off that student debt, get locked into some bullshit-ass mortgage, and live their merry lives.
With clothing, it's like, even those who DON'T know how to design think that they can just start a line and be rich. It's really super annoying. It gets me paid sure, for helping the clueless get started with a fee, but it's still annoying because they're just flooding society with crap. Where's the fulfillment, where's the solutions to problems? People forget that there's still a need for Direct-to-Garment printers, Silk Screeners, and even designers themselves. But no, everyone wants their own line of clothing. It's really vain and narcissistic. Which is funny at times because, for some of them, hire a designer to do all the creative stuff for them but still try to vain and narcissistic with the products that they themselves didn't even create.
bottom line is, I'm shutting my own brand down, I no longer want to be part of the vain and Narcissistic crowd, I want to create a product that make a difference in peoples' lives, specifically, fellow business owners. I want to create something that will solve someone's problems and to hopefully generate revenue from it. Being a millionaire is nice, but it's not very high on my agenda, I know I will be a millionaire, so why be obsessed with it? I should be obsessed with creating a solid product that will help others. Plain and Simple. This society lacks the Thomas Edisons and George Washington Carvers of this generation, I want to be one of them, create something powerful dynamic that will change someone's life, atleast one person's life. I will still be wealthy, so no need to focus on wealth, that happens naturally when I create a solid product.
