By Brenda Weathers Hargroves
For the past two years, my blog articles have centered on the theme of living your best life by treating your career and personal experiences like a business. But what do you actually know about me? Who am I to give advice? How am I living my best life?
Over my next few posts, I will answer three questions I’ve been asked several times over the years. I hope my responses provide insight into what makes me tick and why I might have something to say that’s worth listening to. Let’s start with the following question:
What did the road to entrepreneurship look like for you?
Are you living your best life? If, so how do you think that happened? If not, what do you think you can do to make it happen?
The entrepreneurial journey began for me during my early teens. My first venture was creating and selling toothpick structures. I don’t recall learning how to build them, but I remember making a killing from crafting pieces of art from slivers of timber, a block of wood, glue and spray paint.
Fast forward fifteen years to when I got an MBA with a concentration in accounting. While seeking new career opportunities, I met a man we’ll call Alex, who owned a personnel placement firm. His business specialized in finding temporary and permanent employment for people with accounting/finance backgrounds. He was planning to open a new office and asked me to consider becoming a recruiter. He offered a decent base salary, plus sizable commissions. The offer intrigued me because I’d always associated commissions with selling, a job that didn’t interest me and one I didn’t think I’d be good at. This was different. The commissions aligned with a much more personal value. I would earn these bonuses while helping others find meaningful employment.
Alex hired another woman, we’ll call Eileen, and charged us both with managing his new office. He promised us part ownership of this venture if we successfully built a new client base and increased his company’s bottom line. Our branch quickly showed amazing growth and added to company profits. Then one day, he casually strolled into the office to inform us he’d sold the business, with no mention of the partnership he’d promised. He did, however, assure us his negotiation included the condition that neither of us would lose our jobs. Along with teaching me valuable lesson #1 (get business agreements in writing), Alex’s actions paved my bumpy road to entrepreneurship. And a bumpy one, it was.
Eileen and I firmly believed we could be equally successful working for ourselves, so we quit. A young woman we’d trained as a recruiter left with us. Alex initiated a lawsuit. The negotiated settlement allowed us to do business if we signed a non-compete agreement stating we would solicit none of Alex’s clients for six months This outcome left Eileen and me with $12,000 in legal fees. Not exactly the ideal way to start a business.
I think the lawyers saw us as two plucky ladies. They agreed to accept $600 a month until we paid off our debt. Two years later, they took us out to dinner to celebrate the agreement’s end.
Eileen and I also cultivated other key relationships that helped us along the way (lesson #2). Our lawyers introduced us to a local accountant, who took us on as clients and stated he would bill us when the business was successful. Unheard of!
The accountant arranged for Eileen and me to meet with a local bank manager. When we opened a business account, the manager set up a line of credit for us. This funding ensured our ability to pay temp workers’ weekly salaries, manage clients’ Net 30-day payment terms, and make timely loan repayments. By our third year, we were generating over a million dollars in sales, which was a major accomplishment for a small business operating during the mid-80s. What a blessing!
When we sold the business, I used my entrepreneurial skills to start another venture. As a hobby, I learned how to refinish furniture. My love for gently used items led me to scouring estate sales and curbside for goodies, which I refurbished and then opened a gallery selling previously-owned furniture and accessories. Within one year, my side hustle was profitable. After three years, I made the wise decision to close the gallery because of the potentially negative health effects associated with constantly breathing in harsh chemicals. I later discovered managing a nonprofit organization is basically the same as managing a small business. You can learn more about starting a for-profit/nonprofit business here.
Now the entrepreneurship thread enters everything I do – from managing my personal projects to helping others manage theirs to simply sharing resources. The other day, a friend called me a ‘serial entrepreneur.’ I like to think of myself as an ‘edupreneur.’ And I’d like to believe I’m living my best life now because, over the years, I’ve helped others along the way.
Are you living your best life? If, so how do you think that happened? If not, what do you think you can do to make it happen?
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