Company Of One With Dale Callahan

Are you thinking about starting a business? Over 3000 new businesses are started each day in the United States alone. But, most new owners are not prepared for what they are getting into and have failed to prepare - which is the reason many will fail. I am not talking big issues or big strategies to get started - but some common sense things each person who is looking to start a business needs to do to improve their chances of success and increase their enjoyment when they become the boss. "Creative Commons" by Luis Llerena is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenWhat to Do Before Starting a Business1. Know your goalsWhy are you starting a business? Is it to control the money, more time with the family, to make your fortune, or just because it is a lifelong dream? Knowing your WHY will prevent you from starting a business you learn to hate. For instance, if you are wanting to be with the family more and love to cook for the family, you might think owning a restaurant is in order.

A few years ago I was consulting with a telecom startup. One day the chairmen of the board (and primary investor) called me to ask a quick and simple question. “Dale will you take over as CEO?” I did not answer immediately - but somewhat out of obligation felt I needed to step up and take the reigns. I really enjoyed the people and the company. I became VERY busy. But one day I looked in the mirror found myself asking “Why am I doing this? I hate telecom?” Have you ever looked in the mirror and asked yourself a similar question? "Finding Your Why" by Mikael Kristenson is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenAsk Why OftenNow I have learned to ask WHY often. The question brings clarity. But more importantly to you - I  find I am often asking my coaching clients WHY. Not only do I need to know they have clarity - but knowing their why helps me direct the conversation.Recently a good friend of mine shared his WHY with me. He called it his LIFE model. Wow - it hit home with me - and a

I hate A or B decisions. You know, those times when you have to decide to take a job or not, move or stay, and/or sell your business or keep it. Yet I have I counseled with multiple people recently caught in the “whether or not” trap. One person had a job offer which was going to pay him significantly more money - but in a job he would not like. He told me “I think I am going to literally throw up because I feel I have no choice but to take this job.” Another told me he was going to sell his business to another company because he did not know how to grow it and they did. Both needed to step back and look at more options. We do this WAY too often in our own lives. How can we learn to automatically broaden our options? "Creative Commons" by pippalou is licensed under CC BY 2.0Army[/featured-image]Click to ListenIn their book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, Chip and Dan Heath call these A or B decisions narrow framed because we tend to narrow our view so we “see only a small sli

Do you just hate networking? Does the word feel slimy. Yeah - me too. So don’t network. Instead, do something that matters more. Listen in today to my interview with John Corcoran as we discuss why networking does not work and what you should think about instead. Click to ListenIn this episode John and and I talk about networking in a way that just makes more sense to me. Forget shaking of many hands and showing up at events trying to meet the right people. Here are a few points from the interview.Good networkers can be introverts. See the 2011 best networker in Fortune Magazine where Adam Rifkin is profiled. He is also mentioned in Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success.Why you need to network even if you are in the corporate cubicle and want to stay there.You should be intentional. You would never show up on a college campus and randomly walk into courses. Instead, we are intentional in what we do and where we go. In networking we should also be intentional.Challenges for new startupsTrying a

Do you have the technology skills, but feel left out of the leadership and decisions? Do you feel under appreciated? Is it as if all the important decisions go on with limited input from you - even when they are stupid decisions? How can you become part of the bigger conversation and get the bigger salaries to go with it? Do you need to do some engineering for your career? "Creative Commons" by pippalou is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenContactually!Todays podcast is brought to you by Contactually. A great tool for managing all those social media and email contacts!AnnouncementsHave questions you want answered? I plan to start a Questions and Answers segment of this podcast soon. So here is how to ask YOUR questions!ORShoot me a Twitter or Facebook message with hashtag #COOQA. Key Principles for Engineering Your CareerIt isn’t about technology stupidNo one talks about a hammer. The hammer is the technology.People care about the result of using the hammer.Only those who get

Are you suffering from doubt, fear, and indecision? I am. In fact, I have been for some time. It is a dark and deep hole. I have been wondering where to go next. It is not a matter of work alone - it is much deeper. For the past few years I have even turned into a sorta hermit. I quit meeting and networking. I was just sick of it all. Everything seemed empty and hollow. Some of the steps I took I think actually prolonged the misery. I was burned out and bored with the entire game, so I just checked out. While we all struggle with these very feelings from time to time, staying here for a long period of time can result in depression, anxiety, and physical pain. Get Active! -- "Creative Commons" by Joshua Sortino is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to Listen5 Steps to Conquer Doubt, Fear, and IndecisionThe kicker came when I tried to leave my mastermind group. They pursued me and would not leave me alone. I was irritated at first, but that lifeline has jerked my chain. I had to make some

Do you like who you are when you are with your friends? Jim Rohn, business philosopher, says that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. I totally agree with this, and I have seen it modeled in my own life. If you look around, I am sure you see it in yours. But, who SHOULD you be spending your time with and who should you be avoiding? And how do you get around those people you want to be around? "Creative Commons" by Luke Chesser is licensed under CC BY 2.0   [/featured-image]Click to ListenIf Who You Spend Time With Is Who You Become  then .... Who Do You Want to Be AroundChild Test - Next time you are hanging with friends, ask yourself “would I want my kids (even if you do not have any) to be with these people?” If yes, you may have a winner. If no, then you need to ask yourself why you are not comfortable.Encouragement Test - You want to be around people who encourage and motivate you. Not that they need to complement you constantly, but they somehow inspire you to b

A recent message to my voicemail (message played on the podcast) was challenging me on why I charge for my service when so many people were in need. The question reflected what I often hear from people starting in business “Should I Charge for my services?” "Creative Commons" by Sonja Langford is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenThree Views on "Should I Charge for My Services?"We can view this question “Should I charge for my services?” from three different views:The person who needs help and does not have the money to payThe business person who needs to feed their family, but wants to help those in needThe non-profit, who sees it as their job to serve for free.Here are some realities of this question:No money = no value: I do not mean that your free and volunteer services are not worthy, but when people do not pay, they do not value. Just look at any neighborhood where government money is used to support or supplement the rent. Only a few of those homes will be wel

[guestpost]This is a guest post from Howard Ward. Howard writes a blog about turning critical thinking into critical doing called "The Critical Doer" and you can follow at criticaldoer.com. [/guestpost]For anyone looking to start a new career or a new business, what you want to do and how to do it are not the most difficult decisions in putting your dream in motion. In reality, the most difficult decision is when to begin and the answer generally revolves around one thing...risk. Opportunity Knocks "Creative Commons" (edited) by lobnaSaleh is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenFor the purpose of this discussion, risk will be defined as the difference between two points that exist in any decision...known and unknown. Most people understand this concept, and even follow the natural extension of the thought that risk mitigation is the process of critical thinking that shrinks the difference between known and unknown.Where many struggle however, is the point in the proces

Last week in Episode 91- Who is Hiring -  I talked about who is hiring. Today I will give you some detailed examples about how to find a job. These are real examples. And last I leave you with a few hints to find new opportunities in every conversation. ”Creative Commons" by DeduloPhotos is licensed under CC BY 2.0  [/featured-image]Click to ListenReview My PodcastIf you offer me a review of the Company of One podcast on itTunes, I will do a free 30 minute coaching session with you. In these coaching sessions I will help you with any questions you need. To get some ideas of how I work with others, see my coaching page.Here is how to leave an iTunes Review:How to do a Podcast Review from your iPhone or iPadHow to write a podcast review from your MAC or PCOne you leave a review, shoot me an email telling meThat you left a review under your id.What country you are in. (I need this because iTunes is country specific)I will send you back a link to get on my schedule for a coaching session. The link will incl

Who’s hiring? That is one of the most common questions I get when I speak to career transition groups. I will start by asking them what questions I can answer that will help them quickly move from unemployed to employed. Someone usually says “Who is hiring? That is what we need to know. And how do we find those employers who are hiring?” The answer to their question is simple, but takes a little explaining. ”Creative Commons" by StefaninLA is licensed under CC BY 2.0  [/featured-image]Click to ListenWho is Hiring?The fast answer is everyone is hiring. There is not one single company or individual (besides those totally destitute) who is not open to hiring someone. The trick is finding out what they will hire you to do.How do I know everyone is hiring? Assume you are out of a job and frustrated with the search. You are feeling demotivated and feel like you could give up, but you know you cannot. I approach you and offer you this proposal:I can get you a good paying job that you will enjoy in at most 3 mo

Overwhelmed? Recently, I spent some time in Dallas with members of my mastermind team and one topic that kept coming up over and over was the feeling of being overwhelmed. So, we decided to take an hour out and talk about strategies for dealing with overwhelm by learning what each one of us does when we feel overwhelmed. I took notes, and now I share them with you. "Creative Commons" by Sonja Langford is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenStrategies in Dealing with OverwhelmDecideDefine what really matters: We tend to think we can do everything and serve everyone. We can't. Give it up. Figure out what really matters and focus your attention there.Just Say No: Say no to almost anything that is not a HECK YES!!! Once you have defined what really matters, this is easier. A great read on this is the book Essentialism.Say yes once: Related to the Just Say No, learn to focus on what really matters. Just say yes to the number one thing. Everything else falls away.Look InsideRecog

When we think of ways to make a living, we often get stuck on our training, our college degree, and our past work history. But, many careers have been started out of raw personal experiences. Today I interview one of those career changers - Steve Ozanich, - who went from engineer to author specializing in chronic pain relief. His journey did not take him through medical school, but instead through personal pain and finally relief. "Creative Commons" by Todd Quackenbush tvol is licensed under CC BY 2.0 [/featured-image]Click to ListenWhy I Wanted this InterviewWhen I invited Steve to do a podcast with me, I had four reasons in mind.Career Defined by Passion - He is another example of someone who took his personal journey and passion to make it his career. In the audio you will hear the passion!Pain is Prominent at Work - Since I know many of you hate your jobs or careers, I can only assume many of you are suffering physical pain and going through a lot of healthcare paths looking for help. Steve mig

One of the biggest challenges with new businesses is they are slow to start. Once the decision is made - you must get products on the market as soon as possible. Seth Godin uses the term "SHIP IT" often. Seth is trying to say "It will never be perfect, you must ship product. Here in this audio and video I will walk you through the common sales path, I call the critical sales path, showing you how new companies really put products on the market and improve them along the way. "Creative Commons" by Luca Zanon is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenKey MessagesSales are the CRITICAL part of the businessProcesses and products should evolve with salesNo sales = no businessTwo Major Failures in BusinessTrying to get perfect processes before you start.Never improving the processes after you start.Steps in the Critical Sales Path1st Sale - Critical to create momentum2nd Sale - Keep it going10th sale - you are beginning to learn what your customers REALLY want100th sale -

So you have a business idea. Want to find out if you have a good idea and can really make money? Well it is a simple process I call Opportunity Analysis. An opportunity analysis allows you to get some idea of the size of the market and then to get a reasonable view of just how much money you can make. Don’t be like so many others who have gone into businesses which are limited in the amount of income. Would you want to go into a business where you can only make $65,000 per year if you do well? Many do. “Creative Commons " by Forrest Cavale is licensed under CC BY 2.0 [/featured-image]Click to ListenSteps to an Opportunity AnalysisGet ClarityWhat will you do? Be clear and concise!Who is the customer? Think of a list. How big?What is the pain that you are relieving? This is your value proposition.What is the market size of YOUR segment?What is the price?Ask a Woman Something about women's intuition really works. I do not claim to understand it, but I know of tons of business people - men and women -

The dream of many across the world is to own their own business. Everyday many industrious people all over the world are exploring business ideas. I want to help you in your explore to find ideas that  fit your personality AND also will make you money. "Creative Commons" by Josefa Holland-Merten is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenCoachingI have recently started working with new coaching clients. If you are in need of a career change or are working a business venture that needs some help, check out my coaching page for ways we can work together.How to Find a Good Business IdeaDo’s Start thinking through your calling. (If you have not already done so, download my free ebook - See below). These are things you love to do and things that already interest you. The advantages here are that you have expertise and you will not have to fake your interest.Think about your reasons. Is it more time with kids? More freedom of time? Freedom to travel. Too many have started a business to ge

How do you keep someone from stealing your idea? This is one of the most frequent questions I get from budding entrepreneurs. Here is my common sense advice that will help you move past being frozen without totally abandoning common sense. "Creative Commons" by Grégoire Hervé-Bazin is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenDale’s Rule of Thumb:  "People who will steal ideas cannot execute them."]Corollary:  "People who can execute ideas do not need yours."] Five Things You Can Do to Protect Your IdeaMake sure your ideas is really unique. Most people think their idea is new, but often it is not. So before you get too worried about protecting something that someone else owns, search and find if it has already been done. Beware of the red jeep rule. (Do a quick patent search)Document your idea. Use photos, notes, emails to trusted people or even to yourself. Common sense stuff.  (Engineering Notebooks)File a provisional patent. (See provisional patent forms)Sign

In my annual review, I wanted to find my most popular shows of 2014. Why would you care? First, many of you are content creators and I wanted to show you how I find new ideas. Second, it is just fun to learn what others are thinking. So here is a quick review of my most popular shows of 2014. "Creative Commons " by Rula Sibai is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to Listen Looking Back to 2014I hope by now that all of you have had a chance to look back at some things that worked in 2014. Looking back to my most visited pages tells me what people are thinking and what matters most to them.Live Webinar – How to Create Your First Information ProductOn January 20, 2015 I am going to do a live webinar on How to Create Your First Information Product in 30 Days. I’m getting ready for the next release of Product Creation Academy so I’m going to cover some steps about how you can create information products.Most Popular Pages of 2014:My homepage5 Ways to Create Productive Thinking TimesReverse I

Is it OK to want a new job that has more meaning to you when so many other people are unemployed?  Should you not just be content with your work and live the blessing you have been given? Most of my clients do NOT like their job. There - I said it - most do not like their job. For most, they work for a good company and have good people around them, but something is missing. They are unfulfilled. They do not care about the mission of the company. They are bored. So, should they just grin and make the best of it or should they go after something that matters? "Creative Commons Hope" by pol sifter is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenHow Can I help You in 2015? Click here to tell me!Survey SaysIf you have not taken my reader/listener survey - please do! But, looking at the data as it stands now, here are the top issues:I feel trapped in my jobI need or would like more incomeKey Indicators You Need a ChangePersonal reasonsNo Passion - You just do not feel it.Morning Blues - You dr

Want answers and solutions to your problems? Then FIRST you must get clarity in your questions. As I sit here reviewing my interactions with you and others from last year, I realize that most people are very unclear in their questions when they approach me. Instead of asking what they really want to know, they come with statements, which are often statements of hopelessness. "I cannot get more time because I have a job and kids," instead of, "How do you find time with a job and kids?" In this podcast, I will provide you a tool to help you develop clarity in your questions and in turn find hope and inspiration for the future! Finding Clarity in Your Questions  - "Creative Commons Fog Ocean Sunset" by Mike Behnken is licensed under CC BY 2.0[/featured-image]Click to ListenHelp! Take My Reader/Listener Survey How To Get Clarity on the QuestionsGoals: List the things you are trying to accomplish, goals if you will. (For more details on goal setting see Setting Goals of Next Year and