Make Yourself Useful!

Cornerstones

April 13, 2017

“Find a need and fill it.”
— Henry Kaiser

You say, “Can I help?” or “What if I can assist you with that?” And, just like that, you have a job.

A company says, “How about a pocket phone that also calculates, searches and provides entertainment?” Just like that, an Industry…

Behind both scenarios is someone who can recognize a need, an opportunity, a better future. Someone who can visualize things as they ought to be.

Make Yourself Useful! Don’t wait for a job.

In the depths of the Great Depression, The “Longshoreman Philosopher,” Eric Hoffer, created a steady means of employment by creating and adding value. His story about selling bulk oranges off a truck through a California neighborhood is a classic. Not only did he knock on back doors to find customers, he carried the oranges inside, placed a sheet of wax paper and arranged the oranges neatly, leaving the kitchen drawer clean and organized. People began anticipating his arrival, recognizing a product rendered more valuable by the intelligence and service mentality of the salesman. (OK, this was the 40’s; but the principle holds.)

If you find yourself “waiting for or looking for a job,” you may be a long way behind the curve. A little known secret is to start by getting people to complain. Everyone has a complaint. Service. Expense. Time. Access… Complaints reveal the unrecognized need that can be your doorway to creating an industry.

Think about it.

The “Mutual Fund” began by making investing easier and more affordable for ordinary people. Now it’s an industry.

Facebook arose to make it easier to find potential dates at Harvard. Tinder and five other “Top Dating Apps” are now revealed on a cursory search. An industry…

The problems are as old as time, but a new solution? Now that’s an industry!

Can you make something simpler, more convenient, faster or more available? There’s a job there, then a product, and maybe an industry. Don’t wait around for an ad, or a government program (those are already industries, making you a customer).

It all begins with a complaint, followed by that simple question: “Can I help?”

Applications

1. For You
Want to move up or on? Start becoming an expert on needs, wants, desires and complaints. If you think something should be easier, better, faster or more available, there may be an opportunity. Ask around, what irks or confounds your friends and family? The mere fact of your inquiry may change the way they look at you — not a complainer, but a thinker. There are future customers everywhere! You say you want something with no risk? Keep in mind that if someone offers you a job, they are reducing their risks, not yours.

2. At Home
Entrepreneurship begins at home. Can you start a “Chores for Hire” program at home and get the kids looking for more problems to solve for the family? “Clean Your Room!” might become “Clean All the Rooms” with an appropriate allowance payment schedule. People are naturally oriented toward fairness and fair exchange, especially if they get an early start. Junior Achievement may be the single most effective way to introduce the free enterprise model to kids. Consider volunteering or contributing and wake up the next Edison.

3. At Work
Are you stuck? Are you where you want to be? Find the problems. Get busy solving them. You’ll find yourself useful. (Yes, they might take advantage of you, but that’s actionable; and you can take your skills elsewhere!) Once you prove that you can be useful (to yourself and to them) there’s no stopping you!

The biggest challenges seem to be in your own mind: “I can’t do it!” “I’m not smart enough!” “They won’t let me!” Strange how these voices only crop up when we start thinking about taking a risk and pushing the edge. (Remember “Success Reluctance?”) If you give in to those arguments, there’s absolutely no future. But if you push past them, there’s work to be done, and a path to usefulness.

Maybe it’s volunteering, or helping the family, perhaps the school or the community. Maybe it’s a small business (yours!), or an Industry…

So make yourself useful! It all begins with “May I help you?

Dessert

Same Ole Line Dudes
http://Sameolelinedudes.com