A lot of the savviest daddies I know have figured out a way to invent a life they enjoy – significant time with the kids and doing something they love.  Many of them have achieved this life by starting up a business.  What does it take?  What questions should you ask before making the leap?  As I just recently launched another business (Movement121 – check out the bag in the picture in my starbucks “office”), I just went through a lot of these questions myself yet again. Lots of choices to make up-front. Before you delve in,
ask yourself these 5 questions.

1. Why am I starting this business?  There
   are many reasons to start a business – some good and some terrible.  Take some time to get some clarity before venturing
   out.  I’d suggest you do at least 3
   things. 
    - Read
   Marcus Buckingham’s “Go Put Your Strengths to Work” – being good at something is
   not the same as a real “strength.” 
   Understanding your strengths and designing a business around your core
   strengths will give you so much more drive and persistence. 
    - Ask 3
   people who know you well about when they’ve seen you most energized in
   life.  What were you doing?  Why were you so energized?
    - Ask 3
   people who you trust about the business idea.  This is a great chance to get some real input, some “tough
   love”, and also possibly feelers for potential business partners. 
   All these questions and
   conversations will help you tease out exactly why you want to start this
   business, and whether it is the right business for you.  It sounds weird, but it’s tough work getting to know yourself.  But doing so will make you that much more effective in whatever you do, and steer into a direction that fits how you’re wired.

2. Do I have all the basic elements of a new
   business in place?  Okay, forgive me, but here’s a crash course in MBA entreprenuership 101.  One great framework to refer to is the B-I Triangle. This
   triangle displays the 8 key parts of any successful business, and it may not be what you expect.  3 key parts are leadership, team and mission. Too many people minimize this. And ironically, the product is the smallest part of the B-I Triangle, and
   strangely may be the least important part of your business.  How many great products have never seen
   the light of day?  How many not-bad
   products have turned into huge businesses? 

   Do people go to
   McDonald’s because their hamburger is better than all other hamburgers? Do people
   go to Starbucks because it’s got the best coffee?   No, they have a decent product, but what they do best is how they systematize everything – especially how their train their people.   Also, experienced
   venture capital people will tell you that they don’t fund “ideas”, they fund
   people.  And when “people” is more
   than 1 person, it says a lot – there are likely complementary skill sets,
   networks to leverage. It show that the
   leader of the start-up was strong enough to recruit a team to join him.  That’s a good sign.  Enlist a partner in crime – the chances of success skyrocket.

3. Who you going up against?   Naturally, you gotta think about who you’re fighting against for the mindshare/loyalty/heart/dollars of your customers.  Having competition isn’t
   necessarily a bad thing if you view it the right way. A lot of the greatest
   companies were launched in super-competitive industries – Southwest Airlines and UPS are great
   examples of that. Competition can keep you on your toes and it can also provide
   motivation for you to succeed. Be clear about how you’ll be different than the
   competition, and be clear how you’ll respond when the competition tries to copy
   what you’re doing.  How will you
   stay ahead?

4. How much of an initial financial investment do I
   need to make?  Don’t ballpark.  Do the research and flesh out costs and revenues as much as you possibly can.  Many experienced entrepreneurs
   will tell you that most new entrepreneurs overestimate the demand for their
   products or services (by 10x), yet they underestimate the initial costs (especially
   marketing cost – by 2-3x).  Supplies,
   contract work, legal/accounting, rent, taxes – it all starts adding up
   quickly.  Go in with both eyes open.

5. How much will my family time suffer?  Most people also underestimate the time required to start a business.  More so, it’s a new mindset where your business is always on your mind.  You’ll have to work hard to not work too hard. To shut “it” down and be emotionally available to the people you love.  Are you prepared for
   this? Is your family prepared for this? Have your spouse read this Inc article – confessions of a entrepreneur’s wife.  It’s not for everyone, and your family has to support you from the get-go.

Ok, are you ready to rock and roll? What other questions are important to consider when starting a business?  Some people also wonder – is this the right time to start a business?  After all, we’re in an extended recession.  Definitely a real consideration is timing, but think about this – some of the most enduring companies of our generation were started during a recession – GE, Microsoft, IBM, Disney, and more.

It’s
a question that I never thought I’d ask.  My stance has always been that
my kids are going to college.  Not negotiable.  End of story.
 But recently, I’ve started to seriously question the value of college.
 Am I crazy?

I grew up
in a family where education was paramount.  It was my ticket to a stable,
rewarding career, networking opportunities, and the like.  Even though I
could’ve easily gone across the street to Virginia Tech (go Hokies!) for a
solid engineering degree, I went to Cornell University.  I was lucky I got in, got some aid, got some internships/part-time jobs, and had parents to
support a lot of it.  Now almost 15 years out of school, I don’t regret
the decision.   But times have changed.  A lot. Anybody
else’s kids also growing up fast?  I’m thinking (worrying?!) about their futures
constantly.  Here’s what I’ve noticed:

1. The value of college has gone down.  If the goal of college is
   to get a great entry-level, experience-building, vision-broadening job
   afterwards, then let’s face it.  A lot of majors are more interesting
   than they are practical.  What jobs can a 21-year-old sociology major
   do that a savvy, hard-working 19-year-old high school graduate couldn’t
   do?  Sure, college graduates make a
   ton more than non-graduates over a lifetime.  But break
   that down further by degrees (take out the physicians, engineers, nurses,
   accountants, etc) and the picture becomes more fuzzy.  Top schools
   still carry a lot of weight, and they help open the first doors of
   employment.  But once in the workforce, employers care more about
   your work performance than where you went to school.

   On top of that, the best way to get a job is to get connected.
     4 of out 5 jobs are never
   even listed on job boards.  College is just one
   round-about way of many ways to meet, connect with, and influence people
   who hire people.  How many astute 19-year-old golf caddies get
   awesome internships when they chat up their clients?  How many dads
   tell their 22-year-old kid to give his business partner a call for a
   simple “informational meeting” that leads to a launched career? 

2. The price of college has become astronomical.  Lots of talk these days
   about a higher education bubble (Instapundit has
   at least one link per week on it).  Prices are skyrocketing
   unreasonably – private tuition has gone up 70% in just 10 years,
   public tuition has doubled.   Even the brightest students
   getting decent jobs out of college are faced with $100k in debt.  How
   many of their best years will they toil to pay that off?  And what if
   they don’t get that career-launching job?   How many lattes do
   they make to pay for one psych class, let alone 5+ years of classes (@$9k per year, and at $9/hour, and 10 lattes/hour, that’s 10,000 lattes just for one year of class!)?
    Just last week, I was working from a Starbucks and overheard this
   25-yo guy telling his girlfriend that going to college was the worst
   mistake of his life.  His face was wrecked with worry because of the
   mountain of debt staring at him.

   If the cost of tuition continually outpaces inflation year after year, you
   better believe that a correction is coming.  And the ironic thing is
   this:  most of the money pouring into colleges is being used to make
   college more fun and comfortable, not more educational or useful.
    Someone else’s arms race will cost you an arm and a leg.  (The
   bubble will pop eventually – just last week, a $10,000 college degree
   was proposed by the governor in Texas.)  

3. There are other ways to acquire marketable
   skills.  The
   world is changing – you can prove to employers that you’ve got skills,
   character, and smarts in other ways.   For my consulting
   business, I’d take someone who’s reliable, hard-working, resourceful, and
   a quick learner over some smart, entitled college-educated brat any day.
    Plus, education is becoming more open-source every day. Some MIT lectures
   can be seen online.  The Khan Academy (featured
   at TED) has now
   grown to 2,100+ free educational videos (everything from Algebra to
   photosynthesis to Napolean).  

   I’m betting that this is just the beginning.  We will see a whole
   industry rise up to fill this vacuum – video game makers re-inventing
   edutainment, educational entrepreneurs inventing boy-scout-type programs
   and “badges” geared at 21st Century skills, post-high-school programs
   heavy on internships and mentoring, and specialized academies teaching
   teenagers how to code algorithms.  Think of all the professional
   certifications that there are now for adults – why couldn’t these be
   adapted for the high-school / college demographic?  Why couldn’t a
   motivated high school student get certified in project management?

4. Do 18-year-olds really have a big enough vision about the
   world and a balanced enough view of themselves to know what they want to do?  Sure, they might
   know what they’re good at, but what are they passionate about?  They’ve
   spent 90% of their time with people the same age as them.  Unless they’ve
   already done extensive traveling, met a lot of different types of people, been
   in different business settings, succeeded (and failed) at a few things, and
   held various types of jobs, they really have no idea.  Heck, I know
   30-year-olds who are still wandering.  It also makes me wonder if this is
   why 6 out of 10 college kids take more than 4 years to finish.  Why not
   work 2 years and then go to college when they can better afford it, they have
   skin in the game, and they know themselves better.

As crazy as
it sounds, I’m advocating for an “independent study” model for college. Take
that tuition money and tailor-make skill-building, life-building experiences
for junior.  He can travel the world.  Start a business.  Hire
coaches/mentors.  Get various internships/apprenticeships.  Compete
in competitions.   For a motivated young mind, wouldn’t this motivate
them even more?

Of course,
there are some fields that absolutely require a college education (like
nursing, med school, teaching, engineering, etc). Some should opt to go to one of many accredited online colleges and work while building up experience.  Plus, there are some
students who know themselves well enough to study something very specific in
college.  And honestly, “independent studies” just doesn’t work for some
students.  

But think about it.  The rat race to get into a good school starts at what… 13?
 All that posturing, presenting a “well-rounded individual” with
academics, sports, leadership, and civic activities, and anxiety about GPAs
& SATs.  I’m not afraid of hard work, but I am particularly afraid of
misdirected or wasted hard work.  All that energy could go into “independent study”
whereby my teenager can pursue real vocational directions through
apprenticeships, mentorships, and internships.  

Okay, so I
haven’t completely convinced myself that college isn’t worth it.  After
all, some of my best friends in the world are college buddies.  I even
recently started a business with one of them I had lost touch with for 10
years.  But for my kids, it’s becoming clear – college is a one-size-fits-all solution in a world that needs more sizes.  College is no longer a given. 

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