Manifesto First, Business Plan Next

8. May 2010 by Frank Goad.

Before I started my business, I wrote Frank’s Business Manifesto (a.k.a. the Frankifesto). Written before my business plan, it is a statement of my thinking on the business and how I would run it. Without this, the business plan could have belonged to anyone. The manifesto informed the human side of my need to work for myself and created a behavioral and ethical standard that guides my dealings with friends and clients. It helped ensure that my heart, head and will were all in line together.

I’m sharing this in the hope that others will take the time to create one for themselves and refer to it often. This is a personal statement of what’s important in your work and life. If mine suits you, please, help yourself. Short or long, having one is akin to giving yourself a compass to navigate your career.

1. I believe I have creative talents and business skills sufficient to make a good living.
2. I will carefully choose trusted advisers because there are many who are well-meaning but blessed with far more opinions than knowledge or wisdom.
3. Despite the admonitions and warnings of others, even those who mean well, I will rely on my trusted advisers for feedback and honest criticism. This helps insulate me from those whose intentions are not favorable or honorable.
4. I will seek advice knowing that everyone needs help sometimes, and not asking is a larger sign of weakness.
5. I will also seek help because going it alone can be frustrating and unfruitful, and a little encouragement is priceless.
6. I have the requisite intelligence to understand the advice I seek and to apply it accordingly.
7. To be truly successful, I must help others succeed as well. This is my prime directive.
8. I have the requisite personal skills to network effectively and develop mutually beneficial relationships.
9. To be truly happy in my career, and in reflection on previous negative career choices, I will be true to those vocations that bring me joy.
10. By being joyful in my work, I will serve others well by finding ways to share that joy with them.
11. I am fortunate in that I have talent in several areas (as do most people), and will utilize them all to be useful to others and myself.
12. In keeping with today’s markets and the rapid pace of change, I will do two things: A. Combine my skills to take advantage of a wider range of opportunities (in keeping with my self description of being “A generalist in an age of specialists,”), and; B. Always consider ways to help others by utilizing whatever skills I can bring to bear (see no. 7).
13. I will be honest with myself and all those I deal with, else I will become irrelevant and perhaps shunned –  dishonesty is not an option.
14. In the face of lean times, adversity and downright bad luck, I will remain steadfast knowing that up and down cycles are inevitable.
15. During a down cycle I will display courage – if only to myself – because strength comes from within and self-employment is fraught with challenges.
16. I will give this endeavor my very best effort. Should my successes be insufficient to allow me to continue my self-employment, I will accept this with grace and dignity because I hereby acknowledge from the beginning that many can not survive on their own despite their best efforts; sometimes, things happen.
17. Whether successful or not, I will have succeeded in pursuing a worthy goal and will have displayed significant courage if only because I dared to strike out on my own, something far more people have neither the courage, desire or vision to do.
18. I will always remember that not having tried would be the biggest failure of all.

This became a bit of a litmus test: Was I really ready to work for myself, or did I need the safety and security of an employer, a regular check and benefits? The answer became obvious and now, Frank Communications is beginning to hum. The first three months were tough – doubts nagged me and seeing my bank account drift down made me quite uneasy at times. Now, the months of hard work are showing returns and I arise each morning excited about the day to come. It’s a lot of work, but the satisfaction of building my enterprise, creating new business relationships and having the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives is a huge return on my investment of time and energy.

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