Living by Your Wits in the New Post Corona World

I write this because I see more and more people being forced into a situation where they need to live by their wits. Nor are they prepared to do so. “COVID” will be the catalyst that burns down the old way of doing business.

Most of my life has been lived without a paycheck. Hence, if you didn’t buy something from me or pay me to do something for you, there is no money.

Have you ever been where you are not paid a salary? What you do collect will not have taxes taken out. Don’t forget you will have to pay those taxes later. Worse, if you don’t document your expenses you will end up having to pay taxes on your loses.

Having to live by your wits could be important to you for several reasons:

1.  More and more companies are wanting to pay only for what they get. This means disposable independent contractors instead of employees. You are paid for what you do when you are needed.

2.  Almost all the consumer product companies hire salespeople between 26 and 34. Few salespeople are still around after 40. Most of the salespeople need to become independent reps once they reach about 40.

3.  Doubtless, the Corona Virus will kick off a lot more independent work from home situations. Even after the epidemic is over, you can count on more and more people being forced to become a “contractor for hire.”

4.  The measurement of success in business will force companies to only have people on board as they are needed.

It really doesn’t matter if you are an independent handyman, manufacturers rep, or a Rocket Scientist being called in to clean up the code on the “Moon Launch Sequence.” It is easy to get excited about making more money per hour than you are used to as an employee.

However, ask any seasoned player and they will share some truth about being independent. From a financial perspective there are three demands on your time. They are Finding, Doing, and Managing. Each takes about 1/3 of your time:

1.  Finding: Securing gigs, work, projects, accounts etc.

2.  Doing Fulfilment of the actual job itself.

3.  Managing Running the business itself, collecting the money,

Finding Overview: Any one of these three factors can control the profitability, even the survival of your business. Depending on what you do, finding that opportunity to make money is critical.

Obviously, being super skilled can make a difference. Did Billy Joel struggle to find gigs as a Piano Player. All he needed was an audition. How does his “Piano Man” song go?

“It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday

And the manager gives me a smile

Cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see."

If you master being good at what you do ultimately, the jobs will find you. But often, your business could use a little jump start. Obviously, it pays to know the kind of people who could hire you. But, how do you reach them? Here is a beautiful example of how this was done to great success.

In this case a gentleman who wrote music for movies stopped by to see some of his buddies who worked for an Ad Agency. His buddies asked him how things were going, and he confessed to struggling to launch himself into the movie industry. His buddies created a post card with a picture of a Piano having been pushed off the top of a Wearhouse. The caption said simply, “Music that never fails to make an impact!”

Sending these cards out, launched his business double-quick, super-fast, like the Energizer Bunny.

When looking for work remember that it pays to have a following, but how do you get one? Remember this, “good Marketing will outperform great Salesmanship every time and by a wide margin!”

Further, there is a lesson to be learned here. Ask yourself, who is likely to want what you’ve got? You may be well served to place a little tiny ad where people look for what you have or what you do. Due to the high cost of Marketing, you will need to determine who the right people are and focus there.

To close a deal, get a contract, or whatever focus on reaching the right people because it is critical. Suppose you are a plumber and are trying to get people to your website by using Google Ad words. You merely need to focus on selecting words like “plumber,” “plumber,” followed by the “local city,” or perhaps “all night plumber.”

But it doesn’t always work that way. For example, a company that made barbecue sauce tried sending people to their website by using all the words people might use for barbecue sauce and got dismal results. They tried marketing their product to people who searched for “gourmet cooking” and succeeded handsomely.

When people search for “barbecue sauce” they will select one they have heard of or more likely a specific sauce they just couldn’t remember but now recognize. An unknown “barbecue sauce” is exactly what they want when they search for “Gourmet Cooking.”

Many is the time a great Sales Manager convinced a company that thought they wanted another Salesman that what they really needed was a Sales Manager like him or her who could close the big deals and control the troops.

Doing Overview:

The secret sauce to a successful business is the ability to duplicate and repeat itself. Conceptually, we are talking about the proverbial “sell the razor and get automatic repeat orders for the razor blades.

As an Independent Contractor you may be looked at as temporary and disposable. If they can do it, have been doing it, then they don’t feel the need of outside help. You need to show them you can do it better and for far less money.

As an example, years ago Franklin Quest made those paper day planners, everybody seemed to have and were considered experts in Time Management. They realized that 90% of the people who attended one of their seminars became loyal customers for their paper product. The message here is the more you help people the more they support you.

However, Franklin had a software version of their product that not only languished sales wise but was beaten up badly in industry reviews. They were happy with traditional paper and binders which is what they called their “core business” Software was a toy they played with or thoughtlessly kicked around.

Franklin knew nothing about software marketing inside the channel or out. I was able to convince them to allow me to help them. Once on board, I was able to last for 5 years as their highest paid outside consultant.

How I did this is a long story but merely showing someone that their lawn needs to be mowed gets you nowhere. The idea is to convince them you are the ideal person to mow it and then mow it well.

The Corona Virus situation will create opportunities for Consultants. I’m sorry. Should I say unemployed but skilled people?

Doing Overview LESSON 1: Opportunity is all around us:

Years ago, S.S. Kresge ran very successful 5 and Dime stores. In fact, they did so for nearly 100 years. Evolving from this enterprise at least to some extent was Kmart. In fact, Kmart boomed long enough to build a beautiful headquarters in Detroit. Here vendors lined up and waited at great length to gain audience with the buyers.

Along came Walmart and they hit every Kmart pitch over the left field wall every time they built a Walmart store near a Kmart store. How did this happen? What opportunity was there for someone like you or me to help Kmart.

First, you need to know the problem. Here is what was happening at the time. Kmart took a month or more to finish their Quarterly Report. Then they were able to see what had happened 120 days ago to their company.

Walmart, on the other hand, knew by the evening what sold and what was in inventory at each store that day. Ouch, to Kmart, but what an opportunity for you or me at the time. Here is what must happen to succeed in helping them.

1.  You must recognize the problem

2.  You must appear to be able to solve the problem

3.  In your effort to reach Kmart for example you must be able to convincingly gain an audience with one of 4 people (Zeus, Thor, Venus or the Goddess Diana.) Just kidding, but you do need to effectively reach the “decision maker.”

You would think someone would have come to the rescue here. Not so! But why? At the time I knew the problem. The best way to explain why I didn’t swoop in and solve it would be to remember the scene from Wayne’s World where Wane and Garth were being invited by Alice Cooper to hang with him after his show. They then go into their “We’re not worthy” bit.

Seriously, though you would think someone inside Kmart would have recognized the problem to a solution. Doubtless, someone did know the problem but not in a way that would launch successful change.

The only way Kmart could get the data they needed is with an appropriately programmed computer. But few people understand programming in the necessary way. Steve Jobs said it best in a still available recorded interview. Steve said, “If you hire a Human Resource Director and get the very best, that person might be 20% better than the others. But, find the right programmer, and you’ll find someone 100 times better than anyone else.”

Suppose you did find the right programmer. Would you recognize him or her if you saw them? Would they want to sit in a cubicle amongst other programmers who just aren’t in their same league?

Even a very large company can use help when they get into a new market. As an independent consultant with skills in any specific area you should look for opportunities where you can market yourself as an expert

Being an Independent Contractor at almost anything, lessens the age prejudice, gender prejudice and to some extent ethnic prejudice. It does not lessen cultural prejudice. Hence, even a Plumber would do well to dress to cover the Tattoos on their neck when dealing with someone from an era where it was felt tattoos are OK, every sailor should have one, but not on their neck. When in Rome…

Most of the top firms that send someone into people’s homes wear Uniforms. However, if you are providing a service into the corporate world, if may be critical you wear the “purple robes of the king” meaning you dress just like the top people in that company.

Managing Overview: If you successfully find and perform while “Doing the Job,” then your Managing is about the money. First and most important collect the money you are owed for your efforts and then make certain that you have the training and the tools you need to perform at your job so as to grow your business.

Every situation is different but here are some examples used to collect money. It is easy for a consultant to not get paid for their efforts once the company that hires them does the proverbial brain dump. Hence, you need to collect in advance or in such a way that there is no reason to stop paying because the payments are small.

An example of this is ? down and the balance weekly over the agreed time of service. This reduces the likelihood of them “pulling up the roots to see how the flowers are growing.”

If you are a Manufacturers Rep insist on a 90-day contract. Typical Reps get a 30-day contract. When a company decides to hire you as their Rep it’s like “honeymoon time.” It is quite unlikely they will deny you a 90-day cancelable contract if you insist along these lines. “Obviously, this is an exciting opportunity. Especially exciting to me because I can get this job done for you.

Nonetheless, I am quite uncomfortable putting everything into this, only to get cut from the squad because of some misunderstanding. Hence, I insist on 90-daysso I can clarify what you want and prove my worth by performance.” That is why a 90-Day contract is so critical to me. Is that fair enough?”

Please realize that collecting your money is what good management is all about. Collecting money is imperative. Sooner is better, sometimes cash on the barrelhead is the only thing that works. I remember Ansel Sanger who had the Astro-Chef Distributorship in Michigan. Astro-chef was a commercially rated Microwave Oven that sold for a fraction of the cost of other commercially rated ovens. Further, we made $225 on each oven we sold for $550 The problem was that Ansel’s had to pay cash for the ovens and he had to get cash for them when sold. The solution was what his invoice said and how it said it:

TERMS: 3% for cash. No other terms. It isn’t that we don’t trust you, but we need our money too.”

Managing will also mean living within your means on uncertain income. For example, top “head-hunters” average about 10 placements a year. This means the very best are without income two months a year.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it will be to makes lots of money and manage it well.