Selecting your first business as an owner can be a challenge. Select correctly and win. Select incorrectly and lose. By Gary Shotton #000386

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Look Inward

By Gary Shotton

Hello, I’m Gary shotton I’m here as a part of inspiring better business.  And today I’m going to talk about look inward, when it comes to choosing a business that fits you. See people choose lots of businesses for very reason many reasons and I want to help you, I hope in a way that will help you start off in a good path. Now I went through about five major segments in my life and I’m going through those quickly. And you’re going to see a thread that says; fortunately, I stayed inside my corridor inside what GOD had gifted me to do. That helped me in a good way to have advantage and be prosperous and to be beneficial in my business endeavors, so I started with being raised on a farm and ranch.  My dad was an entrepreneur he started way back when I was just a little child with virtually nothing. I was able to through the time period sees him buy his first piece of land. And when I was in high school and then from there it expanded fast, and we were a wonderful household.  We were not perfect by any means, but we were church attending farmers and ranchers and I rode horses occasionally. When we needed to branded cattle drove tractor learned how to drive a large truck drove pickups when I was 12 and 13.

I mean we were outdoors, all the time we came in for. We started breakfast in the morning we came in for lunch, if we’re anywhere close to the house.  Then we came in for supper otherwise, we are outdoors wearing a hat, it was sunny in the wintertime. Wearing a coat in the winter time and so that’s where I got my being that’s kind of who I am so when I graduated from college i went to work up in the state of Wyoming, in that state it gets very cold in the wintertime.  And quite hot in the summer and once again I’m outdoors.  I’m a head of a construction project, I’m working for a big oil company.  I did not own a business at that time, I needed to grow up and learn how business worked. Learn how life worked and working for someone else it was about a little under 10 years. That I did that and once again, I’m outdoors we had a large crane which, we picked up something as heavy as 30 tons. And could have a height of 120 feet on the jib of the crane, and we lifted things into the air. We had welders we had a port concrete we just assembled things, we had gloves on we were we were careful not to get each other hurt. We had basically a pretty rugged environment just being in Wyoming but also being in construction well.

Then in the mid-80s or early 80s so we decided to move to Tulsa Oklahoma to go to bible school, and in that setting, I could not find a job. I was willing to do whatever and there were no not many options. I started a moving and storage company, it was very modest very meager, there’s other stories you have heard about, but the summary is. I’m outdoors again, I’m out with people and i like people. I’m in their homes, but we’re carrying furniture, we are built working up a sweat. I’m not in behind a computer at that time I’ve learned how to use a computer, but it’s not my gifting. I’m not fixing someone’s hair I’m not doing a retail sale that’s for somebody else, but I’m inside my corridor, outside in the work world as I’m. Working in this owning a trucking company to date, I still have a class a cdl commercial driver’s license for driving the largest truck that can go on the highway. I know how to drive that dude so I’m outdoors again well, then we sell that, and I sell that my wife and I set out a bit and guess what I did?  I bought a machine shop same kind of business, here’s mostly men we only have one woman in our machine shop. That’s on the floor one woman in this in the office the rest is 49 men we’re out there. It’s kind of grubby we have made; we have rules that you have to watch the language we can’t have girly picture pictures on the wall.

Because that’s our culture not to have that but still it’s all kinds of working and being in the in the workforce with men. It’s not behind the desk other than occasional, so my bread and butter are outdoors I still own that, but you know I don’t know what’s coming next. But I’m starting another business, it’s a vine ripe tomatoes I’m on a tractor in my spare time. It’s a hobby I’m outdoors I hope you get the picture, that I have stayed inside a corridor of the kind of business that fits me. Why would I do that? well because, I have kind of a sixth sense I have a nature I like it, not just I like work honestly do like to work that would be one of the worst things. That could happen if I had the disability or something caused me not to be able to work. But it’s mostly with men, mostly outdoors and again that’s me so here’s where i see mistakes made i see people when they’re wanting to start a business, they think wow number one how much money can I make. What can i do to make the most money well? that’s a pretty poor way to choose a business. Because you know if you’re gifted in business, and you learn business and you stay inside your corridor every business has a chance to make money. And every business has a chance to lose money you got to.

Remember that you can make or lose, it’s not the business it’s the business skills you need to operate inside that business. That includes being inside your corridor, inside your channel, inside the stream in the process of what fits you well. Other people copy someone else; they have an uncle or a cousin or even are kind of forced into following dad in the even owning the same business a dad owned. You know that’s okay but i always like to have a little thought that does this fit that person, you know not everyone in my family. I have three grown children i was part of a family, with five children and you know our personalities are different what we like to do is different the way we approach things is different and anyone that has more than one child knows that. And that’s part of god dealing with us in a different way. For each person so i’m suggesting strongly that, you work look inwardly you look inside yourself. Don’t just jump on something meditate and analyze what i really like to do. What’s the kind of thing that’s enjoyable to me?  Not everything’s going to be just 100 percent perfect. You know not everything’s going to be just exactly like you wanted it. But it is something that you need to stay inside your corridor.

A good thing would be to start a business inside your hobby, that’s going to be something that could fit you very well. You’re going to get up in the morning, you’re going to be excited about working. You’re going to be excited about going to work, you know there’s always going to be a lot of drag. All there’s going to be enough disappointment, you’re going to have enough headaches and so. To do that in a business that you don’t enjoy doing and have a special interest in is a double drag you don’t want to double drag you don’t you don’t want to be disappointed that you chose. What you’re doing, you want to do something that’s very centered on your gifting you see. i’m not a hair stylist I have my wife, cut my hair for all these years i don’t really like people to touch my hair that much. You know it’s okay but i don’t i’m not someone i like to eat but i’m not a cook, i’m not a chef so those things are for someone else. There are opportunities inside those you choose thanks for being a part of inspiring better business.