Many of us can think back when we were young and remember the dreams we had – some good, some not so realistic, and some just plain bad.
In a new year, it is always good to look back and reflect (but not dwell) on what got you where you are today and also, look forward to what you want to accomplish – what is needed to make those dreams come true.
So is the case with me. From my early childhood, I had always wanted to teach, but life has a way of creating detours and mine did. By the time I got to college, I had opportunities to work in the corporate world and found that I not only liked it but had a few talents in the area of business management. You take the desire to teach and the talents to manage; put them with the love to write and you have a perfect storm to start a business called The Computer Workshop.
Back in my early 20’s and even into my 30’s, I was always thinking one day I will start ‘this’ business or ‘that’ business. But they were just dreams. Then the company I worked for went through downsizing and I found myself looking for a job. Looking back, I think God got tired of me dreaming and gave me a big shove towards fulfilling my dream of having my own business!
So, I started planning and working on the plan – baby steps to begin with. I deposited $50.00 in my first business bank account and purchased stationery (yes, that was the way we communicated – no email, no social media, no Microsoft Teams!) as well as business cards.
For about 6 months I worked as a consultant, wrote some course materials, and did some desktop publishing. This was more a ‘plan as I went’ approach, looking for opportunities and acting on those.
But once the idea of actually having my own training center materialized, I contacted a good friend of mine to start T & M Computing, which later became The Computer Workshop. We would do training, desktop publishing, and consulting. Back in 1988, classes were called ‘workshops’, hence our name you hear and see today.
Now the serious planning started – we needed a solid business plan. We needed to get equipment, have a location and most importantly find customers which required us to hire sales staff!
One thing I have learned about plans – plan on them changing. The key to success, in my opinion, is to be flexible, be open to change, keep on learning, keep your eyes open for opportunities and make sure you start with a plan – even if it is only a dream.