What if your TEC isn’t the type to sell direct to the public?

A reader of my blog posted a comment I think bears addressing here in the blog instead of just through the comments.

First, read one of my previous posts on selling your talents, energy and creativity (TEC) directly to the public instead of through a broker (your boss.)

The comment I had from Barry, was this:

Dan:

Great site. I have a couple of comments on this piece and on the site in general:

(a) Some people’s TEC are hard to sell. I am a teacher, and sure I’d love to start a business, but what can I do with my ability to teach 2 + 2?

(b) Your site talks about looking for ideas. You are blessed with a creative mind, but not all of us are that creative. Sure, we can see ideas in the newspaper afterwards and say, why didn’t I think of that? But to come up with the ideas in the first place is hard, and I don’t know if it’s something you can develop. If you have a way to increase creativity and originality, please share it.

Keep up the great site! It’s a fun and enjoyable read.

This was my response to him with a bit more for this post:

Good questions. First, you’re right… not everyone’s particular TEC is suited for selling directly to the public through a business of your own. However, normally, if your TEC is such that CAN be sold directly, you’re more likely to be the type of person suited to be on your own. I guess a better way of saying it is if you have a passion to teach children, then you’re most likely not going to have a desire to “have a business of your own” because that’s just not “you.”

Now, let’s assume you want to teach. I just mentioned that it might not be in you to be in a business of your own if you are a teacher. However, if you love teaching, and you still want to be in a business of your own, think of how that can be done. Don’t necessarily think what has been done in the past, think about what can be done that’s never been done. I’m not an educational expert, but I just recently had an idea for learning books for grade school kids that thinks outside the box and allows kids to learn and retain information a completely different way. The concept isn’t new, but applying it in an official cirriculum to children, I believe, is. Perhaps I’ll share this idea at some point on the blog. But the idea didn’t come from one thought session. It came over time, by thinking of three different other ideas that evolved to this one idea. If you’re ALWAYS in biz idea thinking mode, those chains from one idea to another can happen.

I’m positive that there’s something about teaching that bothers you and you wish it weren’t that way. If you can think of something that fits that description, then think of just how you can solve it. While you’re doing that, think of other interests you have and try to mesh them together somehow. Don’t be afraid to think of the silliest things. It’s a time for your brain to just be able to wander, without constraint. I guarantee, there is SOMETHING in your TEC that is transferrable to your own business, if you want your own business bad enough.

With that said, if you’re NOT teaching because you love to teach, but just because that’s where you found yourself and it pays the bills, you need to look at what it is you WANT to do, assess your TEC in that area, build it up if necessary by interning, volunteering, taking classes, reading on your own… etc. Then move towards selling it directly to the public and transition away from the safe paycheck.

Your second thought about how not everyone can come up with ideas. I tend to think not everyone WANTS or TRIES to come up with ideas. If you want to, and you apply yourself daily (hourly) to thinking in a different way like I’ve stated on my blog over and over, you’ll come up with things.

It takes practice just like anything else. Here’s a project for you… next time you come across or even glance at something that interests you in the slightest bit, don’t just admire it and wonder how you can own it, or wear it, or do whatever it is you do with it. Think about how you can make money with it. I don’t care what it is. ALWAYS think in terms of what you can do differently or from a different angle that will allow you to make money with a particular concept, product, service, thing.

I sometimes go into Michaels and wander around the store for a long time, just looking at things. Trying to think of different ways to use different things. I came up with an idea just recently for creating out of this world resumes for job hunters. I was there to look at frames for our annual family pictures and I came away with $20 worth of experimental things to try out this business idea I had just come up with.

If you’re not ACTIVELY in this type of frame of mind, you will find it difficult to come up with ideas, you’re right.

If all else fails, read dansherman.com and perhaps over time you’ll get something you can use. 🙂