Create your own job

Don’t wait for employers to open their doors and invite you in. Why? Because it may be a long time before they do that. Employers are nervous about taking on the commitments of full time workers, whether blue collar or white collar. Understandable. Depending on where you are, the re-starting of international trade – the trade that a country needs to support its internal structure and culture – is a complex business. That complexity is exacerbated by the US-China tensions, by the geopolitical struggle for vaccines and by odd accidents like the Suez Canal mishap. ‘Labour Liquidity’ is what employers want. I suggest you help them get it.

In the next twenty years full time employment will become an exception, at least for many white collar jobs. By then the rule will be individual skills bought competitively from a pool of services. Those services will involve management, including top management, just as ‘temporary’ top managers are being hired today. No doubt AI will play a vasky bigger part in the picture and people will have been replaced in many areas of management but not, I suspect, totally. Perhaps in time it will, but the human brain has a lot going for it and any competitor must shine with equal versatility and subtlety. And as AI develops so will our knowledge of, and ability to influence, the brain. SO expert the brain itself to be on a growing platform.

For now, the unemployed should first establish their purpose in life and, based on that, their immediate goals. If they do this sensibly they will vividly know their strengths and weaknesses, their inherent skills, their interests and the multitude of things that go to make life interesting. From this they can see what they are likely to be most successful at. What you enjoy is what you probably will do best. Sounds a bit strange, if there are not enough jobs to go round? Not at all. Instead of waiting for a job to turn up, start your own gig, make yourself known for some speciality, get a reputation. That’s how businesses work and it is the same for gigs.

Don’t know how to start a gig? There are plenty of people willing to help you but you must do the preliminary work first. Most important before you start any business of your own be clear how well you understand and handle money. Knowing when to be mean and when to be generous is key to making a profit, not easy at the best of times. You will be working in a highly competitive environment. So your costs must be clear and well under control. If you are not good at handling money you must partner with someone who is. At least one of the owners of the gig must be good with money or the enterprise will go bust. Don’t underestimate the importance of this. However far removed from money the subject of the business is, a good grasp of finance is critical.

One of the partners also needs to be highly creative, preferably not the one that deals with cash. Having the original idea may be an act of creativity but the need for swift, related thinking continues every day and more than a few nights. Your bright idea will only become worth millions when every facet of its development has been thought through, tested, measured, tried and accepted or rejected. If it’s a restaurant you want to start, consider the atmosphere as much as the menu. Small touches often make big rewards. What you present the hungry guest has to be monitored every day. Think what sort of person the restaurant is for. And never stop thinking that as you learn what sort of people will, in fact, use it.

If you’re in the high-tech business remember that the giant techs like Google, Microsoft, Musk, Amazon are aiming for the big fishes. They will ignore any that don’t meet their criteria of size and speed to develop. That means there are plenty of other apps and systems waiting to be invented. It does not mean that these other developments are worthless. You have a market aching to use new ideas to make life more interesting, faster and increasingly automated.

In truth, the world has never been more in favour of the entrepreneur. From Government grants to high quality mentoring, coaching and training it is the best of all times to start your own enterprise. If you are a persistent person, prepared to fight on regardless of the setbacks, you will achieve something many dream of but few accomplish.

‘Be the Boss’ is part of TMI’s logo.

It’s there because we mean it.