Middletown vs. Moeller
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Were you spotted tailgating?
Here's an option to finding a job: Create your own!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
What's a better deal than hiring yourself and becoming your own boss? Among the most intriguing and fulfilling ways to find a job is to create your own. Throughout history, Americans with ingenuity and persistence have independently forged new positions and demonstrated that opportunities are often in the mind of the beholder. John Hillerich and Harlan Sanders are classic examples that if you have a vibe and diligently carry it forth, entrepreneurial gods may shine on you.
During baseball's infancy, players either crafted their own bats or used one-size-fits-all models produced by local wood turners. That is until one day in 1884 when Pete Browning of the Louisville Eclipse baseball team broke his bat in a game. Watching from the stands, John Hillerich, a woodcrafter, approached Browning after the game and offered to make a new bat. He invited Browning to his shop, selected the wood and began customizing the piece of ash to Browning's preferences. The next day, Browning stroked three hits and, seeing his success, other Eclipse players began hammering Hillerich to make bats for them. A dynamic industry emerged.
For Harlan Sanders, success wasn't as direct and obvious. He and his wife had relocated from Indiana to Kentucky and opened a restaurant with a home-cooked menu featuring a chicken specialty. It was great food, but the location suffered. So Sanders pondered selling the business until a friend suggested he explore marketing his chicken recipe and franchising the concept. To gather investment money, the fast-food legend pitched his business idea to bankers throughout Kentucky. Some 1,009 potential lenders said no. Undaunted, Sanders continued networking and on the 1,010th call, a bank in Owensboro gave him the money.
Your next job may not result from a vacancy but in a manner similar to Hillerich and Sanders — by stepping forward to solve a problem or stalking investors to cook a deal. Innovative, unwavering people will always find a way others may overlook or renounce.
Bellbrook resident Steve Stromp is a professional career consultant, lecturer and writer. Contact Steve Stromp: sstromp@sbcglobal.net.
