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Fantasy » alt.fan.pratchett » Stuff [I]'ve learned.
| Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #257080] |
Sa, 15 April 2006 18:45 |
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Having recently chosen to change hats at my place of employment,
I have had the opportunity to review the pros & cons, and so on.
Here's something valuable I've learned in my most recent position:
(1) When hiring someone, never hire yourself.
I didn't actually hire anyone; I inherited a previously hired person
who is as different from me as possible. I was worried because
I didn't think we would see eye-to-eye on things, and this would
create a lot of friction. And we did have differences of opinion
on things, and completely different approaches and priorities. But.
The advantage was that we also had different skill sets; and tasks
that I hate and am crummy at, this person loved and excelled at -
and vice versa. Once we established the goals we were working
towards, we worked as a helluva team.
I also ride the bus, and I watched a restaurant open, fail, and
close over the past eight months, and I learned two things from
watching that.
(2) Never open your doors until you've got your sign up.
(3) Hire your friends to sit in the restaurant looking happy.
Regardless of when either I, or I and my SOGP, went by,
there was never anyone in the restaurant. Not a soul.
So, what about you?
April.
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #257191 ] |
Sa, 15 April 2006 21:52 |
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on 15/04/2006 17:45 April Goodwin-Smith said the following:
> Here's something valuable I've learned in my most recent position:
> (1) When hiring someone, never hire yourself.
Now my experience runs completely counter to yours as hiring myself was,
effectively, what I did about 4.5 years ago. And again a little under 12
month ago when I formed a limited company. At the moment, I'd have real
problems working for someone else because I enjoy the freedom I have so
much. Not least because, if I do make any compromises, they're my
compromises and I don't have follow someone else's rules.
On the downside, my boss is a real slave driver. ;-)
>
> I didn't actually hire anyone; I inherited a previously hired person
> who is as different from me as possible. I was worried because
> I didn't think we would see eye-to-eye on things, and this would
> create a lot of friction.
<snip>
> Once we established the goals we were working
> towards, we worked as a helluva team.
Now I'd argue that you do have at least one thing in common with your
co-worker - whether it be recognition of the same goals or the ability
to communicate and define those goals. You also sounds as if you respect
each other's skills - a very important factor when working as a team.
But otherwise, I agree with your points. Good teams needs to contain
people with very different skillsets and strengths so that final unit is
balanced.
> I also ride the bus, and I watched a restaurant open, fail, and
> close over the past eight months, and I learned two things from
> watching that.
>
> (2) Never open your doors until you've got your sign up.
>
> (3) Hire your friends to sit in the restaurant looking happy.
>
> Regardless of when either I, or I and my SOGP, went by,
> there was never anyone in the restaurant. Not a soul.
Sounds like someone got their marketing wrong or picked a very poor
location. I've noticed that we have a 'dead spot' within a row of
shops/businesses near where I live. I've lost count of the number of
businesses that have rapidly come and gone in this particular location.
Given that they can't all have been 'bad' businesses, I can only surmise
that it has something to do with the movement of people (potential
customers) as they move up and down this row.
The shops are actually set back about 12ft from the rest of the street
fronts and the shop in question is just before the frontage reverts back
out again, so has a 12ft blank wall immediately next it it. My guess is
that people walking by start moving diagonally to avoid the wall just
before this shop - hence never get near enough to be drawn in.
It does make me wonder if potential tenants ever stood and watched the
flow of people before leasing the place.
esmi
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #257542 ] |
So, 16 April 2006 13:06 |
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esmi posted:
....
> It does make me wonder if potential tenants ever stood and
> watched the flow of people before leasing the place.
Well, clearly not. And obviously they did not make any deals
to use that wall to advertise, put a couple of tables and
chairs out if they were a cafe, ...
--
Ciao
Thomas =:-)
<To sig or not to sig, that is the question?>
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #257626 ] |
So, 16 April 2006 20:56 |
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In a speech called
Xns97A78565B580ThomasZahrfreenetde [at] ID-179574.user.uni-berlin.de,
Thomas Zahr uttered thus:
> esmi posted:
>
> ...
>
> > It does make me wonder if potential tenants ever stood and
> > watched the flow of people before leasing the place.
>
> Well, clearly not. And obviously they did not make any deals
> to use that wall to advertise, put a couple of tables and
> chairs out if they were a cafe, ...
It probably costs more on the rates to put tables outside, and if the
hereditament has a history of hosting failed businesses, you want to
save as much money as possible.
--
http://freespace.virgin.net/b.wakeling/index.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sabremeister/
Use b dot wakeling at virgin dot net to reply
Sign in a shop:
"Credit will only be granted to people over 80
If accompanied by both parents"
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #257755 ] |
Mo, 17 April 2006 05:37 |
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"esmi" wrote ...
> April Goodwin-Smith said the following:
>> (1) When hiring someone, never hire yourself.
> Now my experience runs completely counter to yours as hiring
> myself was, effectively, what I did about 4.5 years ago. And again
> a little under 12 month ago when I formed a limited company. At
> the moment, I'd have real problems working for someone else
> because I enjoy the freedom I have so much. Not least because, if
> I do make any compromises, they're my compromises and I don't
> have follow someone else's rules.
> On the downside, my boss is a real slave driver. ;-)
>
Oooo, I wouldn't hire me: I'm difficult to manage; I think I know it
all; I'm thin-skinned; I'm a team player as long as everybody does
it the right way; I only take direction from a compass - well, you
get the idea. Before this experience, however, I would have tried
to duplicate myself because I would have thought we would have
at least talked the same language. When I think about it, though,
this is absolutely mental because my father & I are very like each
other, and we can't even agree on how to set the table.
<snip restaurant failure>
>> (2) Never open your doors until you've got your sign up.
>> (3) Hire your friends to sit in the restaurant looking happy.
> Sounds like someone got their marketing wrong or picked a very
> poor location. I've noticed that we have a 'dead spot' within a row
> of shops/businesses near where I live. <snip traffic flow problems> It
> does make me wonder if potential tenants ever stood and watched
> the flow of people before leasing the place.
>
This is what always gives me the willies about the idea of being
self-employed. I suspect some of the most crucial skills for
success are the ones I have the least supply of.
What has been the hardest part of running your own business?
April.
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #257882 ] |
Mo, 17 April 2006 15:06 |
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On 2006-04-16 22:37:13 -0500, "April Goodwin-Smith"
<agoodwinsmith [at] shaw.ca> said:
> at least talked the same language. When I think about it, though,
> this is absolutely mental because my father & I are very like each
> other, and we can't even agree on how to set the table.
There are diagrams for that on the 'net :)
> What has been the hardest part of running your own business?
The boss is a mean bastard who has to micro-manage every damn thing.
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258000 ] |
Mo, 17 April 2006 21:18 |
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on 17/04/2006 14:06 René said the following:
> On 2006-04-16 22:37:13 -0500, "April Goodwin-Smith"
> <agoodwinsmith [at] shaw.ca> said:
>>What has been the hardest part of running your own business?
> The boss is a mean bastard who has to micro-manage every damn thing.
Mine, OTOH, is a slave-driving perfectionist bitch.
esmi
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258001 ] |
Mo, 17 April 2006 21:14 |
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on 17/04/2006 04:37 April Goodwin-Smith said the following:
> "esmi" wrote ...
>>It
>>does make me wonder if potential tenants ever stood and watched
>>the flow of people before leasing the place.
> This is what always gives me the willies about the idea of being
> self-employed. I suspect some of the most crucial skills for
> success are the ones I have the least supply of.
Now I'd argue that the skills needed for success are the ones most
people have already - they just don't know it. People seem to have the
idea that you need a lot of fancy skills to be self-employed. You don't.
Just the same common sense and practical, everyday skills that you had
before.
You're probably loaded with business skills but you just don't perceive
them as such.
It does, I'll admit, alter the way you view yourself and the world
around you, though. Like the persistently failing shop near me. That
situation has been ongoing for years but it was only after I became
self-employed and started to view things from a slightly different
viewpoint that I 'saw' the problem.
> What has been the hardest part of running your own business?
Book-keeping and taxes. The day-to-day book-keeping isn't hard - just
tedious once you have a system in place. Doing tax returns is a pain in
the proverbial. Fortunately, I've passed a great deal of that onto an
accountant but I still do my own employee taxes. In previous years, I
did *all* of the taxes and actually managed to get it pretty much right!
So it is do-able - just not terribly enjoyable.
I guess most people assume that self-discipline is going to be a big
issue if you're self-employed but, judging from my own experience and
those of others in the same boat, it's rarely, if ever, a problem
because people love what they do. Stopping work, however, can be
difficult. :-)
esmi
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258010 ] |
Mo, 17 April 2006 21:41 |
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Also Sprach esmi:
> I guess most people assume that self-discipline is going to
> be a big issue if you're self-employed but, judging from my
> own experience and those of others in the same boat, it's
> rarely, if ever, a problem because people love what they
> do. Stopping work, however, can be difficult. :-)
Based on my observation, it can be a problem if you *don't*
love what you do. You may ask "why would anyone be self-
employed doing something they don't actually want to do?", to
which I would reply I have no idea, but I can assure you it
happens.
--
Dave
Official Absentee of EU Skiffeysoc
http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/societies/sesoc
"[Wolverine]'s in every book. I think he just joined
the JLA, and for some reason he's in the revised
Penguin edition of Little Dorrit." -Joss Whedon
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258031 ] |
Mo, 17 April 2006 22:26 |
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on 17/04/2006 20:41 Daibhid Ceanaideach said the following:
[re self-discipline]
> Based on my observation, it can be a problem if you *don't*
> love what you do. You may ask "why would anyone be self-
> employed doing something they don't actually want to do?", to
> which I would reply I have no idea, but I can assure you it
> happens.
Fair point. I can only assume I've not, as yet, come across such a
situation.
esmi
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258043 ] |
Mo, 17 April 2006 23:08 |
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In article <Xns97A8D27CABAECdaibhid [at] 130.133.1.4>,
daibhidchenedelh [at] aol.com says...
> Also Sprach esmi:
>
> > I guess most people assume that self-discipline is going to
> > be a big issue if you're self-employed but, judging from my
> > own experience and those of others in the same boat, it's
> > rarely, if ever, a problem because people love what they
> > do. Stopping work, however, can be difficult. :-)
>
> Based on my observation, it can be a problem if you *don't*
> love what you do. You may ask "why would anyone be self-
> employed doing something they don't actually want to do?", to
> which I would reply I have no idea, but I can assure you it
> happens.
Becasue they dislike working for someone else even more. Or the dislike
all the available employment even more.
For example, if the chois is going down The Pit or being a music
teacehr, and you suffer from claustrophopia, you might find even the
most painful child's mangling of musice the lesser evil.
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258165 ] |
Di, 18 April 2006 06:54 |
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"René" wrote...
> "April Goodwin-Smith" said:
>> [My father & I] can't even agree on how to set the table.
> There are diagrams for that on the 'net :)
>
Ho yes. And you think we've agreed what meal we are
setting the table for?
April.
I see your Miss Manners, and I raise you five Emily Posts.
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258229 ] |
Di, 18 April 2006 15:16 |
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On 2006-04-17 23:54:04 -0500, "April Goodwin-Smith"
<agoodwinsmith [at] shaw.ca> said:
> "René" wrote...
>> "April Goodwin-Smith" said:
>>> [My father & I] can't even agree on how to set the table.
>> There are diagrams for that on the 'net :)
>>
>
> Ho yes. And you think we've agreed what meal we are
> setting the table for?
>
> April.
>
> I see your Miss Manners, and I raise you five Emily Posts.
Got a couple of Knigges and three Dear-bloody-Abbys.
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258636 ] |
Do, 20 April 2006 23:22 |
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"esmi" <esmi [at] lspace.org> wrote in message news:e20pnn$10m3$1 [at] mud.stack.nl...
> on 17/04/2006 14:06 René said the following:
>> On 2006-04-16 22:37:13 -0500, "April Goodwin-Smith"
>> <agoodwinsmith [at] shaw.ca> said:
>
>>>What has been the hardest part of running your own business?
>
>> The boss is a mean bastard who has to micro-manage every damn thing.
>
> Mine, OTOH, is a slave-driving perfectionist bitch.
>
Mine expects me, *me* to do the accounts ( for whom a piece of paper is
something to be lost), while also being a SDPB whose niggling and nitpicking
turns well paying jobs into less than minimum wage gigs by the time she's
finished apple polishing
still_
Louise
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258763 ] |
Fr, 21 April 2006 12:56 |
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"Alec Cawley" <alec [at] spamspam.co.uk> wrote in message
news:MPG.1eae14147da13815989c08 [at] news.individual.net...
> Becasue they dislike working for someone else even more. Or the dislike
> all the available employment even more.
Mmmm, for values of dislike == pays less
Paul
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| Re: Stuff [I]'ve learned. [message #258928 ] |
Sa, 22 April 2006 13:32 |
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"Daibhid Ceanaideach" <daibhidchenedelh [at] aol.com> wrote in message
news:Xns97A8D27CABAECdaibhid [at] 130.133.1.4...
> Also Sprach esmi:
>
> > I guess most people assume that self-discipline is going to
> > be a big issue if you're self-employed but, judging from my
> > own experience and those of others in the same boat, it's
> > rarely, if ever, a problem because people love what they
> > do. Stopping work, however, can be difficult. :-)
>
> Based on my observation, it can be a problem if you *don't*
> love what you do. You may ask "why would anyone be self-
> employed doing something they don't actually want to do?", to
> which I would reply I have no idea, but I can assure you it
> happens.
>
> --
> Dave
> Official Absentee of EU Skiffeysoc
> http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/societies/sesoc
> "[Wolverine]'s in every book. I think he just joined
> the JLA, and for some reason he's in the revised
> Penguin edition of Little Dorrit." -Joss Whedon
There is this little thing called "burnout" that can happen when one takes
something one really enjoys, and turns it into the most deplorable chore by
over-exposure...
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