Another Day In The Life Of A ‘Virtually Unemployed’ Entrepreneur

 By Vickie Fagan

I forgot to tell you that I am an entrepreneur! Yes, good news, I work for myself. 

There is a lot of buzz in this climate of tossing longstanding faithful employees to the wind and about the rise of the entrepreneur. There are even government initiatives to encourage new business ventures.

Niagara 'mogul, impresario, magnate and tycoon' Vickie Fagan facing another day on the job.

The thesaurus terms used to describe my position are; mogul, impresario, magnate, tycoon.

Lofty I know.  But basically in my case entrepreneur translates to “virtually unemployable in a small town.”

I began my quest as a video producer magnate when I had exhausted all avenues of employment in my field here in the Niagara region. After years of working in the big smoke for broadcast television, (you know that industry that is now a ghost of its former self with legions of former producers, editors, camera people wandering the streets dazed and confused wondering what hit them) I now walk the fine line of scraping up work both here and in Toronto. I sit in my state of the art office (my couch or dining room table) most days in variations of lounge wear unless I have to be out in the world on shoots or meetings.

Working from home has its benefits but one must be careful to make sure that you don’t fall prey to a few minor pitfalls. For instance, this little impresario hasn’t washed her hair in two days. When I do emerge from my cave, blinded by the hustle and bustle of work outside the home, I have to remind myself repeatedly that I am in fact wearing mascara and if I insist on rubbing my eyes, will look like a depressed raccoon by noon.

And the attention span issue, I have found that I’m not used to people talking longer than, say, a sound bite anymore so I am often found distracted during meetings that last more than eight minutes. In fact, I usually miss vital facts because of the persistent voice inside of me saying; ” Oh for God’s sake, when are they going to shut up?? I want to get home and change out of this unnatural outfit!” Or I spend the entire meeting fighting the urge to slouch in my chair and put my feet up on the seat beside the potential client while yawning and scratching inappropriately.
 

Through discussions with like-minded tycoons, I have come up with a few do’s and don’ts that you may find helpful if you are fortunate enough to find yourself unemployed and launching an exciting career as an entrepreneur.

Do’s:

– Make sure to talk to at least one other human being during the week just to make sure your English skills are up to scratch.

– Try to hold conference calls in your driveway to avoid the tell-tale signs of the home office such as kid yelling in the background,” Mom can you get me or relentless dog barking.

– Answer the phone with confidence and professionalism even if it is the 12th telemarketer call before lunch.

– Keep to a tight schedule set the alarm and stick to it, lunch two hours max and try to keep the afternoon nap to under three hours or you will lose valuable time being groggy.

– While sitting in a public establishment either waiting for a meeting or just pretending to be waiting for a meeting, furiously check your blackberry or whatever you’re packing. In fact look slightly exasperated but not hysterical.

– Practice pitches on your dogs. It may feel silly at first but if you can’t hold their attention than you’re screwed.

Don’ts:

– Under no circumstances turn on the television before 5pm even if you are pretending to check the time or weather. This is a no-brainer for any magnate and we all know this will lead to the Y&R so No, No, No!!!

– Try to not start undoing your pants as you are walking to the bathroom because you will inevitably repeat this behaviour in public.

– Make promises you can’t keep like showing up for breakfast meetings.

– Start drinking during the day. “It’s five o’clock somewhere” doesn’t apply to the grueling mandate of the entrepreneur.

– Show up at the grocery store in your pajamas during work hours, it leaves the wrong impression.

– Never ever, ever get sick or be in a position to need a dentist. You have NO BENEFITS!!!!!

– Procrastinate by spending hours on fb or blogging during open for bisness time, it sends a message to the world that you aren’t taking your career seriously.

So my fellow moguls, magnates, impresarios, let’s get out there and conquer the world. This is our time to trail blaze while established industries are collapsing. It is our opportunity to really live the dream! Six more hours till quittin’ time.

Vickie Fagan is a resident of St.Catharines. She is the founder of Fagan Media Group which you can learn more about at  www.faganmediagroup.com  A youtube video her group recently played a role in producing,  featuruing shoppers singing Hallelujah in Welland’s Seaway Mall, has gone viral all over the world and can be accessed on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE or on Niagara At Large by scrolling down a few posts below.

(Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region.)