7 Key Lessons from Unemployment For Would-Be Entrepreneurs
I graduated from UBC with a technical degree in Chemical and Biological engineering in 2015. This degree may have been too narrow for certain industries to adapt to quickly. New grads were not ready to adapt either. Not to mention, the bigger sister industries where we could apply our skills such as the oil & gas sector was going through a meltdown.
A very rough year for a lot of people who followed the news. The declining price of the barrel of oil, due to a variety of factors that include the strong U.S. dollar, sudden and rapid oversupply, declining demand and possibly the Iran nuclear deal. I am not too familiar with the Iran nuclear deal myself.
New grads were reaching new lows with Shell laying off 7000 people globally and Suncor cutting off 1700 jobs as well in 2015. It sucked. During 2014–2015, I had applied to possibly over 3000 jobs in total ranging from analyst position, to engineering to technician to operator roles. Now I agree some of them probably did not even need degree which is also why I did not get those jobs. Employers of small companies usually do not want to pay you extra just because you know things they do not want you to know. Our fate in that sector was pretty much sealed unless we decided to adapt fast to another growing industry. Technology?
From those initial months of unemployment, one could draw parallels in the struggles of a would-be entrepreneur.
1. Practicing your pitch
Sitting and applying for jobs is kind of like sitting and applying for pitch competitions and venture capitalist funding.
Every interview is a pitch competition; fine choice of words and a balance between the intricacies of professionalism, knowledge, numbers, storytelling and subtle humor.
My most successful interviews ended up becoming acts of consulting the companies about their problems, the same way you’d do for a client instead of sucking up like “hey I want a job”.
2. Repetitive action
Polishing the resume is like polishing the MVP or the Minimum Viable Product. Paying attention to your customers’ key requirements and molding your pitch or product accordingly; every day, sprint by sprint. In order to get noticed by a potential employer, you must create a resume that meets their criteria. In order to have a successful business, your product must meet the attributes of the product/market fit.
When nothing seems to be working out and you’re constantly being flooded with the “We have moved on with other candidates” emails, it makes you extremely agile and critical to each and every action. This may be quite unpleasant and frustrating at first but unfortunately it is kind of a good thing.
To win over clients, you must iterate your business values to the prospective clients over and over again. It may be done via calls, emails, social media or if you a really fat budget, ads…lots of ads…until they convert.
3. Hard core business development
Walking into companies with a resume at hand might seem unconventional and in many cases, a cause for embarrassment. But there is no better way, at least in my opinion, to put your product, in this case your minimum wage skill set, to the masses than to walk in with a lot of unpreparedness. This bold action touches on the notion of steadfastness and will help you to always be ready to be humiliated. And thus be prepared in the moment. Despite this, it will help you sway your mindset in taking action regardless of whatever others might say. In my opinion, the cumulative price you pay for inaction almost always far outweighs the cumulative price you pay for taking action.
My opinion on companies that use the “ONLY APPLY ONLINE” format; you’re doing a terrible job at attracting the rolled-up sleeves type of talent.
In 2015, I ran into a friend who worked in the same building as a low-key African energy company. It was one of those companies who had a gold name template next to the elevator and not much online presence. Basically not big on marketing budget. I decided to pay these guys a visit. With only information about their Kenyan operations on their website, I decided to device a “strategy” about a possible “expansion plan”. Big words. What the hell do I have to lose anyway. Worst part was that I decided to do it just 30 minutes before I arrived at their offices cause showing up empty-handed is not nice. Surprisingly, the main door was open at 7am in the morning. The office was empty except for one guy. He happened to be the CFO. Gulp.
I told him that his company should try exploring some of the nearby oilfields of Africa which should be pretty lucrative. And also that I was looking for employment. Oops. I handed him the budget version of a map of Africa I had doodled behind my resume. It had some numbers and arrows pointing to Ghana and some other nearby countries. He looked at that piece of caricature, scratched the furrows on his forehead, quintessential to every 60-something c-level exec in a reclining chair, told me it was “OK” but the company won’t agree to this. Surprise surprise. But after staring down my at qualifications, he said there is a position in Dubai which he would recommend me for since I grew up in UAE. Sick. I was trying to get something in Canada. So I wished him a good day and left.
The thing is, many a times, all this extra effort is only good because it provides collateral to talk about during the routine “Above & beyond” question at most interviews. It also taught me the basics of #Salesmanship101 and cold-calling or rather cold-knocking people with absolutely no shame. Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, speaks highly of being shameless during his entrepreneurship ventures. So it can’t be that bad.
4. Teaches you “I don’t know.”
You will probably not have all the skills that were copy-pasted by an HR coordinator who hates his/her job. And you probably will not even need all those skills to be honest. But for corporation’s suit-tie reputation’s sake, they will ask you if you know certain shit (which they do not really need…Unless your boss is actually the greatest boss in the world and who knows very well that in business, not every product or person works perfectly and it/they need to somehow do the job just right and improve over time). Being honest at that pivotal moment will help you be at peace with yourself and help you focus on certain skills to improve on and also filter out some shitty work environments.
Now in the start-up world, when pitching to a prospective client, your product may not provide a one-stop shop solution to all their needs. Genuine prospects will admire it if you’re being honest. They will also admire your ability to handle their tough questions with swag. From your side, you will know what features to add to win that client over, at least in your Powerpoint slides for next time.
5. Acute Self-Criticism
Every unsuccessful interview, the one you thought you nailed but not really and got the ‘decided to move forward to other candidates’ email, will help you critique every action of yours or preceding action. You would always end up wondering what you could have done differently and how you could have answered based on what they wanted.
This is immensely helpful in a world where you are constantly pitching to either customers, technical teams, investors, partners; a world where you’re always on persuasion mode. Each group has their own way of thinking and their own ways of receiving the value proposition of what it is that you are doing. You have to mold your slides every step of the way.
The attitude of self criticism that you end up developing after going through such series of events will also help you during product development stages. Each segment of your ideal customer will probably get a different kick out of an individual feature in your product. And their set of interests may be very unique with no overlap, almost like fingerprints.
6. Dealing with loneliness
Many a times during unemployment you will find yourself sipping double doubles by the waters while all your friends are off to start their exciting careers in new amazing places. Some are getting promoted, others are engaged or married while some are just getting a puppy. Point is unemployment could be very lonely. It leaves you questioning a lot of things about the purpose of your existence, your skillsets, your values, or in my case, the international student fees I paid to get myself a goddamn degree that no-one wants.
Now for someone who has tried his hands in a few ventures, successful and unsuccessful, not much is different in the world of entrepreneurship. Not many will understand what it is that you’re trying to achieve with this new business venture. In many cases you will find yourself repeatedly questioning your own value proposition and asking yourself the dreadful why.
The point is, through this constant debate with yourself, which itself is pretty lonely, you will likely have developed some coping mechanism to deal with loneliness. Not to mention, the constant questioning of your value proposition is again, extremely important in business and the product or service that you’re trying to sell. With this attitude you’d likely have developed a skill set to filter out extraneous noise, be zen about your loneliness, and be able to better refine your focus on the next task at hand.
7. Might cure unemployment
You as an entrepreneur may have a hand in families coming together during Christmas, exchanging gifts, and spoiling those little rascals by letting their parents have a decent job. In an article written by an EY executive Maria Pinelli (article referenced below), it was mentioned that in 2015, 47% of entrepreneurs (and 77% of world-leading entrepreneurs) plan to increase the size of their workforce, compared to 29% of large corporations. And therefore, supporting entrepreneurs to grow their businesses will have an impact on unemployment rates in the economy.
— Pinelli, Maria. “Can Entrepreneurship Solve the Youth Unemployment Crisis?”Https://Www.weforum.org, 11 Sept. 2015, www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/can-entrepreneurship-solve-the-youth-unemployment-crisis/.
