Firstly let me introduce myself, I am a wife, mother of two and owner/manager of two businesses. Over the years I have worked with market leaders across many industries including manufacturing, health, IT, retail, horse racing and golf course maintenance. Although Ive worked with them in many ways the underlying theme has always been to build their business (even if they didnt know it at the time) the reason for this is I have to build businesses because I have the e gene, that is, the entrepreneurial gene.
I grew up in an entrepreneurial family my mother, father and brother all still have their own businesses (in fact they each have at least two). My Uncle & Aunt have an award winning winery in Clare Valley that they built from scratch Yes Id say the entrepreneurial gene is very prominent in my family.
My first venture into entrepreneurialism was standing on a milk crate at four years old in my parents milk bar singing to the tradesmen that used to come in to buy Dads homemade pies during the pastry strike in Adelaide. Dad was not a pie maker, chef or even a cook but when the pastry companies went on strike he did what every committed entrepreneur would do he made his own, that is he got up at 4am and made pies and sausage rolls before he went to work in his fulltime job as engineer at the highways department!
So he provided the pies and I provided the entertainment and the business was a raging success. In fact after the strike was over many customers kept asking for Dads pies but he had moved on. I think this anecdote truly shows the entrepreneurial spirit if theres some thing to be done you just get in and do it. In times of adversity of uncertainty you find a creative way out.
I grew up in the back rooms of retail shops that my parents owned. Id come home from school with my brother and wed play leggo and barbies like normal kids do but we just did it in the back room of which ever shop they owned at the time. I remember regular games of school teacher using a big black board opposite my Dads lead lighting bench he taught classes after his day job! I got to serve customers, answer phones, help unload and price stock it was great fun. And it was a great training ground for customer service skills. As an HR professional now I can always see the vast difference in young candidates between those that have worked whilst at school and those that havent. Those that have are a long way ahead of the latter in terms of customer service skills and often even work ethic.
My next foray into entrepreneurialism came with selling homemade gumnut people at a roadside stall outside my house. Unfortunately we didnt live on a busy road so it wasnt that successful. Later on I started a babysitting business by doing a flyer drop around my house and unfortunately that was a little too successful and I had trouble saying no. Subsequently my year 11 scores werent so crash hot. I had to call it quits much to the disappointment of my main client who had four children under seven and employed me every evening between four and six.
Im sure we all do these kinds of things as kids but I guess the difference for me is that Ive never stopped. I am a self confessed serial business plan writer. Whilst I was an at-home mum with my first child I wrote and researched three business plans, that is, amongst working part time and attending university part-time. My mind does not stop and I fully blame the e gene for it. My husband would come home from work and say so what business is it today honey?
The e gene can be quite annoying as it wakes you in the middle of the night with a great idea or solution to a problem and you quietly feel around for a pen to make scribbled notes on the pad which is kept on the bedside table specifically for these occasions. This is all done in complete darkness and very quietly in an attempt not to make the non e gene hubby!
Its took me a long time to work out why I was different to my friends none of which have much interest in business. In a moment of enlightenment I realized it was the e gene. Over a recent family discussion drying the dishes at my brothers house it was pointed out by a visitor that we were quite an unusual family. I was telling my brother and mother how Id been looking at Google Analytics which shows the key words people have typed in to Google and then clicked through to your website on and I said last month five people came to my website by searching on you Brad and four came by searching you Mum. Both their names are included in my website as their businesses have been clients of mine. And because their businesses have been so successful people have been researching them online or so I thought. My brother believed this to be true but my mother said she didnt think theyd been searching her for business reasons instead she said its probably the guys on RSVP who are researching me to see if Im the sort theyd like to contact! The visitor thought the whole conversation was very odd and could not imagine her family even knowing what google was!
I look at my two daughters now at eight and four and I see the e gene already in my eldest. She has started making signs to sell stick on tattoos at our front gate. She may have a bit more success than me though as we DO live on a busy road!
If youve got the e gene it is advisable to build your own business or work in a small business that will appreciate your creativity, innovation
As an experienced HR professional Taimi is passionate about delivering sound people management practices which move organisations into high performance mode. With over 8 years consulting experience she has consistently assisted many organisations to become market leaders through their people practices. Taimi has a degree in Human Resource Management and Psychology and is a qualified trainer. She is presently undertaking further studies in marketing and personal development. Having been born and bred in the small business environment and with over 20 years experience within SMEs she understands that entrepreneurs want practical, accessible solutions that can be easily implemented. Taimi has an intricate understanding of building businesses, managing people and cloning entrepreneurial business owners through people and systems management.