I promised to share some excerpts from my book here to get you excited about getting your hands on a copy. Here’s the second in that series I’ll title “Seeds of a Business Opportunity.” I hope you enjoy it!
After reading a number of career, entrepreneurial, and financial books a few years ago, I decided it was time to strike out on my own and turn my hobby and passion into a business. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit I think I get from my family. Both of my parents operate their own small businesses and my grandparents sold wood art at craft shows back in the day; so it’s somewhat bred into me. It’s actually built into the DNA of our family. Whenever somebody mentions something they like doing, it is nearly always met with “well, you should do that for a business.” Like to play the horn? You should play in the clown band at an amusement park in the summers. Like to brew beer? You should open a brewpub. Wow, these muffins are really good. You should sell these.
While reading Dan Miller’s 48 Days to the Work you Love, I had made a list of all of my business ideas but kept coming back to the boat as what I really wanted to do. Many mornings driving to work I thought, “what could I be doing today that would excite me more than what I’m about to be doing at my day job?” I was going through a particularly tough time in that day job and it gave great opportunities to dream of other options.
As I dreamed, I thought of my leisure time on the water. My kids love going on the boat. The problem is that they love going on the boat for only about twenty minutes before they get bored, tired, hungry, want to go faster, want to go slower, want the sun to be blacked out, want the wind to stop, or want it to be warmer, colder, etc. After twenty minutes on the water, I’m just getting started. I love it. I want to be out there all day long. Rather than ditch my young family completely, I envisioned Portland Boat Tours as a way that I could do not only do what I love to do, but also be there without feeling like a total schmuck for bailing on my family to go float on the river. As a business, I’d be doing what I love and making money for my family, too. It’s what I call a win-win.
Watch this space for more sneak peeks at some of the book while you’re awaiting delivery of your copy. If you haven’t ordered one yet, head over to www.PortlandBoatTours.com/book to take advantage of the discount (only until March 10th).
