So, you are now familiar with the concept of The Infinite Goal Setting Process, hopefully you have even taken the time out of your busy schedule to PERFOMR the Infinite Goal setting. If not, close your browser and return when your have! We will undoubtedly moved on, but bookmark today’s page, because your going to NEED IT.
Welcome back! (You never really left did you? Cheater.) Be that as it may, you should now be familiar enough with the idea of IGS to follow along with how we will now USE that information in stopping the excuses in our life! What? Wait you mean were going to do something? You mean like take action? How HORRIBLE! If I take action on my goals or take steps to keep moving forward when the world is trying to stop me, I may actually get somewhere in life! BINGO! That is after all our goal! If you came to this site because you just KNEW it was going to be the one place in the world where you could get away from everyone prodding and poking at you to get up off the couch and DO something. Well you were wrong, but now that youre here, and my writing style has obviously endeared me to your heart, you may as well dig in and LEARN something.
So you went through your IGS and let’s say that you have determined that your LONG term goal is going to be ‘Making and selling your very own brand of Electric Guitars.” In your wisdom, and goal planning, you know that you don’t want this to be some over sized after school project, but you want to leave your big faux ivory tower and leave the illusion of security behind and become and entrepreneur! Having played in that hair metal band in college you even know exactly what’s missing in today’s music and how you van best fill that gap with players who choose your guitars!
In order to make this slightly simpler, let’s assume that you are a single male approximately 35yo, college educated, working a midlevel management job for a company and they are allowing you to write in $65k on you 1040. Further you have determined that you mid level goal will be the point at which you LEAVE your not so ivory tower and you has set THAT goal at 5 years from now. Over the next 60 months you must be selling either $5400 worth of guitars each month, or you have saved at least $2000 per month every month between now and month 60. Every good accountant will tell you to have between 2 and 4 years cash in the bank before you open a business as that’s everything from your operating capitol to your holiday and sick pay.
In your IGS you will have determined you skill lever for actually performing the work required to MAKE a guitar and set it at just above mid point. In other words you’re no Luther, yet, but you probably won’t cut off too many fingers the first month. You have amassed several (dozen) good books on guitar making, you have friends in the business that will help you buy parts at a discount. One of the books you read was the story of Paul Reed who made it biog by bothering Carlos Santana enough that he finally tried one of his guitars, assuming that youre not relying that much on chance, and because you know folks ‘in the business’ you understand that you should have approximately $10,000 in tools to get started. However, being the resourceful type you know that pawn shops and closeout stores are a GREAT resource so in reality if you could scare up $2500 in the first 6 months for tools, you’ll be alright.
You have given yourself 5 years before you leave your day job so your best bet is to actually use what you have to build a guitar and see if it works! Now I’m no luthier, but I have played the guitar and can guess at some of what goes into making a guitar, so we’ll go with that. The first step, whether your building a guitar, planting corn or developing a raspberry crystal ranch is actually the first time that many entrepreneurs get it WRONG. Because whether your skunk farming or building tractors the very forst thing you need to do, the most vital thing that you will build is:
A LIST. Yes I know people HATE to ‘reign in their free thinking and creativity, but the fact opf the matter is that this will help you stay on track in the good times and keep moving in the less than stellar times. That last statement will make more sense later, but for the moment let’s make a rudimentary list:
1) What kind of guitar?
a) electric?
b) Acoustic?
2) How many strings?
a) 6
b) 4
3) If electric, will it be solid body or hollow or semi-hollow?
4) What Shape?
5) Left or Right handed?
6) What Size?
7) Scale Length?
8) Specific Materials to be used?
(Apparently in an effort to be ‘green’ there are LOTS of different choices)
9) If electric, what kind of pickups?(single dual, piezo)
10) How many pickups?
11) Type of construction? (set neck, bolt on, neck through?)
12) Stop Tail or Trem?
13) How many and what types of controls
14) Type of finish?
OK, anyone who actually makes guitars probably has an initial list with a few hundred items, but let’s say that’s all you’re going to use. That’s going to be how you design your guitar. Now let’s make a SECOND list, this time to walk us through BUILDING the actual guitar. In our case we have decided no a ‘traditional ‘ single cut solid body electric guitar, with a stop tail and bolt on neck.
1) Will you make the neck or buy one?
2) If you choose to make it, how many pieces?
3) Will you make the fretboard or buy one?
4) What shape will the headstock be?
5) Tuners on one side or both?
6) Will your body be pre cut or will you shape it?
7) Will it be from one piece of wood or several
8) Will it have a “cap” on it (another piece of wood for tone or looks)
Again, there are probably another few dozen things that should be on this list but you have the idea. Also I hope that you understand that this list making exercise can and should be applied to any and every business on the planet. I have helped folks develop these kinds of lists for accounting offices; IT Firms as well as restaurateurs and manufacturers.
Now the goal is for you to determine HOW this applies, we know it does, I have applied it numerous times, I would even bet you have as well, but how does it all come together and for what greater good?
Well for that you’ll have to check back later, and in the interim remember if youre going to use an excuse make it a good one! It may last you a lifetime!
Pick an excuse, any excuse, just make it a good one!
