Recently, I was having a conversation with a girlfriend. I shared with her my frustrations as I was preparing to re-launch my business after another pivot. As with many small businesses, I have had to be quick to shift and adjust products and services in the midst of a global pandemic--all in my effort to sustain my company.
The new direction of "Myriad" was birthed out of a need to heighten interest and garner the support needed to generate the revenue goals I'd established. One thing that I learned years ago and also a catalyst in this pivot, was the principle of sowing and reaping. There is a scripture (Luke 6:38) and a song that I can still hear (in my mind) Bishop Marvin Winans singing at my previous church home in Detroit; "Give and He'll give it back to you, pressed down...shaken together running over...back in good measure...He'll give it back to you!". In addition to the principles of sowing and reaping, I learned as well, that when I sowed into another person's life the "seed" I need for myself, it comes back to me in magnificent ways. I've done it too many times for anyone to try to convince me that it is not true! It works and I dare you to try it!
So, "Myriad's" pivot has shifted in such a way that instead of being product based (per se), it is service based. I realized that if I needed support, exposure and promotion, encouragement and coaching; others did too. I couldn't be the only one experiencing what I was experiencing!
Hence my frustration while at the very same time; the reasons for my frustrations are the very reasons Myriad Unlimited is necessary. As I reached out for other entrepreneurs, other minority-owned businesses that I thought would love to participate and be featured in the first ever "Virtual Mall". What I overwhelmingly found is that many owners of businesses were simply not positioned and ready for success. Speaking with my own personal coach, Janice--who by the way is one of thee most phenomenal, wisdom and knowledge-filled women I know; she said something so very profound. Janice said, "Karla, I heard someone once say, 'don't GET ready, BE ready"!
And that leads me back to the conversation I mentioned earlier with my girlfriend. I told her that there is a major difference between being a "Hustler" versus being a "Business Owner". We tend to take phrases and words that truly have negative connotations and turn them into some kind of "badge of honor" or mantra. We don't realize that by our very words, we are framing our lives and our destinies and EVEN our demise!
I included the clip of "Hustle Man" from The Martin Show "back in the day". There were others that could have been included but another that stood out (but also exposed my age, LOL) was "Lenny" from Good Times.
I speak of these characters and even remember growing up watching the brothers that would stroll through the neighborhood selling suits and other haberdashery in the middle of the night. They called themselves the "Midnight Express". I'm pretty sure the suits and other goods were stolen but boy did they have the best prices!
These are "Hustlers". One definition of Hustler is "a person who employs fraudulent or unscrupulous methods to obtain money." Another definition is "someone who uses their skills, talents, or instincts to make a quick buck."
Somehow we have managed to glorify this term and behavior and adopt it as something positive though by all accounts, it is not. We wear t-shirts proudly displaying that we are "Hustlers"! Do you refer to yourself like that? Do you define your "business" in that manner? Bishop Winans often said, "the one who controls the language, controls the argument." Who's really behind and controlling the language and those words you speak that are actually "death" to your vision, your dream, your business?
When we look around our communities; I came from Benton Harbor and more recently I was living in Detroit, there always seemed to be "others' that had legitimate business. "Others" had built legacies through businesses and established wealth for generations while we were and are still just out here trying to" get that money any way we can". That's survival mode. It's time to shift to Legacy Mode.
No more excuses and self-defeating terminology. We must be mindful to speak life into our businesses. Deuteronomy 8:18 declares that God is He that gives us the POWER (ability) to get wealth. We are equipped with every creative idea, ingenious invention BUT we must change our words spoken, we must seek out the principles of being an entrepreneur. Not surprising to me BUT maybe to others; the Bible is full of principles for the entrepreneur.
If we seek GOD first...find out HIS way of doing business...we can NOT fail! I won't share the scripture here but check out the Proverbs 31 Woman...she's a TRUE Business Woman...diligent in business, she is into supply and logistics and this woman KNOWS her merchandise is good. She only has superior quality products and services. She is positioned and ready to collect her revenue and then she turns arounds and invests in real estate! Come on now!
Never once is she found roaming through the streets at midnight trying to peddle her wares. I know she wasn't selling dressing out of her trunk like Jody in Baby Boy! This woman was sophisticated, refined, respected and READY!
So hear my heart... Myriad Unlimited is here to empower, help, and support your success but we can only "go with the Goers." Are YOU ready to go?