The type of work that I enjoy doing, and the type of work that I believe I am above average at luckily are very similar. My ideal work environment, (not field or industry specific), is some place that I can work with my hands and see something physical or digital come to life both as I am working on it and as it is completed. I tend to perform better under pressure, so having an established list of my responsibilities, whether that be from myself or a boss, would motivate me to produce great work and would help keep my focus on the task at hand. I have been working for myself as a business owner for the last few years and I have found it to be the most fulfilling type of work that I have encountered. It also requires more discipline than a job where the company’s fate isn’t riding completely on your effort, dedication, transparency, and honesty.
To make this next section a little more smooth, I have chosen to talk about being a business owner. The kind of job that this is really depends on what type of business you run, but there are elements across all small businesses that are similar. This job is whatever you make it. Do you want to sell products? Offer services? Do you want to be the bridge between companies or the bridge between companies and the government. Those were just a couple of examples, but no matter what you do you are working with other people. No business can survive without a connection to a person or people. The purpose of being a business owner is to find a solution to a need that exists in the world, and offering that solution to your desired audience for a cost. If you are running your business by yourself, you will perform almost all of the tasks. For the purposes of this journal entry and thinking about the context of our class I will discuss the communication side. In today’s world, small businesses depend on their community connections and brand awareness within one or more communities. A great way to foster, maintain, and grow that connection is through social media communication, which is one of the areas that I have studied while here at the University of New England. To understand this mode of communication, it is important to understand the surrounding modes of communication as well. This boils down to any internet communication service like email, online messengers, advertising, and more. In my opinion, these skills are vital for small business owners today. These tools are mostly low cost, but they provide so many benefits to one’s business.
In studying communications and writing at college, I have learned a number of valuable lessons, but I will name only a couple that apply here. First, I have gained a better understanding of how to talk to people, how to interpret what they say, what might be important to them, and I have learned to watch where people’s attention goes. In other words, I have evolved in my people reading abilities. This is a tool that I use to run a large part of my business, if not the largest part, which is making sure my customers feel welcome and satisfied with my products and services. The writing minor I added a couple of years ago has allowed me to take courses to enhance my writing abilities, specficially in the advertisements that I create to promote my business. I feel that I have gained stronger skills for running a business than I would have if I were a business major.
