Judy Owen, Contributor
After a 17 year career as an I.T. professional, I did
something I never thought I would do 18 months ago. I ventured out and
started a staffing company, focused on recruiting people with
disabilities. Looking back I can appreciate how far I have come, but how
far I still have to go. I find myself remembering the sales training
class I took at Red Rock Leadership. Jeff, our instructor, made us write
this down: “If the pain of failure is not greater than the pain I will
go through to get there… then I should do something else.”
Starting a company is really hard and scary. But, I can’t imagine anything more painful than not accomplishing my goal. You see, I am not in this only to make money. I am in it to make money, that’s why I started a for-profit company. But, my purpose in making money is because I know people with disabilities are capable of doing great work in areas they do not often receive consideration now. I am so confident of this that I walked away from a comfortable salary and decided to bet my livelihood on this. My passion stems from advocacy work for my eight year old son who happens to have Down Syndrome.
So, as I get more scared about how I’m going to continue to pay my bills I think back to that statement I wrote down in my sales training. I could go get a job for myself. I have a part-time job teaching at ITT Technical Institute. Getting a job would be easy. Walking away from Opportunity Works, I would feel like I was failing my son. I started this company because I thought my son should be able to go anywhere with an equal expectation of being hired as I have. He may apply for different jobs than I would apply for, but he should get equal consideration for jobs he’s qualified for.
I applaud the companies like Publix and Fifth Third Bank who have recruiting practices in place to recruit people with disabilities, but there are thousands more companies out there who do not even recognize the unemployment rate of people with disabilities is so alarming. There are companies whose owners and hiring managers would be happy to consider people with disabilities, but they don’t know any and never see people with disabilities in their applicant pool. Correcting this problem is the mission of Opportunity Works and failure is not an option.
Before you go off to start a company though, might I suggest you run a marathon, peak a mountain or go back to school to earn a degree. I ran a marathon and this gave me great confidence applying to graduate school. I thought this demonstrated endurance. I went to graduate school at the University of Florida, while working full-time. I thought this demonstrated discipline. But those accomplishments were easy. Starting a company is a true test. And the pain I will go through to succeed pales in comparison of the pain I will have if I fail.
Another suggestion for any readers considering starting a company: define the need you are meeting with your company. If your goal is simply to make money, you may want to look at options other than starting a company. My uncle told me it took him three years to start making money with the company he has. He told me this three months after I started Opportunity Works. Had he told me six months earlier, I may have never started. Find the need you are meeting and be passionate about meeting the need and the money will follow. I find it hard to believe that many who start a company just because they think they can make a quick fortune, really succeed.
I am happy to say that I can now get comfort in looking at our company books. Our revenues this year-to-date compared to last year are up over 400%. Finding comfort in looking at the books is a good change from last year. This is working!
Judy Owen is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Opportunity Works, Inc. a full service staffing company focused on recruiting people with disabilities.
Starting a company is really hard and scary. But, I can’t imagine anything more painful than not accomplishing my goal. You see, I am not in this only to make money. I am in it to make money, that’s why I started a for-profit company. But, my purpose in making money is because I know people with disabilities are capable of doing great work in areas they do not often receive consideration now. I am so confident of this that I walked away from a comfortable salary and decided to bet my livelihood on this. My passion stems from advocacy work for my eight year old son who happens to have Down Syndrome.
So, as I get more scared about how I’m going to continue to pay my bills I think back to that statement I wrote down in my sales training. I could go get a job for myself. I have a part-time job teaching at ITT Technical Institute. Getting a job would be easy. Walking away from Opportunity Works, I would feel like I was failing my son. I started this company because I thought my son should be able to go anywhere with an equal expectation of being hired as I have. He may apply for different jobs than I would apply for, but he should get equal consideration for jobs he’s qualified for.
I applaud the companies like Publix and Fifth Third Bank who have recruiting practices in place to recruit people with disabilities, but there are thousands more companies out there who do not even recognize the unemployment rate of people with disabilities is so alarming. There are companies whose owners and hiring managers would be happy to consider people with disabilities, but they don’t know any and never see people with disabilities in their applicant pool. Correcting this problem is the mission of Opportunity Works and failure is not an option.
Before you go off to start a company though, might I suggest you run a marathon, peak a mountain or go back to school to earn a degree. I ran a marathon and this gave me great confidence applying to graduate school. I thought this demonstrated endurance. I went to graduate school at the University of Florida, while working full-time. I thought this demonstrated discipline. But those accomplishments were easy. Starting a company is a true test. And the pain I will go through to succeed pales in comparison of the pain I will have if I fail.
Another suggestion for any readers considering starting a company: define the need you are meeting with your company. If your goal is simply to make money, you may want to look at options other than starting a company. My uncle told me it took him three years to start making money with the company he has. He told me this three months after I started Opportunity Works. Had he told me six months earlier, I may have never started. Find the need you are meeting and be passionate about meeting the need and the money will follow. I find it hard to believe that many who start a company just because they think they can make a quick fortune, really succeed.
I am happy to say that I can now get comfort in looking at our company books. Our revenues this year-to-date compared to last year are up over 400%. Finding comfort in looking at the books is a good change from last year. This is working!
Judy Owen is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Opportunity Works, Inc. a full service staffing company focused on recruiting people with disabilities.
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