I sat down with J.J. Hebert. Virtually, of course. I wanted to get his take on entrepreneurship and its importance during this pandemic. Hebert is a 4x bestselling author as well as the founder and owner of MindStir Media, a top self-publishing company partnered with Shark Tank’s Kevin Harrington. He’s been featured and quoted as an authority in self-publishing and business in major publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc, and Yahoo Finance. The Good Men Project labeled him the “Self-Publishing Guru.” Without further ado, here’s the unedited and unfiltered interview.
The U.S. unemployment rate currently sits at about 8.4%. Many people have been laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19. Do you think this situation can serve as an opportunity for those with an entrepreneurial mindset to finally pursue their dreams of becoming an entrepreneur?
I think we’ve all heard the cliches — when one door closes, another one opens. When life gives you lemons … I’m sure you get the idea. Cliches are cliches because they tend to be true, right? If I wasn’t already an entrepreneur in 2020, I’d focus on becoming one now. It sounds risky to start a business during a pandemic. I get how that sounds. I didn’t start MindStir Media during a pandemic but I did start it during the Great Recession back in 2009 and people thought I was crazy then. That didn’t deter me. I knew there was a need for self-publishing services, having spoken to many would-be authors throughout the years, so I went all in and it paid off over time.
My point is that there’s never an ideal time to start a business. There’s always some obstacle, some reason for you to talk yourself out of getting started. But I argue that it’s riskier to work for an employer rather than owning your own business. Look at all the layoffs right now. Disney just laid off 28,000 workers amid COVID-19. Why put your livelihood in someone else’s hands? So, yes, I agree that now is the time to pursue your dream of becoming an entrepreneur. There are literally thousands of businesses you can run from your home office. As an example, you could offer graphic design, writing, marketing or web development services through freelance websites like freelancer.com. That type of freelance marketplace would allow you to find clients quickly because there is a built-in audience looking for the services you’d be offering. If you do solid work and earn a positive reputation on those types of sites, you’ll be inundated with new clients and work and you can quickly make it a full-time business for yourself. And you can perform the work in your pajamas, which is always a plus in my book.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. You just outlined some ways to offer services from home. Do you think if enough people went the route of running their own businesses that we’d see an economic boost?
I honestly do see a boom in entrepreneurship contributing to an economic turnaround. Even if you’re just replacing your own job with your own gig-based work online, that’s one less unemployed person. And one more person able to pay taxes and contribute to the economy. Obviously it would be more ideal to hire workers to help you with your venture, so that you’re creating jobs while putting your own food on the table, but solopreneurship is very real and should be celebrated, too. Entrepreneurship in general is more important now than ever, in my opinion.
As an established entrepreneur, what are some benefits that you have experienced?
There are a lot of perks associated with entrepreneurship. A flexible work schedule is one. Some days I’ll work 10 hours, other days I’ll work 4 or 5 hours. It depends on the needs for the business on that particular day.
Working from my home office also allows me to spend more time with my family. I know a lot of people who work jobs that they hate and they’re putting in 12 hour days including commute. Their family lives are basically nonexistent.
My pay is also much higher now than it was when I worked for an employer. The profits from my company belong to me.
It’s likely that this pandemic has forever changed the way businesses operate. How important do you think telecommuting will be in the future?
I don’t think this will be the one and only pandemic of our time, and many employers have seen how productive remote work can be. So I do believe that in many cases, when possible, telecommuting will be the new norm. From a business owner’s perspective as well, what’s the point of paying for an office space if you don’t need one? If you’re a service-based company, is it really necessary to spend thousands of dollars per month on an office when your employees can perform the same job from home? The same is true if you run a one-person business. Your home office is much more convenient and a heck of a lot less expensive than renting an office. I think telecommuting is here to stay.
Do you have any final thoughts on entrepreneurship and its importance going forward that you can share with our readers?
I don’t think we can count on the government to sustain us financially. Collecting unemployment isn’t much of a long-term game plan and neither is counting on stimulus checks. That 8% you mentioned earlier could set their sights on offering their skills in return for payment in some form. Maybe you can sell services on a freelance basis like I mentioned or maybe you can make masks and sell those for now to get yourself started down the entrepreneurial path. No matter what you decide to sell, you can take control of your own destiny by being your own boss, during the pandemic and beyond.
