My current field of work is primarily within hospitality, as a bartender. This is an incredibly flexible job with its own advantages for student lifestyle. However I do not intend on continuing work within this specific industry as my goals align with a very different line of work. Once I graduate Griffith University with a Bachelors of Business majoring in Finance and Management I plan to leverage that to accomplish my long term goal.

Short term goals (1-3 years): For the immediate future I aim to acquire as much work experience within different industries to improve my overall understanding of business operation. What I’ve done to achieve this so far and explore my options:

  • worked extensively on my resume and CV to improve my employability

  • Approached half a dozen companies in person about potential openings for work experience in accounting. Here’s what I learnt from the experience

  • developed my Seek and Linkdin profiles to open opportunities for employment and networking

  • Chosen two of the most relevant majors for my chosen long term goal. (finance and management)

Long term goals (what I aim to achieve): My goal for the future would be to run a business. Specifically the hope is that the business can accelerate private business growth as a service via marketing, accounting and financial support. I’ve compiled the approximate steps I would need to take to achieve this (on the left):

🏛️ STEP 1: Legal Foundations

1.1. Choose a Business Structure

1.2. Register The Chosen Business Name

1.3. Acquire Business License & Permits

1.4. Register for Taxation

💼 STEP 2: Operational Setup

2.1. Set Up Business Banking

2.2. Buy Business Insurance

2.3. Define The Services

📢 STEP 3: Marketing & Launch

3.1. Build a Brand

3.2. Set Pricing Strategy

3.3. Set Up Tools & Systems

3.4. Start Outreach

🧠 STEP 4: Stay Compliant & Grow

4.1. Stay on Top of Taxes & Reporting

4.2. Continuously Improve

Career Plan - Key Strategies and Actions

Self awareness

There are actions I can take to understand my interests, values, skills, personality and strengths. Things such as the 16 personality test could suggest my personality strengths and weaknesses. Here are some screenshots of results I received from the 16 personality test. My result was a an ENTP (Debater).

Developing networks

Recently I have been researching the ways I could network and have found many opportunities to attend free entrepreneur and innovation networking events in Brisbane. As of 21/04/2015 I have registered for the Lead Generation Summit in June. This event will specifically discuss strategies and methods of scaling a personal business or scaling another private business with lead generation. This is highly relevant to my career goals and provides the opportunity for me to meet other people with similar interests.

[I learnt when approaching smaller businesses about work experience that it is more likely to result in dismissal for the earnest fact that they have a business model catered to allocating all duties of a business function to committed employees leaving little opportunity for assistance or extra time to teach]

The Why:

I have chosen this career path because I want to challenge myself with the task of being responsible for my own business. Its an incredibly simple purpose but arguably sufficient. Furthermore I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t financially incentivized by the idea of owning my own business and retiring my mother early.

Reflection:

I believe that I have many struggles to face before my career goal is a reality but I’m determined to make it happen. Things that my hold me back are distractions and unexpected hardships. An example of a distraction I currently face is scrolling on social media. I am in the process of eliminating this distraction by creating barriers to scrolling.