Third Shift Entrepreneur

Praise for THIRD SHIFT ENTREPRENEUR

"A must read for any aspiring entrepreneur with the itch to start their own business who is wondering 'but what do I do first?'"
—Gino Wickman, Author of Traction and Creator of EOS

"Our country and our communities are better when people bring their own ideas to life as entrepreneurs — and this book written as an engaging story helps show us how. If you're ready to step into the arena, grab hold of this book and the strategies in it."
—Robert A. McDonald, 8^th Secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs Retired Chairman, President and CEO of The Procter & Gamble Company

“Todd Connor has written the secret real testament of how so many entrepreneurs managed to start and survive. He doesn’t just lift the lid on the world of working entrepreneurs, he offers a game plan to follow. This is a book every person who dreams of starting their own business needs to read first.”
—Charlynda Scales, Founder, Mutt’s Sauce LLC

“I cannot tell you how much I needed this book. I literally could not put it down. It spoke to my soul, brought me to tears several times while re-living my own angst and discontent, and then ultimately left me bursting with hope, energy and clarity for the path forward. This for me was straight up therapy as well as the coaching I needed. If you’re at that place of wanting to step into your ownential, you have to read this.”

- Michael H., Aspiring Entrepreur

Acknowledgments vii

Foreword ix

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Rise and Grind 1

Chapter 2 The Energy You’re Putting Out 7

Chapter 3 If I’m Honest with Myself. . . 15

Chapter 4 . . .Third Shift Entrepreneurs 23

Chapter 5 Real World Education 35

Chapter 6 Breaking Patterns 52

Chapter 7 Taking Stock 61

Chapter 8 Getting Paid to Learn 67

Chapter 9 Building an Audience 88

Chapter 10 Inviting People into the Process 104

Chapter 11 Monopoly Advantages 120

Chapter 12 Brave Conversations 124

Chapter 13 Calculating Your Return on Initiative (ROI) 131

Chapter 14 If I Build It. . . 137

Chapter 15 Assigning Your Own Homework 148

Chapter 16 Giving It a Name 163

Chapter 17 Staying Close to Your Customers 168

Chapter 18 You Can’t Do It Alone 178

Chapter 19 Finding Co-Authors 184

Chapter 20 Small Wins 193

Chapter 21 Big Wins 197

About the Author 209

TODD CONNOR is an evangelist for an American renewal of entrepreneurship. Todd is the founder of Bunker Labs, a national entrepreneurship organization with chap­ters in 30 states across the U.S., that works with military veterans and military spouses who want to start their own business. He is also the founder of The Collective Acad­emy (www.TheCollective-Academy.com), Emerson House (www.ExperienceEm­erson.com), as well as other for-profit and philanthropic organizations. For speaking requests, access to additional thought leadership, or to attend workshops visit www.ThirdShiftEntrepreneur.com.

Are you unfulfilled at work, holding a private dream of starting a business and stuck negotiating with yourself? Have you told yourself a story that it’s too late, you aren’t ready, or you can’t afford the risk? Third Shift Entrepreneur presents a new path, grounded in research and the experience of dozens of entrepreneurs to move beyond these false narratives and false choices, to show how you can take action today to build the business you’ve always aspired to without risking your career or financial stability. Author Todd Connor has helped hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs start their own businesses without quitting their day jobs or securing outside capital. Third Shift Entrepreneur offers the stories, the inspiration, and ultimately the strategies for how you too can start to build your business, today.

Drawn from the experiences of actual small business success stories, Third Shift Entrepreneur widens the frame for who can start a business, the diverse kinds of businesses that are possible, and exactly how to go about doing it.

Including both a fictional story of Matt Carney who takes the steps to start his own business, as well as the 12 Observations framework for how to become an entrepreneur yourself, this book will dramatically change how you think about entrepreneurship, and how exactly you should go about starting a business.

Third Shift Entrepreneur lifts the veil on what thousands of successful entrepreneurs already understand about how to start a business, which is often overlooked in start-up literature. This is not simply a book to be read, but rather a book to be applied towards real and immediate possibilities for your life.

Praise for THIRD SHIFT ENTREPRENEUR

"A must read for any aspiring entrepreneur with the itch to start their own business who is wondering 'but what do I do first?'"
—Gino Wickman, Author of Traction and Creator of EOS

"Our country and our communities are better when people bring their own ideas to life as entrepreneurs — and this book written as an engaging story helps show us how. If you're ready to step into the arena, grab hold of this book and the strategies in it."
—Robert A. McDonald, 8^th Secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs Retired Chairman, President and CEO of The Procter & Gamble Company

“Todd Connor has written the secret real testament of how so many entrepreneurs managed to start and survive. He doesn’t just lift the lid on the world of working entrepreneurs, he offers a game plan to follow. This is a book every person who dreams of starting their own business needs to read first.”
—Charlynda Scales, Founder, Mutt’s Sauce LLC

“I cannot tell you how much I needed this book. I literally could not put it down. It spoke to my soul, brought me to tears several times while re-living my own angst and discontent, and then ultimately left me bursting with hope, energy and clarity for the path forward. This for me was straight up therapy as well as the coaching I needed. If you’re at that place of wanting to step into your ownential, you have to read this.”

- Michael H., Aspiring Entrepreur