By James Pak
The author is head counselor of LA Career Coaching.
In 2024, my professional goal for my business is to excel in building a system. Currently, my service often equates to simply trading time for money. This approach inherently caps potential income due to the finite number of hours in a day. This limitation applies universally, affecting even highly paid professionals like doctors or computer scientists.
The essence of substantial growth and wealth generation lies in creating a robust system. Look at business behemoths: McDonald’s is not just about selling burgers, but a holistic system of food production and distribution. Starbucks stands out not merely as a coffee shop, but as a system offering a consistent customer experience. Amazon has evolved beyond mere retail to become a system optimized for effective merchandise delivery. Their corporate value lies in their system’s consistency and sustainability, not just their products.
This highlights a significant deficiency in the U.S. educational system, which excels in producing skilled workers but falls short in training visionary system builders, essential for long-term business success. This discrepancy has led to an abundance of skilled labor but a scarcity in individuals capable of developing profitable, scalable systems. Consequently, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the youth to secure financial stability as traditional employees in companies.
To remedy this, it’s crucial to encourage a shift in young people’s focus towards ownership and scalable system building. Here are some steps to begin:
Pursue Entrepreneurial Education: Pursue courses in entrepreneurship and business management. These should teach not just business fundamentals, but also how to create and manage systems. Online platforms like Coursera and LinkedIn Learning provide valuable insights from industry experts.
Analyze Successful Business Systems: Study the operations of companies like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Amazon. Understanding their systemization approach offers a blueprint for developing scalable and efficient systems. A system’s effectiveness is diluted if it relies heavily on a single individual.
Seek Real-World Experience: Internships or part-time positions in system-efficient companies can provide practical insights that theoretical studies can’t. Engaging in these systems can be eye-opening.
Find Mentors and Network: Network with accomplished entrepreneurs for advice on building and managing systems. Attend business events, join organizations, and actively seek mentors for insights into system development and management.
Develop Critical Thinking: Foster innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, crucial for system improvement. The ability to critically analyze situations enables one to spot inefficiencies, propose innovative solutions, and continually enhance systems.
Start Small, Learn, and Adapt: Begin with small-scale projects. Creating a small business from scratch offers critical insights into integrating various business aspects into a cohesive system. The real learning comes from hands-on experience – making mistakes, adapting, and understanding system building nuances.
By focusing on these aspects, I believe students can transition from a purely skill-focused educational mindset to one that appreciates the complexity and benefits of system thinking. Emphasizing system building over skill development is a key strategy for achieving financial and career independence. This approach empowers individuals to not just participate in, but to actively shape and direct the economic landscape, opening doors to greater autonomy, innovation, and long-term success.
