Mark Twain said it best…

“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”

I have “removed all doubt plenty” of times.  But each time my stupidity was brought to light, I have learned something….sometimes it pays to be the dumbest person in the room.

I found that when I worked for someone else I was always trying to impress someone else – a supervisor, a boss, and even my co-workers.  In my stupidity, I tried to do this by appearing smart.  I am not saying that appearing smart or actually being smart is a bad thing; I just found out that this technique did not work as well for me when I was working for myself.

Who was I going to impress?

I quickly learned that I did not know everything I needed to know to become successful.  In fact I knew very little about starting a business.  Sure, I had almost 10 years of  experience in my related field; but starting, growing, and maintaining a business was a whole new ballgame.  I was dumb.

With no one to impress and a business to get off the ground, I did what any dumb guy would do….I started asking questions.

I asked questions of anyone that would entertain me.  For each question I had answered, another 10 came to mind.

I joined groups like this one and found myself in a room full of really smart people that knew other really smart people.  As I looked around, I realized that being dumb really paid off.  I was forced to seek out advice due to my stupidity and bolstered some extremely important relationships.

I also noticed that really smart people (the ones with all the really great ideas) talk a lot.  That’s what really smart people do.  They talk about ideas, methods, and strategies.  Smart people are “Big Picture” kind of people, and I like that.

BUT…

I am not that.  I am dumb.  All I know is how to get stuff done, and I now realize that is very different than knowing what stuff should be done.

I found that being the dumbest person in the room provides me with a mountain of work.  While the smart people are talking about ideas, I busy myself with making ideas happen.

I once approached one of these smart people and told him I could not get out of my head something he had said at a meeting.  I told him that I was going to start a business based on the idea that he had mentioned, and I wondered if he would be interested in joining me.  He agreed, and eventually we started this business.

At one of our first meetings, I apologized to him for “stealing” his idea and he said to me…

“…ideas are worthless.  It’s the work that goes into them that is valuable.”

From that moment, I realized that being dumb wasn’t so bad after all.

If you’re dumb like me, and trying to figure out how to start whatever it is you are trying to start…surround yourself with really smart people.  The smart people will provide you with all the information you need to take your idea and turn it into something valuable.

The first site, my Construction Management firm, started the whole “blogging thing” for me.  Before I left my 8 to 5 gig in 2007, I mentioned to a friend, “I need a website for my company.”

That much wiser friend said,

“No you don’t.  You need a blog.”

I followed that with a personal blog.  This turned out to be nothing more than a futile attempt at displaying how smart, funny, and original I thought I was.  This attempt taught me what not to do when it comes to starting and establishing a blog.  (I have plans to re-vamp that site and turn it into something that can actually be useful to others.  More on that later…)

As my blogging experience increased and my business ideas expanded, I launched a site for my General Contracting Company.  I started to get the hang of setting up sites to promote whatever I was “doing” at the time.  By the time this 3rd site was up and running, I began to see some ROI.  Life got very busy.

By late 2007, I was turning a profit with my Construction Management firm and my General Contracting Company.  And I use the term “profit” loosely.  I should say:  I was paying the bills, feeding my family, and never borrowed a penny to get started.

In 2008, I found myself involved with a unique group of entrepreneurs and small business owners.  This relationship led to a conversation with a soon-to-be business partner.  That conversation led to a dinner party, and that dinner party led to site #4 (and my 3rd business venture).

Shortly after the business behind site #4 was launched, I started this site (that’s the 5th one) with the help of my wife and the marketing firm I co-founded.

That brings us to today and the launch of ShawnVanDyke.com.

You may be asking yourself:

Who is Shawn Van Dyke and why would I be interested in his site?

The simple answer is…I am an unintended entrepreneur who has figured out the key to success:

Constantly surround yourself with people smarter and more capable than yourself and make things happen for them.