My Thoughts on Entrepreneurship

Couldn't resist following up Lena's post from yesterday, as it's been a major part of my focus these last few months. My business is morphing into something new and exciting - and I'm trying hard to figure out how to manage that, while still maintaining my commitment to clients, to my desires, and to my overall need to create something unique in this Universe.

I'm struck by how many of us are choosing the entrepreneur's hat these days. Sometimes that choice is  thrust upon us - as in the case of the hundreds of employees downsized from big companies like Kodak and its like. Other times, we see the writing on the wall and make our escape before we're given the boot, so to speak. Still other times, we stop daydreaming about creating our own future, and we begin.

Susan Reid, a very talented client of mine, is writing about this very thing. She has a neat blog (which I'm sure I've mentioned before, but... I'm going to mention it again) called Alkamae. This post written back in March has some really good content in it, regarding the whole "Face of Entrepreneurship - 2017". I think it's worth a read, for the information on an interview with Brad Smith of Intuit and because the phrase accidental entrepreneur comes up - something to think on.

Along with Susan, I have another client who makes me contemplate my changing role in life. She, like many of us, is battling fate and the forces that be - which intrude in unpleasant ways now and then. Her name is Sybil Stershic and her focus is teaching us how to treat "the people who matter most : our employees," better. That may not seem like an entreprenuerial activity, but in deeper consideration - it certainly is.

One of the things I'm learning from Sybil (and I learn so much from my authors and blog clients!), is that America needs to get its act together in the inner office. Our employees, of which you may be one, are vital to each success we endeavor to create. Whether or not it's a sole proprietorship or a 200 person business, the employees are the wind that turn the windmill.

For me, unhappy employees at your company make my job harder. If I'm working with you - and you are not giving your workers due consideration and respect, and providing them with the tools to perform their role ... then I'm on an uphill climb to help you succeed in our project.

Sybil writes a blog at Quality Service Marketing. I see she's congratulating a mutual friend, David Wolfe, on his recent book, Firms of Endearment. A perfect match for Sybil's training and consulting (and the book she is writing.) Firms of Endearment is an insightful look at some American companies that understand the power of engagement - engagement with the workers you've hired to help make you a success. Good reading. Looks like the book is hitting best seller status. Shout out to David for that!

So, being an entrepreneur doesn't mean setting yourself off from the crowd. It doesn't mean you get to call all the shots (your clients will have something to say about that!) and it doesn't mean life will be easier, simpler, richer.

It does mean - you will grow and learn and maybe the Inner Samurai Susan Reid talks about, will finally emerge. 

Comments

[Lady Samurai]

I think becoming a pren-her is all about wanting to make a difference in the world and adding onto all that is, in a way that is unique, personal, and altogether you. It's a given that this is an organic, living process. Morphing is part-n-parcel of true entrepreneurship. That's what makes being a pren-her, at this time more than any other, so exhilarating. Happy morphing!