01.29.09
So you really want to be an entrepreneur?
Everyone has a dream. We all have something that inspires us. Some of you dream of opening your own business. You may know someone who has a business and they look successful. You probably have read news stories that show entrepreneurs living the high life. Maybe your career is in the dumper and your boss should be a candidate for waterboarding.
The reason for this post and my upcoming book is to convince you to stop. Just stop. Start a new dream. Find a way to alter your dream. Beat your head against a wall until it goes away.
Of course I don’t mean that literally – you’d get a headache beating your head against a wall. And, you might hurt yourself. The figurative headache you would get is nothing compared to the lifetime headache you will have by opening your own business. Besides, waterboarding is illegal when used on U.S. citizens.
Headline News
News stories of successful entrepreneurs are everywhere. Daily we are bombarded with stories of people who have “made it”. The news snippets all have the same message: “It was so hard in the beginning, but we persevered”, or “With hard work and a good idea, anyone can build a successful business.” Balderdash.
Where are the stories of people who have sacrificed their money, family and friends to open and operate a small business? Those stories don’t sell newspapers or magazines do they? Those stories are downers. Those stories make people sing “Melancholy Baby”. Arcane reference, I know, but look it up. You can hum it while you read.
How To
Then there are the self-proclaimed consultants. They tell you, for a price, that you haven’t done the right things. They say you need to expand your sphere or knowledge. Or your attitude is wrong. You are to blame! If you would only take a step back, put time and money in to their plan, everything will be okay. Your business will take off. Pardon me, but that’s like the players paying the fans to watch the game. Meanwhile the fans fill out the lineup card. And the fans don’t have any “skin in the game”.
The Real World
I have been an entrepreneur, managed small businesses, and bought a franchise. I have a good friend who has started numerous businesses (ten at last count). All failed. Were we ill-educated? Did we fail to plan? Were our ideas out of touch with the market? No, no, and no. I am highly educated and my good friend even more so. We have twelve ways of looking at a situation and problem-solving skills that would be the pride of NASA. Given our past experiences though, we would not thrust (get it, thrust?) ourselves on NASA – they have enough problems.
Eats You Alive
The real world of small business is nothing like the headline news. And there is very little an author or consultant can do for you. Small business is long hours and disgruntled customers. Your day is filled with doing small tasks and little forward planning. It’s hoping the week’s sales will be enough to cover payroll. You pray every day that all of your employees show up – or you will have to do their job that day. These problems, and many more, are what you can expect by starting your own business. It eats you alive. And for little compensatory reward.
Millionaires
There are 10 million millionaires in the world according to Merrill Lynch & Co. and the Capgemini Group. One-third are in the U.S. That’s about 3.3 million people, out of 300 million. Remove children from the total and the percent of adults who have at least $1 million in assets is a little less than two percent.
Let’s put it another way: ninety-eight percent of us are not millionaires. And, we never will be.
Becoming wealthy is only one of the motives of small business dreamers. It is a myth.
“Bird in the hand”
You all know this trite little saying, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. Most trite sayings are simple. Simple sayings usually are powerful because they cut to the heart of the matter. The “bird in the hand” saying means be happy with what you have.
Another motive for trying to start a small business is dissatisfaction with your current career. Get over it. Change the way you view your circumstances and position. Look in the mirror and be honest. Are you really doing everything you can do to make the situation better? Or are you placing blame elsewhere, making yourself a victim?
Optimism Breeds Failure
Every entrepreneur and every wannabe small business owner I have ever met is overly optimistic. The warning signs that would normally stop them in their tracks are ignored. Even after running their businesses for a while, they fail to wake up and smell the coffee. They “see the world through rose-colored glasses”. That’s another trite or overused saying. But oh, so true.
Studies of entrepreneurs show most of us have high levels of confidence. Wonderful. In small business, most problems blindside you – you never see them coming. But you have confidence, and you’re overly optimistic. So you plow ahead.
Now let’s suppose that you are not in a small business, but instead are on the roof with Neo Anderson played by actor Keanu Reeves in The Matrix (the first one). You are told you can make the jump to the next building across the street. Your confidence is high and your optimism is gushing. You jump and plummet 40 stories to the asphalt street, just like Neo.
But would you jump? In real life, would you? That’s a dumb question and you’ll find that I lead the world in dumb questions. The threat of major bodily harm or death would make you turn around, put your hand over your heart, and thank your God for stopping you.
Can’t Fight the Odds
Studies have shown that four percent of the U.S. population achieve excellence. Four percent. Candidly, I think that the nation’s culture and its government have reduced that percentage by one-half. Are you one of the four percent? If you hesitated to answer that question, you need help.
Most of us are in the other part of the excellence ledger. We will not achieve excellence, nor will we ever come close. Does this make us bad people? Does it make us failures? Of course not! But if you think you are part of the four percent, you may be delusional just like I was.
My Purpose
Why am I being so negative? I don’t want you to fall in to the same trap I did. I want you to drop any idea of starting a small business. Don’t buy an existing one. Don’t go the franchise route. There are too many ways to screw up your life if you do.
I don’t want anything from you. I am not selling a better mousetrap. This post and my upcoming book are not the preamble to my 10-step program for life fulfillment. No operators are standing by.
In fact, this book should be the last one you buy on small business. If you want to spend money, go back to school. If you feel the need to improve yourself and your family, spend more quality time with them and stop making the television your babysitter. Don’t waste your precious time and money on the pipe-dream called small business.
