DISPELLING THE MYTHS OF OWNERSHIP
As the fertility of entrepreneurial soil improves in the 21st century, your chances of meeting a starry-eyed human being, babbling on about the prospect of becoming a business owner, will also improve.
Probing for the object of this person's entrepreneurial infatuation will precipitate the what, where, how and when questions, and ultimately the most important one: Why do you want to own a business?
Answers to this question, unfortunately, often produce what I call "The Myths of Small Business Ownership." Here are four:
Myth 1: When I'm an owner, I'll be my own boss.
That's right; you won't have an employer telling you what to do. But you'll trade that one boss for many others: customers, landlords, bankers, the IRS, regulators, even employees.
In today's marketplace, there is less "bossing" and more leading, managing and partnering. In a small business, everyone must wear several hats and the dominator management model doesn't work well in this multi-tasking environment.
Myth 2: When I own my own business, I won't have to work as hard as I do now.
This is actually true -- you will work much harder. Ramona Arnett, CEO of Ramona Enterprises, said it best: "Owning a business is when you work 80 hours a week so you can avoid working 40 hours for someone else."
The irony is you will actually want to work harder when you understand that everything in your business belongs to you, even the irritating, frustrating and frightening challenges of ownership. These will take on a new perspective when you realize that you also own the opportunities you turn those challenges into.
You'll turn the lights on in the morning and off in the evening not because you want to work more, but because you won't want to miss any part of your dream coming true.
Myth 3: When I own my own business, I can take a day off whenever I want.
Well, maybe. You may find that your business has such a compelling attraction that you won't want to take off as much as you might think.
If you love to play golf, you may actually play less as an owner than you did as an employee. Not because you no longer love golf, but because the love of your business might exceed that of golf.
Whatever interests you had as an employee will likely become jealous of your business.
Myth 4: When I own my own business, I'll make a lot of money.
If the only reason you want to own a business is to get rich, you probably won' be a happy owner. Brace yourself: The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) says the average annual income of small business owners in America is about $40,000.
You actually could get rich, but it's more likely that you'll just make a living.
Being a successful owner first means loving what you do. Pursuing wealth should be secondary, and ironically, is more likely to happen when in this subordinate role.
Write this on a rock - For maximum small business success, dispel the myths of ownership
Contributed by:
Joan Pasco, Project Manager, East County One Stop
Consultant, Workforce and Community Development
www.eastcountyonestop.org
503.661.3981 fax: 503.669.0190
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Most Recent:
Sep 3, 2006 12:36 PM
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