May 01, 2008
The Evolution of the Entrepreneur
Many entrepreneurs start businesses because they either:
- Tired of working for the corporate world
- Were outsourced, out placed or downsized from the corporate world
- Learned a skill and knew that they could do it better.
- Got angry at their boss and left their employer
- Made the decision to work for themselves.
- etc., etc. , etc.
Entrepreneurs were successful sellers, manufacturers, or creative/design/engineers who loved the enjoyment of doing it better than everyone else. Most started on a shoestring. They “bootstrapped the business” by borrowing from family, friends, credits cards, etc. They rapidly learned that building a business is a “stair step process”… i.e. at $1mm revenue, hire an office clerk/receptionist/order processor… at $2mm, hire a controller, move to a new location… at $5mm, hire a general manager and a salesman… and on and on. The more successful the business is… the more the founder will drift away from his first love… that which motivated him first to start the business. Instead of being able to spend his time calling on customers, now he’s reviewing insurance plans, studying risk management, trying to understand new OSHA regulations. As he realizes that it is time to begin building an exit strategy, not only does he want to “take some chips off the table”, he really doesn’t want to retire, he wants to do what he enjoys and move into the next stage of his life. Read the rest of this entry »
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