Comments on: What makes a small business owner happy?

By: Karin

Karin — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 10:55:09 +0000

Can I add part of the wonderful foreword my friend and mentor wrote for my debut novel? Think says it all (or most of it anyway)

“…….And is it not the journey, the search for that elusive goal, that provides us with the adrenalin and energy to keep us driving forward. And why? Sometimes it is the need to develop an immediate income, underpinned perhaps by the suggestion of a capital contribution to our retirement on the disposal of business.
But more often it is the challenge, the fun and delight of achievement, that keeps us going, ‘fun’ being the essential word because, without the fun, how else could we survive those long hours in our respective businesses…….” (Richard C)

By: Shane

Shane — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 09:16:22 +0000

Yes, for the disillusioned its an idea, for the wise, it’s a reality.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 08:58:34 +0000

Right here is where my point is made. The happiness of an entrepreneur is found in intangible things. The idea of freedom, the idea of hope, the idea of creating something out of nothing, the idea of creativity… However when you take a step back and look at the reality…how much of it is just an idea?

By: Karin

Karin — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 15:14:21 +0000

Days off? What was that again, please remind me

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 14:39:05 +0000

I hear you Steve. I don’t have to ask anyone for leave, and that is a great feeling. I’ve only taken a handful of days in the last few years, but somehow that doesn’t matter!

By: steve

steve — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:44:20 +0000

Very interesting thoughts, being an employee just yearning to create my own buisness, i would have to say the motivator is probably “freedom”. Karin used the word creativity, andrew recons hope, but at the end of the day i think the reward comes from knowing, if you want to take the day off you can. If you want to spend the company’s profit on a new pimped up workstation, or fancy coffee machine you can, if you want to tell your customer to get off the bus, you can… not that you would ever actually do any of those things because you are a slave to your business;)

By: Karin

Karin — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 12:41:34 +0000

Shane, I agree with you on this: starting a business just so to become your own boss (i.e. why does your boss get so much more paid for the things you do for him – sales-price – than he is paying you) is IMHO the wrong attitude. The business owner doesn’t create a business, he just creates a job for his own. (Working in your business, versus working ON your business).
But this is much better described in The E-myth: Entrepreneur, Manager and Technician.

By: Shane

Shane — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 12:05:47 +0000

Not everyone who goes out there on their own is an entrepreneur. That has to be said, just because you have your own business doesn’t mean you are an entrepreneur. For the true entrepreneur, I think that the thing that makes them ‘happy’ is having the freedom to craft, to make something out of nothing; and the pure pleasure and challenge of this is the berryjuice that keeps them smiling!

Also, there are loads of sad small business owners out there, who probably couldn’t actually get employed because of their sorry ass attitude.

By: Karin

Karin — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 11:33:53 +0000

Something more…

Creativity? Being able to unleash all the creativity you have into it?
(Not exactly the best word, but can’t find a better one at the moment)

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 11:10:10 +0000

You’re definitely right Jonno, but the question is: ‘How come we (as small business owners), slaves as we are to our businesses, self-righteous as heck, making sacrifices that in hind-sight look like the works of crazy people, are so happy?’

Maybe I’m wrong, but I reckon most of the business owners I’ve met over the past couple of years have that ‘look’ in their eyes – that tell me that there is something special about what they are doing.

I think Andrew is right about the hope thing, and Karin is right about taking ownership on success – but I reckon there’s something more…?