I don't know what the heck he's talking about when he says that small business owners appear happier, often make more money, and sleep better!
In my experience, it's the complete opposite!
The rich, highly leveraged entrepreneurs that I know, who have actually mastered the art of building businesses and making investments that work for them, are happier, make incredibly more money, sleep better on their $10,000 custom made mattresses, and take vacations with their families whenever they want, for however long they want, without having to worry about their assets tanking while they're away.
Most of the small business owners I know are still working 16 hour days, even after owning their businesses for 5 years or more...they can't sleep because they can't leave their businesses for one minute without a disaster occurring because there are no systems in place.
Bottom line, they don't have the savvy it takes to work ON their businesses, not IN their businesses.
And, if you're talking about building a legacy...what could be better than building a business that will grow and help more people without you having to be there.
I know that my ultimate goal for any business I start is to build systems that will work for me while I'm not there, so, I don't have to be there at all if I don't want to.
Building a business is about freedom and I'm pretty sure that's why most people go into business, but, most end up frustrated small business owners who are slaves to the grind just like employees.
Now I usually don't agree with Seth on much of anything except that exploring thoughts and ideas is fun. However, in this case he is right. You have noticed the exception and in most cases I doubt that they are true entrepreneurs anyway.
An entrepreneur is a person who changes industries, invents new products and /or changes the way of life for others through there ideas. They are generally not good business people, like to live on the edge and gamble with the unlikely and impossible, always go against the odds, are lousy planners, almost always obsessive, highly committed; and are lousy at sharing responsibility and power in the business. Most Entrepreneurs don't make money fro their ideas or businesses, but those who capitalize on what they start, god business men, usually do. The list is actually longer than what I am giving.
There are many people who carry the entrepreneur spirit of meeting the challenge and reaching for the stars but are not true entrepreneurs. Starting a business doesn't qualify in that direction. I'm afraid Seth is correct this time although his reasoning could be suspect.
Posted by: Tim Whelan | July 2, 2006 11:49 PM | Permalink to Comment