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Entrepreneurials
G'day. I am studying to become a teacher (early Childhood) and am in my last year. I am currently taking a course called The Entrepreneurial Professional. I found this website and was hoping that I could get some feedback on people who say they are entrepreneurs and what makes them entrepreneurial. If you have any thoughts on this topic i would love to hear from you. ta muchly
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Re: Entrepreneurials
I'm sure everyone has their own thoughts on specific points of being an entrepreneur, but it basically boils down to being a "Risk Taker".
Most people are cut out to be employees. They need the security of having a job with a "guaranteed" paycheck. They may also require supervision and daily guidance to fulfill that job, but not necessarily. On the other hand, the entrepreneur prefers to chart their own course, and is willing to forego the income security offered by a job, to build their own source of income. Some may go with an established system, franchise, or other bizopp, while many will create their own business. Some would reject the idea of a franchise buyer as being a risk taker as they are investing $20,000 to $500K or more to limit their risk, buying into an established system, but they are still risking their investment, with no sure guarantees. Different entrepreneurs will have various reasons why they take the entrepreneurial route. Some are simply motivated by the prospects of earning a higher income, while others are looking for more satisfaction from their career. Still others may prefer the total independence from having someone looking over their shoulder, depending on their self-motivation and discipline to stick to their work. The freedom to choose your own schedule is a component of the desire for indepence. In reality, it is a combination of the various motivators, with each entrepreneur having different priorities on the income, independence, job satisfaction, etc. Having been full-time self-employed since 1987, I probably am unfit for a regular job for more than a short period. After having been self-employed for so long, the guarantees and perks that come with employee status appear to be more enticements to cause workers to "settle" for less. That fits in with Maslov's theories of human need for security, basic necessities, etc. As long as the worker has his basic needs met, he or she will accept what they are given. They trade their freedom for the guarantees of the job. JMO! Dennis Bevers My home-based business in the entrepreneurial realm! |
Re: Entrepreneurials
Hi,
I'm an entrepreneur because I want to sell my time at retail rather than wholesale. Plus, I'm a weird hermit who doesn't like face-to-face interaction. One, in fact, who despises it, shuns it, abhors it!! Best, - Boyd |
Re: Entrepreneurials
Perhaps I'm independent and entrepreneurial because I prefer less risk.
Yup, you read that right. Being in business for myself ties my fortunes to management I believe in, doing a job I believe in. There is little such security in the corporate world. Being independent helps me spread out economic risk. In a corporate environment, I might work on behalf of a few clients (or even just one), and my job security would depend on a long chain of people between me and those key clients. On my own, I can work for more clients, of more sizes, in more industries, and in more locations. I'm in direct contact with each of them, which improves communication and reduces screw-ups ... and risk. When I see a business opportunity, I can move on it instantly, instead of making recommendations via internal memo and waiting for the corporate machine to slooowwwwly ease into gear. I can select work partners I know and trust and value, from start to finish. That should be true in a corporate environment, but it's often not the case. Yup. For my money, and for my situation, there are few career moves riskier than joining a corporate environment. I can sleep at night unworried by what co-workers might be doing or not doing, and I wake up excited, truly excited, about getting into my office. John Kuraoka, freelance advertising copywriter |
An Entrepreneur, a wad of money and an Idea
> G'day. I am studying to become a teacher
> (early Childhood) and am in my last year. I > am currently taking a course called The > Entrepreneurial Professional. How odd. I didn't know the government wanted teachers to have knowledge of Entrepreneurs. How can they turn the children into mindless automoton droids? In fact, being an entrepreneur goes AGAINST how the school system wants everyone to be. In school, working with another is called cheating. Outside of school it is teamwork - and no corporation/entrepreneur is without it. In school, having notes handy while doing certain tasks is a big No No. On the outside, it's a big No No not to have your notes handy at all times. School is about "what job will you do?" and "what job are your training to do" and not about how to be an entrepreneur. Anyway. I found this > website and was hoping that I could get some > feedback on people who say they are > entrepreneurs and what makes them > entrepreneurial. Do you want feedback ON people who SAY they are entrepreneurs or feedback FROM people who ARE entrepreneurs? First, you need to define what an entrepreneur is. And consulting my dictionary I find... Entrepreneur: one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. So to answer your question... a person who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise is an entrepreneur. Doing those things - organizing, managing and assuming the risk of a business or enterprise - makes someone an entrepreneur (whether they claim it or not). WHY someone chooses to be an entrepreneur is a different matter. As Dennis said, each entrepreneur has their own reasons...
What other people see as risky an entrepreneur sees as more-secure. They see "working for the man" as risky. At any moment the axe could fall and you are out on the street looking for another man to work for. Hoping this time the axe won't fall for a few years. Look at yourself... you want to be a teacher - work for someone else, most probably the government. Have you asked yourself WHY? WHY you want to work for someone else and not yourself? You have to look deeply at both sides - the worker and the entrepreneur. Right now, the easiest thing for you to do is copy & paste some parts of our answers, or do a little paraphrasing, and then hand that in as your "assignment completed." But that is another example of the spoonfed mentality of the government education system. You want answers spoonfed to you - and you have received some. But you will never truly understand or appreciate them unless you live them. The qualification you seek is an example of what I was getting at when I said the school system just wants you to be a worker. Do you see it? You are taking a "course" so you can "go work for someone else." Perhaps you can tell us... why do you want to work for someone else instead of yourself? Michael Ross What entrepreneurs read |
It's hard to find a rich Hermit but ...
> Hi,
> I'm an entrepreneur because I want to sell > my time at retail rather than wholesale. > Plus, I'm a weird hermit who doesn't like > face-to-face interaction. One, in fact, who > despises it, shuns it, abhors it!! > Best, > - Boyd I wouldn't bet against Boyd. The more I read this board the more impressed I am with people like Boyd, Micheal Ross, Dien, Gordon, Don Alm and many others. All great thinkers and nice people too! Sincerely, Steve Ski Wealth, Science, and the "Law of Attraction" |
Re: It's hard to find a rich Hermit but ...the intenter makes it possible
I have one associate who I first made contact with by contracting with her to build my new website a couple years ago.
After learning a good deal about my products and the industry, she decided to expand her options and become an associate. She was doing her webdesign work from home, with little or no face-to-face contact with clients. She doesn't consider herself a salesperson, and definitely not a sales professional. So, she created her own distinctive website featuring the promotional advertising products. Six months after getting it up and running, she shut down her webdesign business as it was interferring with her new income source. At the end of her first year, she finished 18th nationally, out of 3400 dealers across the US, selling over a quarter million in her first year from a cold start. After 18 months she only has two local customers in the Dallas metro area. Those are both friends she new before she started. All of her other customers are online buyers who she conducts business with via the internet, phone, and fax. So, I guess she's only a hermit in respect to her business. It wouldn't have been possible a couple decades ago. Dennis Bevers Sell promotional advertising online or off as an independent agent! |
Oops...the internet (My typo) DNO
DNO = Do Not Open!
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The Man Who Ruled The Universe
> I'm a weird hermit who doesn't like
> face-to-face interaction. One, in fact, who > despises it, shuns it, abhors it!! That statement reminds me Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy. I believe the last book - Good Bye And Thanks For All The Fish. In that book they (the leaders of various countries and planets) would visit an old hermit. To you and I he was absent minded and even dim. He would walk around talking to himself as if no one was there. And the visitors would take his mumbling as answers to their questions. For instance, he might have been doing a crossword puzzle with a blunt pencil. He would look at the pencil and exclaim "it needs sharpening." Which his visitors would take as an answer to one of their questions, maybe about what to do with military training or some such thing. It was quite a funny part of the book - if you like that kind of humour. Michael Ross |
Michael where you in the room when I made that point?
Somehow I was asked to join the local (Calcasieu Parish School, Louisiana, USA) School to Work Committee.
After 4 hours of listening to all the various reports and topics my head was about to explode. Then, the moderator went around the room asking all the different members and attendees (mostly educators) for any comments. My comments sounded a lot like yours. I reminded them that the name of the committee was School to Work, not School to Job! That seem to get a few of them thinking. Their primary focus as educators is elementary education, secondary education, then college or trade school, then job. I pointed out that many people would be like square pegs trying to fit round holes if they were forced to take a job. (Gee, I wish I had discovered self-employment sooner myself.) I've also made that point when speaking at the local Chamber of Commerce and in speaking to high school students in "Future Business Leaders of America". I hope I opened a few minds during my talks. I knew I wasn't along in my thinking about the educational environment. Just didn't know it was the same down under. Dennis Bevers |
The majority of school is a waste of time
With a comment like that, many people would say I probably did not do well in school because only school drop-outs "have a go" at the school system.
Not so in my case. I spent almost all my school time in the top classes. And even so, I had a disdain for the system. Never bothered "studying" as I felt it a waste of time. Could not understand why we had to learn complex algebra and math such as differentiation instead of what was nicknamed "Veggie Math" because the kids with low maths scores did it - it's proper name was Maths In Society and delt with math we use daily - adding and subtracting in money exchanges, figuring out the area of a wall for painting, and so on. English. I always wondered how a teacher could grade my OPINION as good or bad. If I thought a book was a bad example of something then my OPINION was just as valid as someone who thought it was a good example. Just as valid, only contrary. WHY was I forced to study Modern History for two years? WHY was my single test (and its score) based on that two years worth of "learning" something to determine whether I could go to university to study science? WHY did I need a science degree to be a pilot or a ranger? HOW did having a degree translate to being able to perform a physical task better? WHY did my school claim to "bring out the individual" only to enforce strict uniform codes and behaviour rules. They say one thing and then do everything in their power to stiffle the individual. Do you recall this... |x| How many times have you used that in your life after school? My Answer: Zero. When I went to school, you could leave in Year 10 (15 to 16 year old) and go do an apprenticeship somewhere. These days you have to go all the way through before you can start an apprenticeship. As apprenticeships are usually things to do with the hands - mechanic, carpenter, etc. - why is the extra two years of school needed? Kids are labelled with ADD and that other one ADHA (?). And I say those "disorders" are not. It is a symptom of poor teaching. Obviously those kids who are labeled are totally bored - otherwise they would be sitting and paying attention. (Would also help if parents stop feeding sugar to their kids all day and night long.) The system is flawed and faulty and actually slows a kids learning. Memorising is not learning. It is memorising. Learning is understanding. School is all about memorising. Most of us don't need to do any more school than primary school. Once we learn some basic reading and writing we are fine. Memorising math formulas is a waste of time. I recall none of the one's I had to memorise. But if I need one I go to a book - or search online - and have it in a jiffy. So why was I forced to learn it? Besides these... the system really is geared up to produce good little worker bees. Hey, it's a communist education system anyway. So what do we expect. A society of independent thinkers and people would be a dangerous thing and hard to control. Dennis, let me ask you this... do you find, the more you are out of the system, the more disdain you have for the system, and the more flawed you see the system? Do you also wonder how/why those in the system cannot see it - because it seems so obvious? And do you find it hard to converse with those inured in the system as they seem to be from some oddball reality? Anyone else feel like answering these final question please chime in... Michael Ross P.S. Erik... sorry if this makes you doubt again. |
I disagree
with about 10% of what you said. The other 90% is right up the alley.
The education establishment is trained by a bunch of elitist who only teach teachers how to teach. The ivory tower educators seem to be entrenched on both sides of the big pond. The revolt against this has resulted in a popular book, "Everything I needed to know, I learned in kindergarten". The author must have been from that era when they didn't wait until first grade to teach the alphabet. His point is that he learned his basic skills (Readin', 'rightin', and 'rithmetic) early on. After that, he could read up on what he needed. My disagreement is with your objection to history and science. As Edmund Burke put it, "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it!" We are seeing that lived out in the US every month lately. As for science, the more we know ofthe mechanics and laws of the universe, the more we can understand of the world around us. I only completed 3 years of college, but I still apply much of what I learned in conducting my business. Entrepreneurs need more education as they are more likely to wear a multitude of hats in their business. But, I also sold advertising for the campus newspaper, so that has even more "real-world" application to my home-based business. Dennis Bevers |
Thank you very much! [DNO]
dno
> I wouldn't bet against Boyd. The more I read > this board the more impressed I am with > people like Boyd, Micheal Ross, Dien, > Gordon, Don Alm and many others. All great > thinkers and nice people too! > Sincerely, > Steve Ski |
Re: An Entrepreneur, a wad of money and an Idea
WELL, I can not believe what i just read!!! Who are you to tell me, that i'm not allowed to be, or should not be an entrepreneur? Being entrepreneural does not JUST APPLY TO THE BUSINESS scene. I find your comments somewhat problematic and dare i say 'shallow'. I find it also interesting how you position education, teachers and children for that matter.
I had a fair idea of what being entrepreneurial was, i was just looking for others views. I guess that's what you've given me, your view. I suppose you could say that teaching is my CORE business. Yes i am working for the government, BUT the reason why i decided to become a teacher was not so i can say i work for someone like the government, (frankly i think the government has a lot to answer for educational wise) it was to work for children, and the satisfaction that their learning brings me. Why can't i be an entrepreneur in this profession? Truth is, i know next year when i am teaching in my first class I WILL BE AN ENTREPRENEUR. As you stated Doing those things - organizing, managing and assuming the risk of a business or enterprise - makes someone an entrepreneur (whether they claim it or not). That's what teaching is all about, organising and managing both mine, and the children's learning. It is also about taking risks in the classroom, and it is this type of behaviour that will make ME a better teacher. I challenge you to think of entrepreneurs in a new light after you have read this. Of course you could just sit back and say that this woman has completely no idea, but one must wonder how entrepreneurial you would be if you were to take on this somewhat simplistic and naive view. Megan |
Re: An Entrepreneur, a wad of money and an Idea
Megan,
You left out one component. The entrepreneur is also taking the financial risk. As much as you want to consider yourself an entrepreneur, you are not taking the finacial risk of operating a business or depending on your abilities to produce profits or income to meet your needs. An employee by definition cannot be an entrepreneur unless you are allowed to change the meaning of the word in every dictionary published. My Funk and Wagnalls dictionary only offers one definition for entrepreneur - n. One who undertakes to start and conduct a business or enterprise. It has nothing to do with it being a government position, it has to do with your status as an employee. The guaranteed salary and benefits you derive from a job negates your claim of taking risks, as you are not risking any capital or your weekly pay. If you were to make your living as a private teacher or tutor, then you could say you are operating an enterprise. The franchisees of Sylvan Learning Centers qualify by definition. Maybe you can get those people who add new words to the dictionaries each year to consider your educational entreprenerialship as a secondary definition, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Not just my opinion, but the dictionary's as well. Dennis Bevers My risk taking enterprise that has kept me self-employed for 19 years! |
O-MY-GOD!
I feel so-o-o much better now!
In elementary school, I parroted what I'd learned at home. Very little was new, and it took all of 5 or ten minutes to learn. And 3 to 4 months to regurgitate over and over and over . . . In high school as a freshman, I took swimming classes. Mind you, I can't swim a lick! (I can jelly-fish float.) But I got an A in swimming. How, you ask? I took showers! In college, I got back a paper (English) that had a 'D' erased, and an A- written over the top of the erasure. What happened, you ask? I attended a luncheon that was held to acknowledge all the scholarship students. (Just a few days prior to the luncheon, I'd completed the paper and handed it in.) The English teacher was there, and saw me. Voila! One 'A' coming up. Schools (and teachers) aim at the middle. Few, if any, are equipped to handle those who are very smart (cerebrally), and those whose talents are expressed in ways other than memorization and regurgitation. I'm a certified teacher. I have a degree in Mathematics (Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) Mathematics. Yet, I'm engaged in something that provokes many people to ask "Why are you here?" I quit teaching just toward the end of the school year, when the bus company - MY GOD! THE G-DD-MNED BUS COMPANY! - got the district to change the starting and ending times of the school day. (Sheesh! If God had only known what the schools would require, He'd have made kids (and teachers!) differently. Few people accept that 'braindead' activity that pays the bills while I come to grips with my damned 'reluctant entrepreneur' is all I want. I refuse to think at the level of compensation I'm receiving. ('cept as is necessary to ensure that I don't go home in a body bag, or that we don't have a sequel to 9-11) I say reluctant entrepreneur because I never thought of myself as a risk-taker, yet, anymore, I look back - both years back and to the recent (as in yesterday) past, and realize that that's all I've ever been. I can and HAVE said "To hell with it" to jobs that leech at my essential self-recognition, self-acceptance, and self-reliance, and yes - self-satisfaction that what I'm doing has merit if only to my being able to sustain myself - that characterizes the entrepreneur. 'Cept I didn't have the vision to create the substitute, self sufficient activity that would sustain me. Nor did I ever get encouragement to just 'go for it.' So, I just 'effing' quit! I never realized that that gnawing feeling in my gut was my entrepreneur wanting to express. Never did I Identify with a group of people who take that essential 'dissatisfaction' with the routine as signals to themselves that they can do it on their own. I was brought up in the "get a good job" school of thought. Sigh. I've forgotten which post I'm responding to! That's ok. This is SOW, where I can touch bases with sanity . . . Marye |
I need to clarify
> My disagreement is with your objection to
> history and science. As Edmund Burke put it, > "Those who don't know history are > destined to repeat it!" We are seeing > that lived out in the US every month lately. > As for science, the more we know ofthe > mechanics and laws of the universe, the more > we can understand of the world around us. In my school, Modern History meant WWI, League of Nations, WWII, Korean War. To study Ancient History I would have had to take on another module of Modern History - dropping one of my other subjects - and thus get one module of Ancient History which ONLY covered Greece in the time of the Spartans. I never said history was not important. Just that I was forced to study it in preparation for entrance to university to study science. (I have learned more history since leaving school than I ever learned at school. I actually like the subject.) Science? Love science. Physics and Biology - both deal with how things work. That's why I chose to do a science degree. But even this had flawed logic. As I said... why was a science degree needed to be a pilot? Heck, I went and got my license privately. So much for a degree. As I was also studying teaching... the mind boggles more so. Why study university level science to teach highschool science? And why do three years of that higher level science - getting higher and higher? My friend is a "Fed." Aussie version of an FBI agent. His "training" was 12 weeks. To become a statey in my state - our police our divided by state and not locale - requires six months at the academy PLUS one year studying science at university. That's 18 months of tertiary education - six of it at the police academy - so they can pull someone up for speeding and whatnot. Go figure. That's what my beef is... more and more "positions" require higher and higher qualifications which do not add to the performance of the task. I've seen jobs require a diploma of science. Thing is... those who get the job - and thus have the diploma - needed to be taught everything about the job because the tasks of the job were not taught during the diploma. I have seen unqualified people doing those same tasks - as a fill-in when the diploma holder was unable for a variety of reasons. Anyway. Better stop now. Before I get carried away. :o) Michael Ross |
How entrepreneurship can reduce your risk (if you do it right)...
Hi John,
That's an interesting perspective - becoming an entrepreneur because there's less risk... I think it's certainly true for some people - that entrepreneurship actually decreases their risk. And perhaps it's more and more true as the years go by.... Once upon a time a corporate job was one you had for life. Well, until you hit retirement age and got your retirement gift watch for all those decades you put in. (I was just listening to the Bob Newhart sketch about this from the 1960s - it's hilarious.) :) However, those times seem to be long gone. Now, you can be out of a job any time one of those "higher up" deems it necessary to do some cost-cutting. In such an environment, perhaps it is safer to take your own future into your own hands, rather than trust the whim of any new manager that might come in. One thing I've also noticed about many successful serial entrepreneurs (those who have successfully started multiple businesses) is that they take active steps to reduce their risk of a venture. Many people go into a business opportunity thinking only of the upside - perhaps this is our human tendency towards optimism. Many successful serial entrepreneurs also look at the downside - how much could they lose if the business venture flops? And - how can they reduce the risk of that happening? In his recent post, Boyd mentioned the movie "Heist" - and how Gene Hackman had a Plan A, a Plan B, if that didn't work there was a Plan C, and if that didn't work even a Plan D. Eventually, it was Plan D that worked! I haven't seen the Heist, but that's entrepreneurial thinking (though from the title of the movie it sounds like he's not applying it to entrepreneurship!). I think you ALWAYS need a Plan B... and a Plan C and D are even better! I agree that with this kind of thinking, your risks are reduced! - Dien Rice The business or money-making idea you need could be right here... |
Childhood, Jobhood, and Entrepreneurship...
Hi Megan,
Here's my personal take on what makes a person an entrepreneur.... To me, the essence of being an entrepreneur is to be willing to take your own future in your hands. You're not going to rely on a steady paycheck from a boss, but you're ready and willing to go out into the big world yourself and support yourself from it. Just think - a child is someone who is completely dependent on his or her parents. He/she relies on parents to provide everything - shelter, food, and so on. Without parents to take care of a young child, he/she would probably die. The opposite of that is to take care of yourself, to be your own boss, and take complete responsibility for your successes and failures. To take complete responsibility for your own means of living, day to day and week to week. I see the majority of people as being in-between the two. For many, the company or job they work in is like a "substitute-parent" - if you do what the boss tells you, they'll pay you your weekly check. If you don't do what you're told, you're out. So you do what the boss tells you - just like you used to obey your parents. You've made yourself dependent on your job. Entrepreneurs are the only truly independent ones, in my opinion. They've taken their own future into their own hands. By finding opportunities and using what they know to survive, they provide their own means of support. They're not relying on having to do what some boss tells them to. Sometimes I see entrepreneurship as "urban survival skills". Just like someone can learn where to look for food and water in a jungle to survive, entrepreneurs know how to find opportunities in the "urban jungle" to survive. Perhaps mine is a "romanticized" view of entrepreneurship - but I think there's a lot of truth to it. Well, that's my view - you asked for it. :) - Dien Rice Start a business with little money! |
Re: reducing risk (if you do it right)...
> I think it's certainly true for some people
> - that entrepreneurship actually decreases > their risk. And perhaps it's more and more > true as the years go by.... I found an excellent way to reduce risk in my business. I changed from my first distributor to my second after nearly 10 years in this industry. I sell as an independent agent, with K & B handling all the credit, billing, sales taxes, and debt collections. In the case of non-payment, I only loose the commissions I was advanced, while K & B pays the supplier, shipping costs, and taxes. My earnings go back to Zero while their profits on the order go negative. That's more than fair in my book. And I can certainly live with that level of risk. I'm sure my company isn't the only one that operates like that. Dennis Bevers Increased income with reduced risk! |
It's a title
Okay, I agree with many of these posts (except the one who had a teacher being an entrepeneur and Michael, I happen to love alegebra and use it all the time, if only to amuse myself )
However, let me give you a different point of view: it is only a fancy title. I know a lot of people who are in busines for themselves and they don't think of themselves as entrepeneurs but as mechanics, plumbers, salesmen, etc. and, at the most businessmen. They define themselves by what they do, not by the fact that they own and run their own business (and many of the people I know are highly succesful in their feilds). Here's a story that I love. It happened about quite a few years ago but I never will forget it. Without the entire back story (the main thing needed to know is that my Dad had his own business for many years before this and my sister was on a "title trip" - she was an assistant manager at a store - funny thing was, there were only assistantant managers and managers at that store, no clerks). Anyways, we were at some fancy resteruant (impressin her future in-laws) and she was making a big deal about her job. Dad made some comment regarding her being so imoressed with her "title" even though it really didn't mean anything and she replied that everyone needed a title and they were important. He replied asking what his title was and she replied "You're an entrpeneur." Dad replied (and on a side note, fancy resteraunts are not his thing), "Hell no, I'm a ditch digger". My siter and her futire in-laws were mortified but I found it funny. [side note - Dad installs and repairs water systems hence the ditch digger"] The point is: many (and i could tell you more stories) of the entrepeneurs I know think of it as only a fancy title. Tam |
It isn't what they teach. It is, how they teach it.
> Besides these... the system really is geared
> up to produce good little worker bees. Sure, while at school, they may show you a few pictures, and tell you a couple of stories. Heck, they might even ask you a question. They could care less about the answer, right or wrong. School is a systematic approach to teaching those who would lead mediocre lives, how to get along and provide for themselves. By going to school, you learn that 5 days a week you must get out of bed at a designated time, get ready and leave the house. You must be at school/work, the same time everyday, and follow the schedule during the day for your coffee breaks/recess. The school dictates your free time, including days off and vacations, just as a future employer will do. It's conditioning — pure and simple. Best Regards, Steve MacLellan homebusiness-websites.com |
Exsqueeze Me?
> Who are you to tell me, that i'm not allowed
> to be, or should not be an entrepreneur? Please point out where I said you were not allowed to be or should not be an entrepreneur. I find your comments > somewhat problematic and dare i say > 'shallow'. I find it also interesting how > you position education, teachers and > children for that matter. Would you please explain what you mean. HOW are my comments problematic and shallow? HOW do I position education, teachers and children? > I had a fair idea of what being > entrepreneurial was, i was just looking for > others views. The only way you can know what being an entrepreneur is like is to be one. The only way it can be explained to you is by one. Instead of "entrepreneur" think "Champion Basketball Player." The only way to KNOW what being a Champion Basketball Player is like is to be one. The only people who can explain what being a champion basketball player is like, is one. You have to walk in the shoes of an entrepreneur to "get it." I guess that's what you've > given me, your view. I suppose you could say > that teaching is my CORE business. Yes i am > working for the government, BUT the reason > why i decided to become a teacher was not so > i can say i work for someone like the > government, (frankly i think the government > has a lot to answer for educational wise) it > was to work for children, and the > satisfaction that their learning brings me. Wow... this sounds almost identicle to what the left uses as arguements all the time... for the children. > Why can't i be an entrepreneur in this > profession? You cannot be an entrepreneur when you are an employee. Dennis covered this already. Truth is, i know next year when > i am teaching in my first class I WILL BE AN > ENTREPRENEUR. As you stated Doing those > things - organizing, managing and assuming > the risk of a business or enterprise - makes > someone an entrepreneur (whether they claim > it or not). That's what teaching is all > about, organising and managing both mine, > and the children's learning. It is also > about taking risks in the classroom, and it > is this type of behaviour that will make ME > a better teacher. Boy, are you in for a RUDE shock next year when you are teaching in your first class. The restrictions on teachers are AMAZING. How are your Lesson Plans? Not much freedom there, hey? Got to do the Lesson Plan otherwise the supervising teacher will not pass you. How far "off topic" do you think you are allowed to teach? FACT: You, as a qualified teacher, have to follow so many rules and regulations it is not funny. > I challenge you to think of entrepreneurs in > a new light after you have read this. I challenge you to answer my previous question... why have you chosen to work for someone else instead of yourself? Of > course you could just sit back and say that > this woman has completely no idea, but one > must wonder how entrepreneurial you would be > if you were to take on this somewhat > simplistic and naive view. What simplistic and naive view are you talking about? By the way... I do find one thing disturbing about your post... the constant use of the lower-case "I" when it is not in a word. Eg. "Truth is, i know next year when i am teaching in my..." Next year you say you will be teaching. Yet this year you are using lower case letters where upper case letters should be used. Will your bad habits be passed on? Teachers have to set examples. Using correct basic letter case is one of them. How come this has not been brought to your attention before? I assume it has not otherwise it would have been corrected. Michael Ross |
Don't let anyone sway you from your course!
Hi,
> Few people accept that 'braindead' activity > that pays the bills while I come to grips > with my damned 'reluctant entrepreneur' is > all I want. Continue on your path toward self revelation, and don't let anyone divert you! If you wander off the path now, all will be lost. Sincerely, - Boyd |
How do you answer when they ask - "What DO you do?"
Hi Tam,
Thanks for telling that great story about your Dad. He seems like a real down-to-earth kinda guy.... :) It's amazing how everyone is some kind of "manager" nowadays.... It just devalues the word "manager". I'm sure that before too long, soon all we'll have are "CEOs" and "assistant CEO's"! :) I remember reading a story about a guy who was running his own one-person business. In order to make the business "look" bigger, he had a number of "titles" he used... Sometimes he was the "delivery man", sometimes he was the "advertising manager", and sometimes he as the "CEO" - depending on who he was talking to! (I guess when you work for your own business - you can give yourself whatever title you want...) Part of this boils down to - what do you answer when people ask you "what do you do"? We've talked about this on Sowpub before.... Many of us wear "many hats" in our businesses, so how do you answer "what DO you do?" It's something you really have to think about - how to answer that question when it's asked - if you're in business for yourself! (At the moment, I tend to say I'm an "online publisher" - even though that's only part of what I do....) - Dien |
Re: How do you answer when they ask - "What DO you do?"
Hi!
> Thanks for telling that great story about > your Dad. He seems like a real down-to-earth > kinda guy.... :) I'm glad you enjoyed it and he is very down to earth. I keep thinking that one of these days I need to compile a bunch of stories about him and the business along with some basic business info into a book. > It's amazing how everyone is some kind of > "manager" nowadays.... It just > devalues the word "manager". Yep! people are title groupies - hey, i have a fancy title so that means something. Personally, when I wasn't working for myself, i could care less what the title was (didn't care for prestige) I just cared about the weekly check and whether I enjoyed what i was doing. > I'm sure that before too long, soon all > we'll have are "CEOs" and > "assistant CEO's"! :) LOL! > I remember reading a story about a guy who > was running his own one-person business. In > order to make the business "look" > bigger, he had a number of > "titles" he used... > Sometimes he was the "delivery > man", sometimes he was the > "advertising manager", and > sometimes he as the "CEO" - > depending on who he was talking to! Sometimes that comes in handy though. I have always helped in the folks' business and have had to give myself titles just to accomplish things. I have authority but we don't use titles, so when i run into something where you need to have a certain title to approve of things - I grant myself that title. Owner's daughter usually doesn't cut it. :) > Part of this boils down to - what do you > answer when people ask you "what do you > do"? We've talked about this on Sowpub > before.... Many of us wear "many > hats" in our businesses, so how do you > answer "what DO you do?" > It's something you really have to think > about - how to answer that question when > it's asked - if you're in business for > yourself! (At the moment, I tend to say I'm > an "online publisher" - even > though that's only part of what I do....) Ah, that's the fun question! i use a f ew different ones. I have been know to simply say "I work for myself" but usually I try to describe what I do for my clients (not the behind the seens business stuff). No titles - just a description, although depending on what all i want to include, it can get lengthy. :) Have a good night! Tam |
(late comment)
> I've seen jobs require a diploma of science.
> Thing is... those who get the job - and thus > have the diploma - needed to be taught > everything about the job because the tasks > of the job were not taught during the > diploma. I have seen unqualified people > doing those same tasks - as a fill-in when > the diploma holder was unable for a variety > of reasons. That's because what is needed for the job can't be taught. Take my job. I'm a computer geek. When I was hired in, PCs were just beginning to be used as business tools. So there was no course for me to learn from and I had to know how to teach myself and then teach others. This is not a skill you can train anyone at, but a broad educational background gives you the skills and tools (good old scientific method plus some education courses) to develop new things. When my company wanted a website, they did so early on. I'd never seen a webiste and the only thing I did on Internet was chat. I'd been employed for 10 years and there was no way my education could have taught me something that didn't exist. However, because I had art courses and some literature courses, I could put together a credible website. When we needed to ensure our host against hacker attacks, there were no courses in 'dealing with hackers.' Again, I had to use my background to decide where the greatest problems lay and how to get the information to deal with it. Scientific method. I have used everything I know in coming up with creative solutions to situations in my job. You could never have trained anyone to do this nor could you have ever figured out the required skill set I need today some 20 years ago when I was hired. Now -- this MIGHT be true if all you did was type and answer phones or run a sales register or work in a factory or drive a truck (and those are good jobs, by the way.) But for white collar jobs (such as technical jobs), those are actually rather important and will be used in some measure or another at sometime during your career. |
Re: How do you answer when they ask - "What DO you do?"
I find this whole conversation very interesting. This whole entrepreneur conversation has made me remember why I became an entrepreneur. I dont think a person just wakes up one morning and says, "I think I will start a business today." There is something inside that person, a desire if you will, that makes them take the "plung." For many years I would only take on opportunities that posed "little risk." Then after a while I realized that risk is risk. Do you know where I learned that, in college. I will say I had the hardest time getting through high school and college, but I think it left me with a foundation, a basic set of rules to follow. Does that mean I always follow the rules, "heaven NO," but what it does for me is gives me a place to start again when I fail. Do entrepreneurs fail? Dont answer that question.
Anyway, I was very interested in hearing the different thoughts and opinions. |
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