Da MAIN THING about "being yer own boss" is......

...that sets "US"...entroopreeners...."US" people who have "trained ourselves in looking for POSSIBILITIES and putting together a PROGRAM that we "think" will make money....for "US"....and....going out and DOING IT....from those who have never done this and who have always "depended upon OTHERS for their income" is....I don't care if a Nuke hits my State and the economy shuts down completely....somewhere....somehow...."US" entroopreneers will FIND A WAY to....not only survive (provided our health remains intact)....but THRIVE!

If and WHEN disaster hits near any of "US"......."WE"....will NOT be like the Katrina-ites who were totally dependent on da gummit to take care of them....."WE" will find ways to "take care of ourselves".

So...in answer to your question about whether or not "our business" will suffer or not is NOT...."the question". "OUR" answer is....if our main business collapses due to things beyond "our" control...."we" can "adjust" and find "other ways" (again)...to, not only survive but....thrive!

That is why....people NOWADAYS...should TRY and create for themselves... OTHER STREAMS OF INCOME...so that if their main income source is shut down...they have something else to fall back on.

WHEN disaster hits...you wanna be a "Katrina-Ite" or an "independent-ite" who will....not just survive on "handouts" but THRIVE with "entroopreneerial" deeds?

Don Alm

My life experience bears out Don's philosophy.

[Ankesh]

Great discussion.

Would like to make one point: in my opinion - you don't get freedom by being an entrepreneur. But by being an owner.

I agree that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. But even non-entrepreneurs can buy and own franchises. They are shown how to do everything. Most decisions are made for them. They are in essence - employees - but they own the place.

Many early microsoft employees could retire by 40. Because they owned MSN stocks.

Read an article some time back - about entrepreneurs in Mumbai. About 80-85% of them failed within 3 years or so. But not all the entrepreneurs who failed lost money.

Huh?

Yup - entrepreneurs who failed - but who had bought real estate instead of renting it out - eventually came up on top. Because real estate prices had appreciated like crazy.

Action Summary:

Doesn't matter if you have the entrepreneurial blood in you or not. Focus on being the owner. And you'll end up with the freedom and flexibility of doing anything and living anywhere you want to.

First, we should define "entroopreener" (whatever the hell that is).

A couple of quotes from Wikipedia....

"An entrepreneur (a loanword from French introduced and first defined by an Irish economist named Richard Cantillon) is a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks."

and....

"Business entrepreneurs often have strong beliefs about a market opportunity and are willing to accept a high level of personal, professional or financial risk to pursue that opportunity."

What do both of those quotes have in common?

RISK!

My defination of an "Entrepreneur" would be similar.

It would be someone who has a vision and is able to see not just the big picture but also the path to get there. But that's the easy part.

The entrepreneur is a gambler who is ready to lay it all on the line and assume all the risk, knowing that business failure can and often does equal personal and life failure. We know that our personal mistakes can wipe out everything we've ever worked for.

We weigh the risks and the rewards and make our best call and WE GO FOR IT with our own skin in the deal.

We employ others and make a difference in the lives of their famlies with their paychecks depending on us. We know that if we fail, they fail too and we make the sacrifices necessary to assure that doesn't happen. (and we know that sometimes we can't stop it from happening)

That's a whole lot different than selling little ads on placemats and calling yourself an "entroopreener".

Don likes to come up with a bunch of ways to make little chuncks of cash here and there, and if that's your thing, no problem, more power to ya.

Just don't make the mistake of calling yourself an entrepreneur because of it.

Jim

I agree with Don.

In addition, something that a lot of people miss.

If one has a job and is happy with the job, the mere act of doing something "On the side" has benefits that can help if "Things go south."

A person just making an extra five hundred a month can put that towards paying off a mortgage quickly. Or maybe buying a small rental house. Or just driving a nicer car.

But more importantly, paying stuff off quicker, so that more money is placed in sources that make more money in the long run.

I think also what happens is that YOU change to see the possibilities.

Millard