Words for Entrepreneurs to Live By

"The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion." - Thomas Paine

I ran across this quote yesterday and copied it because it is the way I hope I live my life. As I thought more about it I began to think this is the way I attempt to run my business, as well - how applicable this is for entrepreneurs. First of all in today’s society business persons must think globally.

As an example, today before 10:00 am I spoke to two people who were born outside my homeland of the United States. In the first situation I was the customer or client, the person I was speaking to was a female born in Bosnia, who fled prison during the war, lived in Germany for seven years and is now in Iowa running her own business. In the second situation I was the supplier or in this case contractor. The person I spoke to was born in Trinidad and now lives in Jamaica and again runs her own business in Kingston. Whether we like it or not we are in a global society and to be successful in business or in life we must not only except it but embrace it.

My feeling is that there are two ways to do this. One is by attempting to sell to them without knowing their culture, beliefs and traditions. Depending upon the product one is selling this may work for a time, possibly even for five or ten years but eventually someone who understands the customer and their needs will take away the market.

A better way is to fully understand the needs of each customer and provide the product or service in a way that best fills their needs. Even if your product is the same for customers regardless of geography, the payment terms may be different or the way the product is sold or perhaps the way it is delivered. This gets to the part of the quote “…all mankind is my brethren,…”. A customer is a person or group of persons and they should be treated with the same respect and understanding as the customer down the street or across town regardless of race, religion or politics.

All too often, I think business people whether in the U.S. or elsewhere look at customers in a different land as a market to be exploited instead of individual customers with distinct needs and ways of doing business. When we think this way more often than not we have difficulty even penetrating the market let alone capturing it. But if we take the time to understand what they have gone through and what their distinct problems are, we can identify how to help them just as we might the business across town.

Finally, and possibly the most entrepreneurial important part of this quote, “…and  to do good is my religion.” – means that the product or service we produce and sell must do good, it must somehow improve the condition or need of the customer and hopefully mankind.

There are many people who call themselves entrepreneurs who are just out to make a fast buck. I see them on social media and through spam e-mails everyday. They are no more than snake oil salesman and are throwing the word entrepreneur around all over the place. These people are no more entrepreneurs than the person who leaves his or her idea or invention on the shelf and never gets it to market.

The true entrepreneur has a product or service that they truly believe will help solve a problem, large or small and in the end will help people. Whether they are right or wrong about this, they are passionate about what ever the product may be and work day and night to tell the world about it. It is more about seeing their dream to fruition than it is to make money. Making money is only secondary - a way to develop their next product or get even wider distribution of the existing one.

In the end, if successful these products and services will be more sustainable and these true entrepreneurs more financially rewarded than anyone with a get rich scheme. The bonus is that they will be rewarded psychologically, as well. This is the way I approach my business everyday – First and foremost, is what I am doing morally and ethically right and second is it helping someone? If not, hopefully I move on.

So even though Thomas Paine was not referring to business when he said, "The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion"  I believe it applies to entrepreneurs and their businesses today more than ever before. What do you think? Am I reaching here? What have your experiences been? Please comment below.

What Entrepreneurial Training Would be Most Valuable to You?

For the past eight months I have been providing training to economic development professionals on different topics related to working with entrepreneurs. It seems there is a great need for this in Iowa and other Midwestern states. Economic development professionals are skilled at working with established firms, whether those they are attempting to attract into their area or those that are well established in their community. When it comes to helping a star-up or young company, especially ones that may have some technology or non-traditional product it is another matter. I will continue to provide this training, with such workshop topics as "Working with Entrepreneurs," "Developing and Entrepreneurial network and Culture,"  "Assessing Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Entrepreneurial Finance Basics," and "Creating a Regional Angel Fund." 

Are their other topics that you think are missing for community leaders and economic development professionals? Is a half day workshop on each topic that is presented on site the right format? Are economic development professionals the ones that will move entrepreneurial development forward in a community or region or should I be targeting someone else?

I have also developed a couple hour workshop entitled "Is Their an Angel on Your Shoulder" for entrepreneurs that are trying to decide whether angel investment is appropriate for their business. This course could certainly be expanded to four or even eight hours if desired. There are also numerous other topics that could be provided in a workshop format for entrepreneurs. One that comes quickly to mind is, "Preparing Your Business for Outside Investment," and another, "The Pros and Cons of Receiving an Angel or Venture Investment." Can you think of others I should offer? What days work best? Is an eight hour intensive course better or two four hour segments? Is it better if taught in person or would a webinar or some other remote method be better? Are you willing to pay more for an in person workshop. How far would you travel to take such a workshop?

I would like to hear from as many of you as possible so that I can better design courses on meaningful topics and improve those already developed. Please let me know what you think. Thank you.