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I’m not sure why this riff keeps running around in my head, but I thought I would pose it to my readers as a kind of fun, but potentially telling bit of research.
Owning a business, marketing a business, horn tooting, innovating, fearlessly charging into unchartered waters is the stuff of small business. It’s also often looked upon as something that requires special traits and characteristics that, well, some people just don’t profess to possess.
Many of the traits that make up the entrepreneur are ingrained as habits, I suspect, knowingly or unknowingly, by our well intentioned parents and caregivers.
Fear of failure is learned, fear of success is learned, fear over money and lack are learned, shame in tooting one’s own horn is taught, fear of being called different is acquired. Likewise, innovation can be an observed trait, authenticity in promotion can be taught by example, understanding that income is easy to create, that time is precious, that serving is noble, that, well, a bunch of other good stuff about owning a business, can be taught by example might just be the product of our upbringing.
My parents were entrepreneurs of a sort before the word had today’s cache and meaning. My father was an independent manufacturer’s representative and my mom raised ten children old school. She cooked, canned, gardened, sewed, laundered, sang and never worried about where the next ten bucks was coming from because she had tremendous faith in herself and the enterprise. They were stunning examples of the entrepreneur sprite. They were not without their flaws and fears, I mean, really, we’re all just making it up as we go, but I wonder what impact that had on my absolute firm resolve to do my own thing, to market joyfully and to promote with passion.
So, I’ve told you a little of my story and here’s what I’m wondering.
1) Why do you do what you do?
2) What did your parents do?
3) How did that impact your entrepreneurial spirit?
I swear there’s a point to this ramble, and I’ll let you know what it is after I collect your thoughts. Please share your story - good bad and ugly as it may be and in the words of the immortal Fred Rodgers - “It’s hard not to like someone, once you know their story.”
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at Sep 02, 08 | 4:13 pm and is filed under Entrepreneur, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
1. I do two things - by day I’m a business professor. I do it because I find meaning in teaching the next generation of students. I’m also an entrepreneur. I do that for many reasons. I also find significant meaning and enjoy being able to make a difference in people’s lives through business. I also love the creativity and excitement of business.
2. My parents were both teachers. Certainly that helps explain why I became a professor. It doesn’t really explain my entrepreneurial side. We also joke that we don’t know where I got that side. Neither of my parents have much of an entrepreneurial side.
3. My parents always encouraged me as I sought out ways to make money. That was helpful. I wonder sometimes if their resistances have created fears that do slow me down sometimes, but I will not use that as an excuse.
My father made a meager living in his own electronics business until it was destroyed during the riots of the early ’60’s in NY. He decided that he was too old for risk taking and took a dead-end job at G.E. where he retired 15-years later. I was a recipient of a speech about becoming more conservative as retirement age approached.
Growing up poor in the projects of Brooklyn did not impede my determination to do something spectacular with my life. The public schools did not challenge me and their product was very cooker-cutter-esque. Specialty schools were rare and for the rich; something we were not. So I entered sales at seventeen on 5th Ave. with aspirations to conquer the world.
My first startup was at 22 and at 23 I became a partner in an existing mail fulfillment company. Before turning 30, I was earning a healthy six figures. Just prior to my 50th birthday, I met serious health problems that led to a 4-year sabbatical. One morning I got out of bed and decided to start something up and opened a ballet school for my wife with one worn out shoe string. Now I’m on to other things. Startups are in my blood, but my family cannot account for its origin.
I love listening to peoples’ story; thanks for sharing some of yours and prompting others.
@Gary - “Startups are in my blood, but my family cannot account for its origin.” - I wonder though if that’s true because I often find people are driven by examples of what they don’t want just as much as examples of what they want to emulate.
I must have gotten my entrepreneurialism from my dad. My mom was a nurse for 40 years. But my dad? He was an adventurer. He was a naval officer, then a monk, after grad student became a psychologist, and finally settled in comfortably as an executive coach. He started his own practice when he was about 45.
Psychology and marketing are kissing cousins, closely related but with a different look.
Adrianne Machina, DTM Coach
http://TornadoMktg.com
I hire many folks, and one interview question I always ask is ‘what sort of work did your father do?’. It is fascinating how well this maps onto folks ability to be entrepreneurial. We learn what we are surrounded by. I want to know that folks can be creative, understand business in a visceral way, and that they are decent, conscious people. After I know that, I can look more specifically at skills.
Fascinating discussion here.
1. I am a solopreneur, online publisher, because I am in love with ideas, I love analyzing and coming up with new takes on marketing issues. I am happiest when I am creating.
2. My parents: dad was a cement truck driver; mom raised four kids and was resourceful in, and committed, to supplementing the income: picking berries, peeling bark (yes, we actually sold it to pharmaceutical companies who made laxative out of it), cleaning other people’s houses.
3. How did it impact my entrepreneurial spirit? I guess Rich would have never hired me after asking what my father did, but though they didn’t own businesses, I got (through the gene pool and/or role modeling): looking at multiple points of view, creativity, a sense of humor, a phenomenal work ethic, intuition in judging people—their motives, values and character—and a certain (yes, sometimes stubborn) stick-to-it-iveness.
Hey, bring on the stories!!!!
1) I do what I do because I love it and I’m good at it! My first entrepreneurial experience was starting a nonprofit 11 years ago after experimenting with creating programs in the nonprofits I previously worked for. After that, it was a short hop, skip and jump to starting my own for-profit businesses.
Now I’m a public speaking coach and I’ve finally put my background and education together into the perfect career.
2) My mother has probably worked for three or four companies her entire adult life, very traditional and settled into her jobs. My father, however, was an entrepreneur and still is.
I remember that the first time he left his job was to become a writer for a year or so. At some point after that, he started an engineering recruiting company with a partner, who didn’t stick around long. After fifteen years or so, the business folded, and he went back to work for other companies. But as he approaches retirement, he has kept up his entrepreneurial projects on the side.
3) Whether my dad succeeded or failed at his endeavors, I learned that taking risks was okay, and that doing what you love is worth some struggle and effort. We’re optimists, I guess, which is pretty important when you’re an entrepreneur…
Okay, I’ll bite - the comments thus far are intersting and somewhat familiar.
First: I have recently launched a business called Adaugeo Development, where we strive to live up to the Latin portion of our name by providing solutions to empower small businesses to improve, become better, grow, and seek maximum potential. I’m a little new to all of the XHTML code, but you can find us at http://adaugeodevelopment.com
Second: My dad retired from auto mechanics after 40 years. He was a hard worker, and provided for our family in a respectable manner; however, I know he was never satisfied with his career - and frankly, neither was I. It may sound cruel, but I realized he was beneath his potential before he did. My mom was just that - a mom, until my sister and I were nearly grown. I am thankful for her sacrifice. After we were grown, she became a secretary for a nationally recognized company; and since has developed into the personel manager for the local branch.
Finally: My parent’s situations have shaped me in various ways, both for good and bad. I’ll attempt to note some of the major things that immediately come to mind.
My father instilled a spirit of fear in me, that took 25 years to overcome. Even today, he recognizes that my accomplishments have far exceeded his own, yet still offers caution as his constant advice. However, my inability to accept fear as the ultimate negative motivation was, I suppose, the straw that broke the camel’s back and forced me to finally launch my own business - so in a wierd way, I’m grateful for the experience.
My mom was probably always more aware of the fact that our family (as a unit) was beneath it’s potential. Yet, she exhibited patience and perserverance in the face of all of it. I have not yet mastered that patience thing; however, I refuse to quit. I thank my mom for instilling this in me.
I’ve never really pondered it to any degree - perhaps until today. Sure, it would be nice to go back and change some things. But, since it’s not possible… why worry about the past? Rather, I suggest - reflect on it, learn from it, and change it going forward.
I started off as a print designer, then moved to web design. I needed to build out my websites, so I learned about website development. After I had everything built I needed to market them which then led to Internet Marketing and SEO.
All of my design skills and old techniques of building out websites came from school. As soon as I got into the working world I was blessed by working for a fantastic company that specialized in SEO and internet marketing.
I love what I do so freelance after hours never seemed like more work. I’m close to making the same paycheck from my freelance, but have yet to take the plunge.
My father is a doctor with a private practice but I never thought of him as an entrepreneur or even owning his own business. Mom worked with him in the office.
I don’t think that their choices effected mine, but who knows. I just think I love what I do so when I can’t get enough at work it overflows over to the freelance world.
This subject has interested for more than 25 years. I wrote a blog post some time ago that listed 100 characteristics of entreprenuers. Maybe these will help someone out.
http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/2008/02/12/100-attributes-of-successful-entrepreneurs-now-an-e-book/
Interesting quest, John,
I’m an independent business consultant and technology specialist. I began my own business 10 years ago, built a network of subcontractors and was chugging along fine until a health issue cratered my business. The person I chose to take my place for 2 weeks, couldn’t. I wound up finding income and a place to rest in an LLC that I had cofounded with another consultant. We incorporated three years ago. We provide a web application product he developed and I am the COO. It is a sweet business (just broke 1M in revenue) with a great vision and I ought to love it, but I don’t. Maybe because it’s just not my vision. So, at the end of this month, I’m soloing again with a variety of businesses that I’m focusing on, one at a time, none of which have made any money yet. I feel like a fool, but, hey, I’ll be a happy fool.
I love being in business for myself. I have, however, significant issues and problems in very basic areas where I don’t even know I have problems until they bite me from behind. I often feel that at least one entrepreneuial resource in my family would have helped tremendously. Not only was there no one in my family to talk to, I went on to develope habits of not seeking advice and trying to do everything myself, instead of listening to “no” and “don’t” one more time. Not good enterpreneurial traits.
My father was an engineer and a mid-level manager in a large corporation. In later life, he transitioned to niche technical sales. My mother’s father owned a dairy, and my mother hated the life of a small businessman. She was a homemaker, with a capital H, and never worked or sold anything, even when a little money may have come in handy for the family.
The impact on my entrepreneurial spirit? God it was hard. I had to move to another city before I felt anonymous enough to build a new life and step out on my own. Everyone I talked to about self-employment painted pictures of homelessness and starvation. It’s funny now but I wasn’t laughing then, and I am still fearful, even though this time around I know it can be done.
One thing though. My father told me before he died how much he admired me for what I have managed to do, and that he was proud of me. That makes up for a lot.
I grew up without money and raised my kids without money,but we were not poor. Someone taught me to read and I read to them, encouraging them to read. My parents took risks, I take risks, my kids are winners with great projects in hand and ahead. We would be bored with anything else.
1) Why do you do what you do?
I am the black sheep of my family. Everyone in my family plays it safe and do not take much risk at all. So why do I do what I do? I never went with the flow. Why - I am not really sure. I never followed the crowd in school. I observed people and listened close to what others would say. There was always a common theme I picked up on which was hearing people talk about missed chances to take a risk and do something special. If they had it to do over again, they would - and so on. I heard enough of this growing up - and watched those who did take risk and go their own way have great success. That success may not have come on the first time, second - or even the third time but the ones that stayed with it usually made it.
2) What did your parents do?
My mom worked at a bank doing teller work and retired in new accounts. My dad worked in factories for most of his life, got a 2 yr degree at the age of 50 and was an electrical engineer until he retired at 70.
3) How did that impact your entrepreneurial spirit?
While playing it safe and going with the norm is fine and works ok for most, I never knew anyone that played it safe and did not take risk make it big with an idea.
I do what I do because it simply makes me look forward to my day. Pretty simple stuff but I am still burning midnight oil and getting up a 6:00 AM because I want to get back and do this marketing stuff over again. It’s great.
My parents worked a variety of jobs and my dad was self-employed several times in his life. But I think my true inspiration was being the youngest of 5 and always wanting to be different than them. Going to small parochial schools, the nuns would always say, “Are you…., brother?” Well I wanted to be different and typically by the end of the 1st quarter they had stoped comparing me to the others, good or bad??
My spirit by the way has always been to become a master of something. Never have went into much halfway.
Good post John! Allowed me to write for myself instead of others.
1) I ran a business for about 2 years while in school. Got a job after that, but had an itch to go into my own business again. I love it for several reasons:
- I learn something new every day
- I don’t get bored - everyday I’m doing something different.
- It gives me the freedom to do things my way.
- The amount of money I make depends on the effort I put in.
2) My parents always encouraged my entrepreneurial efforts.
3) Definitely helped.
So, this is interesting as I’m not like either of my parents. I’m a recovering telecom professional, MBA, CPA type turned Executive Coach, Speaker, Writer/Blogger, Internet Marketer and real estate investor. I own my coaching practice and Six Figure Moms Club. I’ve written a book, QUITTING IS EVERYTHING!, and see myself continuing to be an entrepreneur for the rest of life in lieu of returning to a corporate job. My parents weren’t risk takers. My father worked in Vocational Rehabilitation retraining disabled employees and my mother worked as a paramedic and in the insurance industry. I can’t think of any other entrepreneurial role models I grew up around and really think I was born with an innate drive to be an entrepreneur. It’s in my blood! Love to hear more about where this research takes you. Keep me posted!
Angie A. Swartz, Founder, Six Figure Moms Club
http://www.SixFigureMomsClub.com