Page 20 - Business Plans that Work A Guide for Small Business

Entrepreneurs Create the Future • 11

often with the goal that the business will outlive them. In a sense, creating
a business is a form of immortality. Many of the largest businesses in the
country are privately held family businesses that pass from generation to
generation. Marriott Hotels, Molson Beer, Mars (the chocolate manufac-
turer of such brands as M&Ms and Snickers), Tyson Foods, and L.L.Bean
are just a sampling of family-owned firms that survive their founder. So
what does it take to be successful?
The first step is to assess what you want to achieve in the long run.
We all have to work to support ourselves and our families. Entrepreneur-
ship can be an attractive alternative to the traditional job. But just as you
set goals in a traditional job (annual performance reviews), you should set
goals for an entrepreneurial career. The goals should be both personal and
professional, and you need to understand the tradeoffs between the two. For
example, many people claim that they are pursuing entrepreneurship to be
their own boss. Entrepreneurs are far from independent and have to serve
many masters and constituencies, including partners, investors, customers,
suppliers, creditors, employees, families, and those involved in social and
community obligations. Entrepreneurs, however, can make free choices of
whether, when, and what they care to respond to. Moreover, it is extremely
difficult, and rare, to build a business beyond $1 million to $2 million in
sales single-handedly. Thus the tradeoff is that, to be successful, you have to
recognize who the important stakeholders are, but you do have final say.
Other people pursue entrepreneurship to set their own hours. The
underlying implication is that you can work fewer than the standard 40
hours a week that you might have in a corporate job. The reality is that to
start a successful, growing venture (one that has the potential to be a sus-
tainable ongoing concern), you will likely exceed 40 hours a week every
week. The typical mantra of entrepreneurs is that they get to “work any
eighty hours a week that they want.” So understand the tradeoffs going
into an entrepreneurial career, because if you are surprised by the level of
commitment required, you’ll more than likely fail.
Surprisingly, the primary motive that drives most people to entrepre-
neurship isn’t the opportunity to become incredibly wealthy. Entrepreneurs
seeking high-potential ventures are more driven by building enterprises
and realizing long-term capital gains than by instant gratification through
high salaries and perks. A sense of personal achievement and accomplish-
ment, feeling in control of their own destiny, and realizing their vision
and dreams are also powerful motivators. Money is viewed as a tool and
a way of keeping score.