Values
June 5, 2006

Q:  Mr. Strauss: I have seen some of your articles around my boss' office and the small business owners you describe don't sound like him at all.  He's a jerk, and works us too hard and pays us too little.  No one likes working here.  Why don't you write about guys like him? -- Scott, Arizona
A:  I know only too well that there are plenty of small business owners who are difficult people, who think being the boss means they can do whatever they darn well please.

I once worked for an attorney who seemed to get joy -- I mean actual joy -- out of making my life difficult. One day she gave me an assignment that should have realistically taken me about a month to complete, and demanded it the next day.

After sleeping only three hours, I turned in what was, of course, an incomplete disheveled project. When I asked her why she needed it so fast, given that there was no way I could come close to doing even a mediocre job, she replied "Oh, I was just testing you."

Yes, there are a lot of jerk bosses out there.

But this is what I know too: The vast majority of entrepreneurs and small business owners are fairly amazing people, people with great values, the sort of people you want to know.

Whereas the stereotypical view of a businessperson is some boring, insensitive lout who only cares about money, the truth is far, far different:

Entrepreneurs are idealists. We know this has to be true. If it were not, then the naysayers, Nopeys, and obstacles would have stopped them. But nothing stopped them.

Instead, what you are witnessing when you see a small business while driving down the road is the physical manifestation of some entrepreneur who was struck by an idea that she could not shake. You are seeing the vision of an idealist.

I had a friend once who ran a little antique store. I would pop in to see him on occasion and ask how he was doing. "Living the dream, my friend," he would answer, "livin' the dream."

Entrepreneurs are incredibly hard working. No one said starting and running a small business is easy because it isn't. It takes an incredible amount of hard work to wear all the different hats we are forced to wear.

Entrepreneurs are highly creative. Sure artists are creative. That's their job. But consider the small business owner: Not only must she come up with an idea for a business, she must be creative enough to figure out how to fund it, and then how to launch it and grow it. Moreover, not only must she have creative ideas, but her creative ideas must turn a profit. Let's see Mozart do that!

Entrepreneurs are smart: Whether it is accounting or marketing or sales or computers, entrepreneurs, by necessity, must master a variety of skills if they are to succeed. And that in turn requires plenty of smarts.

Entrepreneurs are go-getters: Hustling for customers, coming up with a new profit center, building that new strategic alliance -- it's all in a day's work for the small business owner. Show me an entrepreneur who does not take the initiative and I'll show you an entrepreneur who is out of work.

Entrepreneurs change the world: Entrepreneurs are the ones who take the risks and invent the new products. They are the ones who create the most new jobs. They are the ones who build a middle class. And they are the ones who care for their employees, care for their customers, care for their shareholders, and care for their communities. Entrepreneurs make a difference.

So while I cannot dispute that there are a few bad apples out there, there is no way they spoil the bunch. Not this bunch.

No, today I have come to praise entrepreneurs, not to bury them.

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