The Century Of The Entrepreneur
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Dateline: America, 12-27-
It is the dawn of an exciting new age. It can be said that "The Century of the Entrepreneur" is about to begin. Smart people are developing new and exciting technology while other ingenious entrepreneurs are perfecting and commercializing their recent developments.
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What's wrong with this picture? Yeah, the year is missing. That insidious little 2 (should have been 4) digit year field. What century did you think I was referring to? Well, let's think about that. Have entrepreneurs really changed all that much in the past hundred years? Consider these dates:
1899 - Mr. Ford didn't invent the automobile, but he was working on mass production technology which would make cars affordable for the masses, conveniently coinciding with rising incomes and better roads. (Did you know that there were over 50 automobile manufacturers in the U.S. as the calendar struck 1900?)
1999 - Mr. Gates didn't invent the personal computer, but his products did make it desirable to have one on every desk, conveniently coinciding with technological improvements which make PCs affordable for the masses.
That Was Then
January 1, 1900 dawned on Messrs. Ford, Kellog, Dow, Edison, et al, on their way to creating a few hundred major corporations, which employed most of the rest of us. Even though there was a lot of entrepreneurial excitement a hundred years ago, the 20th became the century of the major corporation; the kind of corporations these entrepreneurs had to build in order to produce and deliver the fruit of their ingenuity.
Regardless of the industry, the 20th century's early entrepreneurs all needed one common commodity that was essential to their success: workers. Employees to "man" the assembly lines, loading docks, offices, and briefcases of Big Business. And boy-oh-boy did America have employees! Motivated, hard working, grateful employees, with millions more being imported through the gates of Ellis Island.
Nothing bad here; the relationship was win-win as the American Dream was becoming a reality. Millions of Americans were virtually adopted by big companies in the 20th century. First receiving a steady job, then along came the comprehensive benefits package, which became de facto entitlements. You worked for the same company for 40, you got your retirement party and your watch, you took your pension and went home.
This Is Now
January 1, 2000 will dawn on hundreds of latter-day Fords who are also building some pretty large organizations. But one thing is different this time around: The prospective labor pool. You and I are not sitting around hoping a new plant will be built in our town so we can leave the farm or the immigration department to line up at the employment office. Nor are we likely to consider moving to wherever one is being built. Millions, no, tens-of-millions are saying, "been there, done that."
Whether by design or necessity, Americans are AWOL at the employment office. Finding, hiring, and keeping good employees is not just a problem in our marketplace, it's a crisis. But how could that be? There were 76 million people living in the "land of the free" in 1900. Today, Americans number over 270 million. So, how in the name of Dow Jones could there not be plenty of people to work? Well, you won't find the answer in a census. The answer is in our hearts. That's where I keep my faith, don't you?
Thirty years ago I put my faith in Fortune 500, and was among the faithful for over 20 years. Motivated. Hard working. Grateful. Today, I reserve that kind of faith for myself and my vision. And I have millions of fellow travelers. Perhaps you are one, too. Does this sound familiar? "I don't want a job, I want equity. I don't aspire to be 'kicked upstairs' to a corner office, I want to be kicked downstairs to my home office." The operative words being "my" and "equity."
Small business owners created 12 millions net new jobs this decade. You and I did this. One little job at a time. Indeed, the first job most of us created was hiring ourselves. I am so proud of us.
New Leverage For Entrepreneurs
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Dateline: Earth. 12-27-99
It is the dawn of an exciting new age. It can be said that "The Century of the Entrepreneur" is about to begin. Everywhere you look smart people are developing new and exciting opportunities, while other ingenious entrepreneurs are perfecting and commercializing their developments.
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Nothing wrong with this picture. But this time, there are too many entrepreneurs to name. Millions. And one more thing is different: most of us entrepreneurs don't need to create an empire to accomplish our vision. IPOs are fine, but frankly, it's not on the list of goals of most of us. Instead of creating a large corporate structure we are achieving a different kind of critical mass by networking and developing strategic alliances, in both the traditional and the virtual marketplace.
A hundred years ago the only way entrepreneurs could achieve marketplace leverage was by creating mass with factories, office buildings, inventory, warehouses, rolling stock, branches, and LOTS of employees. The 21st century entrepreneur will use a new model for leverage: along with networking and alliances, technology will be used as leverage to accomplish great things with, if they so choose, relatively little mass in the 20th century sense.
You Can't Use A Buggy Whip For Leverage
You might be interested to learn that the wagon/buggy/carriage industry was vital and viable as late as 1910. Who knew, right?! Well, here's another way things have changed since 1899: As exciting as things are in 1999, I believe this period will actually be considered our "new" leverage model's Model T years. And we won't have to wait until the dawn of the 22nd century to realize this. We know it now.
Yeah, I think things are moving that fast. One last question: What leverage model are you investing your time, energy, and money in these days? I hope it's not in "buggy whips."
Write this on a rock... There is no turning back now. The networking/strategic alliance/technology train is leaving the 20th century station with a full head of steam, and it's passing through a global, virtual marketplace where entrepreneurs are finding fertile soil for their dreams. Don't get left behind. Buy a ticket and get yourself and your dream aboard. Do it now.
