During the current election, the question of jobs and the economy are setting the agenda. One of the proposals being made is that increased tax cuts and extending tax cuts will lead to more investment, more entrepreneurship and thereby solve the economic problems the country faces. An entrepreneur is defined as: "one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise." Obvious, the assumption that entrepreneurs are the "job creators" is a false assumption, they are investors in risk. The essences of entrepreneurial activity is "creative destruction."
The entrepreneurial investor can chose to invest in people by building a business. But they can also invest in the capital assets of a company and liquidate the liabilities, i.e. fire people (employees); or they can invest in lottery tickets (Wall Street virtual products IPO's, swaps, etc.). They can invest in anything that offers an opportunity to make a profit. Only one of these creates jobs, the entrepreneur who invests in people. What kind of entrepreneur are you going to be?
I find very misleading the assumption that there is a distinction between employees and entrepreneurs. Some say that entrepreneurs create jobs and jobs creates employees. This is assumed to be the equation. So we are presented with the question:
I have found many people who seem to think that to be the entrepreneur is to be the boss and have control over the whole enterprise. They don't have to be "workers" because they are THE BOSS. It's their (or other peoples money that they control) that gives them the power to "boss," they claim. It certainly works for the entrepreneurial corporate raider
and investment banker. So my question to you is
The entrepreneur who does NOT see him/herself as an employee is a fool. To be an entrepreneur means that you are your own boss but you can't be boss unless you have an employee. And that employee is you long before you hire anyone else. And if the project fails, you are going to fire your last employee -- yourself. Only then can you go on to the next project, i.e. as long as you hold on to a losing proposition you are employed by yourself you are not freed until you fire yourself.
Control may feel good until you find that you are also accountable to all your stakeholders including yourself and your family for what comes from the responsibilities that control imposes upon you.
The entrepreneurial investor can chose to invest in people by building a business. But they can also invest in the capital assets of a company and liquidate the liabilities, i.e. fire people (employees); or they can invest in lottery tickets (Wall Street virtual products IPO's, swaps, etc.). They can invest in anything that offers an opportunity to make a profit. Only one of these creates jobs, the entrepreneur who invests in people. What kind of entrepreneur are you going to be?
I find very misleading the assumption that there is a distinction between employees and entrepreneurs. Some say that entrepreneurs create jobs and jobs creates employees. This is assumed to be the equation. So we are presented with the question:
I have found many people who seem to think that to be the entrepreneur is to be the boss and have control over the whole enterprise. They don't have to be "workers" because they are THE BOSS. It's their (or other peoples money that they control) that gives them the power to "boss," they claim. It certainly works for the entrepreneurial corporate raider
and investment banker. So my question to you is
Which would you rather be
an entrepreneur or an employee?
But for the rest of us, those of us who actually work for a living and make a meaningful contribute to society and our community, my answer to this question, and the theme of this Blog, isI better be both to be successful.
The entrepreneur who does NOT see him/herself as an employee is a fool. To be an entrepreneur means that you are your own boss but you can't be boss unless you have an employee. And that employee is you long before you hire anyone else. And if the project fails, you are going to fire your last employee -- yourself. Only then can you go on to the next project, i.e. as long as you hold on to a losing proposition you are employed by yourself you are not freed until you fire yourself.
Control may feel good until you find that you are also accountable to all your stakeholders including yourself and your family for what comes from the responsibilities that control imposes upon you.
If you are unemployed then you are a failed entrepreneur, and if you are a failed entrepreneur then you have been a poor boss to your sole employee -- YOURSELF.
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