Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

A bit like `religion` maybe...

Well, no....not quite. :-)

One of the lesser-understood factors in why we have the meltdown taking place around us today is that there can always be two basic ways to "spin" something.

For almost 100 years, we`ve had people choosing to take the superficial meaning of concepts and use them as if they were using real knowledge. But underneath those superficialities lay the core principles.

We`ve now split the culture and society in half. Conservatives focus on the underlying, core principles. Progressive liberals prefer to focus on the superficial meaning.

So religion as a money-maker looks only at the superficialities of dogmatic religions. But religion as a spiritual foundation requires a more complex understanding of the concepts. It`s that effort and work required to do the thinking that people would rather leave to someone else. :-)

Apologies - was not suggesting that `religion as a whole is a money maker`.

Was simply refering to this part of your statement:

"The danger lies in whole populations coming to accept that unfounded arguments actually are true, or real science."

And isn`t it true that: "todays untruths are potentially tomorrows truths?"

Going back to the entrepreneur nature-nurture debate;

Are we beginning to over complicate/over analyse things now...especially since we seem to be in agreement that regardless of how an entrepreneur came to be one - nature or nurture or combination of both - an entrepreneur is still an entrepreneur?

Maybe I`m a bit confused. But with this being true, I still don`t see how this matters because nothing is going to change this person`s perception, is it? Whether entrepreneurs are born or made or both, if someone feels they weren`t born for entrepreneurship, or don`t have enough background and subsequently want to quit...is having the answer to this going to change anything?


-------------------------

Motivation for Entrepreneurs
Entre-Propel.com

People are born with certain raw potential. Some people are born with more than others. All men aren`t created equal. Not everyone has enough potential to survive as an entrepreneur. So, in that regard, entrepreneurs are born.

-------------------------

Making limitless possibilities much more limited.

The point I`m arguing is about whether or not the topic question matters. I`m not arguing that an entrepreneur is an entrepreneur, so who cares how they got that way.

Instead, I`m focusing on the consequences of the debate to the average person who`s trying to decide whether to start a business.

In other words, my interest in philosophy is how it applies to everyday life. How do these questions and word-definitions have practical application? What really happens as a result of the conclusions someone draws from these discussions?

Each of these types of questions is a small part in an avalanche. Tracking back to the fountainhead, we`re basically talking about genetics being the sole cause in all human behavior and thought. From there, anthropologists tell us that human beings fundamentally are isolated individuals.

We`re told that the "instinct" to reproduce is the key factor in all human events. Our "need" to spread our DNA drives everything. Nobody "naturally" gets along with anyone because "might over right" is the bottom line.

Taken together, each of these seemingly unanswerable or unprovable questions form part of a massive tidal wave of uncertainty.

If you`re a cube farmer, or a stay-at-home mom, or you`ve just lost your job, or you`ve been out of work for a year or two, what do you want to do? Wouldn`t you want to try and start a business?

Then if you`re hearing everywhere that entrepreneurs are either genetic structures or they`re formed by luck of an environment, what`s your conclusion?

Do you give up before you even start? Or do you start, then fail (as most entrepreneurs do, time and again), and decide that you just don`t have the right stuff?

What matters is to make a realistic appraisal of your skills, your talents, your character, your beliefs, and your philosophy. If you`re not a "self-starter," then partner with someone who is.

But how do you know if someone has the potential to become an entrepreneur? You leave work at 5 o`clock, meet your friends somewhere and spring the idea of starting a business. Will you be the CEO, or will you partner with someone who could be that CEO?

Over and over again, we hear from community members that they introduce an idea for a new business. Their friends, family, advisors, mentors, bosses, kids.....everyone tells them they`re wasting their time. They`re fools. They`re "stupid." And most often, it`s because they`re told that they`re not genetically or environmentally configured to be an entrepreneur.

So yes it matters! Without a moral sanction and a sense of certainty that we`re either an entrepreneur by nature, or a production developer who wants to partner with an entrepreneur, we just sink below the waves. An idea forms, blooms, and fades into oblivion, never acted upon.

That`s true. I have my fair share of naysayers. Fortunately, my naysayers tell me I`m foolish for trying to be an entrepreneur in this economy, in this environment. I haven`t faced any doubts of my natural ability to pull off entrepreneurship, excepting my own self doubt. I face tons of criticism for starting now. If fellow startups want my suggestion, if the only solution to the criticism at hand is giving up, ignore the criticism. If the criticism can be negotiated, then it`s constructive and should be heeded. "You don`t have what it takes to be an entrepreneur," should be greeted with a middle finger. "You`ll have an uphill battle getting financing if you don`t supply any equity yourself," should be greeted with an open ear.

-------------------------

Making limitless possibilities much more limited.

Hey, there Matt... :-)
See, this is why things matter. One option in confronting the naysayers is to get angry, point out the flaw of their argument using the middle Pointer Finger, and just do it anyway.

But in any conflict between the will and the imagination, the imagination ALWAYS will win!

Anger is a result of willpower. But the imagination is what`s crucial to inspiration, new ideas, problem-solving, and creativity. If you can`t use your imagination because all it causes is self-doubt, you end up hobbled.

The solution is to ignore the whole thing. Instead of wondering if you "have the right stuff" to be an entrepreneur, focus on solving the problem of starting a business.

Either you start the business, or you run the business, or you work at the business. If you`re not comfortable working "on" the business, then focus on working "in" the business. Then partner with someone who gets excited by strategic planning and brainstorming.

Every mental argument you have with people telling you how you can`t do what you`re doing, wastes your time and takes away from the time of invention. It takes away energy, and distracts you from actually solving each daily problem.

I see. So in this case, I agree, it would matter. If a person is thinking about going into entrepreneurship, they may be discouraged if they believe that entrepreneurs are born or if they are lacking experience.

However, how does one really know if they are a born entrepreneur? Furthermore, how does one gain experience in entrepreneurship without starting out as a newbie, like all of us have done?

I can see how the question matters to one considering the avenue of entrepreneurship, but in reality, the only real way to find the answer to this question is to jump in and do it...and at that point the question becomes irrelevant, doesn`t it?


-------------------------

Motivation for Entrepreneurs
Entre-Propel.com

:-) We`re agreed. The bottom line is "Just Do It." If you don`t immediately succeed, assume that you did something wrong, not that you`re built the wrong way or you didn`t have the "advantages of an upbringing."

Too many people are looking for ways to blame everything that goes wrong with their lives on something or someone else. Their parents didn`t educate them, they were poor, they weren`t this or that, their genes are screwed up...whatever.

But not so many people are willing to examine their own actions and conclude, "Hey....that was wrong. I need to fix it!"