Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

How critical is it for an entrepreneur to be on their own? Is having a partner necessary, or a sort of "crutch?" Does a community of other "alone" people provide sufficient interaction to overcome the isolation of being the sole proprietor? Is there a value difference between "alone" v. "lonely?"

BrandAlchemy brought up a very interesting point in the thread about what we`ve learned in 2006. In his post, he speaks about realizing just how lonely it is to be an entrepreneur.

That got me thinking about something Rush Limbaugh mentions fairly often regarding his success on the radio. Limbaugh found millions of conservatives who in their own neighborhood felt alone in their views. It wasn`t until they heard his focal point on the radio that they discovered they weren`t alone.

I`ve heard that writing is a lonely business, and it`s true. But when I worked on the A+ book, it was with a partner. Even so, we would talk about how useful it was having someone else directly involved. When we`d reach a block, my partner would mention it to his wife, who, with great faith in him, would tell him she was confident he`d solve the problem. Somehow.

He and I talked about how nobody at all knew what it was like trying to get onto paper all the content of the book. Everyone else just assumed we`d do it, and then their jobs would come into play; editing, proofing, printing, layout, and so on.

In the ensuing years, as I`ve chosen to go forward with writing, I`ve realized just how seductive is the desire to have a co-author, partner, or other type of "group." And yet, because I`m sure of what I want to say, more often than not I just get frustrated when a partner doesn`t write exactly the same way, exactly the same thought. It`s a rock and a hard place.

I wonder: Maybe one reason so many people abandon their dream of being an entrepreneur is that they feel lost without someone making a group effort. On the other hand, what are the odds that someone else will have exactly the same amount and intensity of passion for your own, unique idea?

Is it a bad thing, then, being alone as the final (or only) decision-maker? Do you think it`s that fear of making "final"decisions" that eventually brings down so many small businesses? True, it also is making bad decisions, but I wonder how much of a factor it is to be that one alone who makes the decisions?

Craig,

I don`t believe "being alone", "lonely", etc. have anything to do with being a successful enterprenuer ... and being an entreprenuer does not always mean a one-person firm. However, I do believe, as Napoleon Hill teaches, that to be successful in life and work one must develop the ability and habit of reaching decisions promptly and changing these decisions slowly ... if and when they are changed. The very successful people he observed for TAGR followed this habit ... reach decisions promptly and change them slowly. The majority of people (and do your own survey) reach decisions, if at all, very slowly and change them quickly and often. Successful people do not.

And this all leads back to the "Master Mind" group and having that select group of people in your confidence. This group will be in complete harmony with YOUR purpose.

With the support of your Master Mind group and developing the habit of making decisions quickly, life is not lonely and you will never feel alone. You will always need to obtain facts and information from others to help you reach your decisions and this is the purpose of your Master Mind group.

The successful entreprenuers I know have never told me they were lonely or felt alone. I guide my clients using Hill`s teachings and the results are amazing. I know some upstart entreprenuers may feel alone or lonely, but they need to eliminate these feelings ASAP. And the sooner the better.

R@

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog

Even when I had engineer and technician working with me, I felt lonely because they`re not at my level of thinking and responsibility.  It`s beneficial to have peers to bounce ideas off, to brainsstorm, and to review one`s work.  I work in electronics so design reviews can save serious design oversight hence time and money.
My wife has no clue about what I do.  She has little knowledge about business (and technologies) and even worse, little interest in whatever I do or trying to accomplish, therefore she`s of no help, but rather one more obstacle to overcome.

I like the idea of Master Mind but can`t get that any where in my little town, at least I haven`t found my peers due to my being entrepreneur and them employees.  That`s one reason why I like SuN, as idea exchange medium, although very limited.

I live in Sonoma/CA area.  Anyone interested in  deeper brainstorming or some form of partnership or casual conference/meal is welcome to email me, because there`s no substitute for face-to-face discussion.  I develop arguably the best classD amplifiers and next generation of inverters and can use some sales/marketing partner, the engineering part is pretty much done.  I`m preparing to launch a new series of high-end audio amplifiers or OEM amp modules, and a bit later, inverters.


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When I read BrandAlchemy`s post, where he mentioned he`s feeling lonely being as an entrepreneur I took a deep breathe and said, "Good, so I am not the only one who feels this way!"  As a matter of fact, about a week ago I had sent an email to my best friend in Santa Monica telling her how `alone` I feel trying to get this business going!

People in the restaurant business don`t seem to like sharing their experiences for some reason.  I see lots of meet-up groups for this and that but never one for the restaurant.  Do they see every single restaurant out there as competitions? I do not know!  I sure hope not! 

I totally agree with Innovator7 stating that there`s no substitute for face-to-face discussion.  I am definitely thirst for some brainstorm time!!

 

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Life isn`t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

Richard,

Would you say that this Master Mind group is anything like a "peer review" type of group?

I can easily understand why a place like SuN is a haven for people who feel they`re the only one interested in their particular passion. All too often I`ve heard stories like Innovator`s, where even a spouse has no understanding or real passion for the other`s project.

And so I wonder: We`ve had some discussion about whether or not a commercial venture might develop out of SuN. It may or may not. But what about a way to structure the forums into a sort of SIG---a "special interest group" structure?

In this case, perhaps people who really ARE of like mind, working in a similar field, could more easily find each other. I think my intent for the post was mostly only to open a forum for people who not only feel they`re alone in their project, but also worry that they may somehow be unusual, weird, or otherwise have some sort of character flaw.

It`s not at all unusual to feel totally alone as an entrepreneur. However, it`s true that those who figure out how to not feel alone also often tend to be more quickly successful. :-) An interesting problem.

Special Interest Group doesn`t work well for entrepreneurs especially inventors because of concerns about IP and trade secrets.  I have lots of breakthrus in my designs and don`t want strangers` eyes. But "don`t cry for me" in the technical areas because it`s a trade of reviews vs time and cost.  Market insight from other perspectives is more valuable to me.  But then trade shows may take care of that.

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Okay, maybe special interest group wasn`t the right term. Then again, not every entrepreneur is in the inventing arena, where problems would come up relative to secrets and such.

I suppose that certain types of entrepreneurial ventures are going to, in their nature, be lonely endeavors. Particularly if the focus of the work really is something never-before-seen, but that could easily be stolen when still in its idea form.

On the other hand, consider Meitzi`s idea of a restaurant. There are zillions of restaurants out there, but only a restaurant owner would be passionate about the trials and tribulations of finding the perfect salt-and-pepper shakers.

A targeted forum for those who are starting something in the food service might provide an easier way for ONLY restaurant people to come together and bemoan the fact that nobody else understands the importance of choosing the right floor tiling. Maybe?

SuN profiles do offer a lot in the way of biographical text. But maybe it`d be helpful to have a larger category base to list "what type of business" someone is in.

Suppose there was an easy way to search out "inventors." You (Innovator) wouldn`t have to necessarily get all detailed about your exact invention. But you certainly could raise a couple of beers in a rant about the miseries of dealing with patent lawyers.

I, as a writer, have little knowledge or understanding of those patent attorney issues and problems. Although I can identify with and commiserate over problems in general facing inventors, my particular problems arise more out of organizing 5-billion words. Only another author would relate to worrying for an hour about whether "silly" or "ridiculous" is a better choice of word in a sentence. See?

My preference is to have motivated and ethical partners.  That`s very difficult nowaday, it seems.  I had nothing but unethical partners to the point we end up with lawsuits soon.  Even my previous corporation`s counsel was unethical and was violating corporate laws to the point I resigned as CTO and chairman and went solo, leaving the company I originally founded falling apart to "teach" them a lesson, well, that company has little chance of going public as an exit, while I have good prospects for my current one, which has the greatest and latest IPs and their developer, your truly.

But I guess I`m digressing.  Of course one needs to network and looks for strategic partners.  I`ve got a guy to do that so I can focus on R&D.  If he doesn`t deliver he doesn`t make his commission, and then I`ll do the marketing/sales myself.  Right now my tactic is to bootstrap and grow slowly, organically while sending out probes for strategic investors, e.g. 2-3 major corporations that have lots of interest inmy technologies.  There is only one thing I don`t like: They`re Taiwanese companies that my Taiwanese guy knows.  We shall see.  There`re other US companies that would love to have my IP except they`re not as aggressive in acquiring IP.  But all this has nothing to do with this thread.  No It`s not good to go solo but sometimes it`s circumstantial that way.


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Go Green and put more money onto your bottom line with award-winning LED-based light bulbs PearlLED. If you manage a good sized store/business and want to boost the bottom line, call us!

I think that I would be very lonely if it weren`t for the internet. Having forums like this one, and chatting with my online acquaintances are necessary for me to feel connected.

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Chris

The Dippy Chick Company, Inc.

Craig,

I do not consider a Master Mind group the same as a peer group or even an advisory group.

Using Hill`s teachings, I have developed a Master Mind group that is very small. These are people who I consider friends, I totally trust. Some I have worked with before. Some have been friends for many, many years. They can be trusted and they keep ideas confidential. We share knowledge and information on an ongoing and regular basis. Some live far away but in today`s connected world, this is not a problem. I bounce ideas off of these people and they do the same with me. It is not always about work at hand.

A peer group is a great thing to participate in, too. As I`ve said before, I belong to Vistage. This is a true peer group. All members are from different industries and work areas. This is a monthly meeting - all day. We bring issues to the table and utilize the vast experience of all to solve each others issues. We work on personal life issues, too. We have speakers come in. We do lots of business exercises. We have reading assignments. It`s amazing how issues in different business environments are really so much alike. Having 15 other brains looking at your issues can help find solutions very quickly and help you work through them in a rapid manner. There are many peer type groups available beyond Vistage. Some are even entirely online now. I highly recommend trying to find a peer group to join.

An advisory group is different, too. I highly recommend to my clients - especially those that are growing - to seek out business people in their communities to join their business advisory group. Think of it as a small business board of directors. However, versus a large corporation board, these people do not have control over the business - they just help you run your business better by providing an outside view. Of course, if you ask folks to be on your advisory board, you should be willing to reciprocate and be on boards of other companies in your area. It is a great way to build relationships, stay connected in your community, promote your business, etc.

Friends and family usually (but not always) do not make good choices for peer groups or advisory boards. Opinions are nice and everyone has one but opinions alone are not what a smart business person needs ... and many friends and family are usually very willing to just throw out opinions without much thought - at least that is my experience. Business people need other serious business people helping them.

When it comes to a Master Mind group, don`t think you have to have some large group of 5, 10, 15 or more people in this group. For many years, my group was me and one other person ... I just kept working at it and soon the group grew - but it is still very small and probably always will be. There`s not many people who you will find that fit the profile.

R@

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog