Comments on: random thoughts on being an entrepreneur

By: luke

luke — Sun, 13 May 2007 07:32:00 +0000

Hugh,I am also an entrepreneur. I’d like to add to your thoughts. The best qualities of an entrepreneur is summarised in a Kipling’s poem “if”. It has helped me tremendously to deal with the up and down in entrepreneurial life. I think the solution for #4 is that: accept it, some people are never going to be an entrepreneur, you should appreciate the fact that it makes your life a bit less competitive.
“If”
If you can keep your head
when all about you men are losing theirs
and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
but make allowances for their doubting, too.
If you can wait but not be tired of waiting,
or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
and yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise,
If you can dream but not make dreams your master,
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with triumph and disaster,
and treat those two imposters just the same,
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
and stoop and build them up with worn-out tools,
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
and risk it on one turn of pitch and toss,
and lose and start again at your beginnings
and never breathe a word about your loss,
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone,
and to hold on when there is nothing in you
but the will that says to them “hold on,”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
or walk with kings nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
if all men count with you but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
with 60 seconds worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
and which is more, you’ll be a man, my son.

By: uropian

uropian — Sat, 12 May 2007 02:23:46 +0000

Nor can Mehtap! I want to say that your site better throughout the World Wide Web
Thank you. Keep it.

By: marti

marti — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:49:53 +0000

For all the complaining about working for others or being a slave, you would think that all small business owners would treat their employees well…unfortunately this is not the case.…its boils down to: Am I a slave or a slave owner?
Keeping people around you who dream the same dreams makes for a wonderful workplace. Especially if you allow employees to share in the rewards of success, and feel that you acknowledge their contribution to that success.
A fatal flaw of many entrepreneurs is that they think they are doing everything by themselves, and everybody else is a hinderance to their success.

By: Dave Howlett

Dave Howlett — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:02:06 +0000

Great Blog! Here are my 3 rules-to-live by:
1. Assume everyone you meet is intelligent
2. Have a passion for what you do
3. Get over yourself

By: jason cook

jason cook — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 20:53:59 +0000

Just realised after reading all that. I am a natural entrpreneur always have been, but never new it, thought it was what everyone wanted to do, can feel that comfortable feeling coming on again, time to step out of the comfort zone and smell the coffee

By: Orba

Orba — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 02:33:07 +0000

So great and so true, especially number 21…but have to say I don’t agree with 13, I think if you aren’t happy in your career then you should be doing something else.

By: Fisher's Human

Fisher's Human — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 05:08:59 +0000

This is a fantastic gathering of people who really know what it’s like to be an entrepeneur. Just gets me excited about things! #11 is a crucial step. One, because I like bars, and two, because one of the hardest things to master is a simple, succinct explanation of what the heck I am doing. How does that get to be so difficult?

By: fiat lux

fiat lux — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 04:54:38 +0000

w/r/t #4: Unless your customer base is comprised of fellow entrepreneurs, you absolutely must find a way to maintain a vital connection with non-entrepreneurs, because otherwise you’re going to have a more difficult time understanding their needs and how to satisfy them.
If you’re able to manage #23, then dealing with #4 should be possible; but if not, then you need to be aware of this weakness in yourself and make sure that key people on your team can fill that gap in your skillset.

By: Peter Flaschner

Peter Flaschner — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:16:56 +0000

Bravo to walter higgins and his comment above. Considering risk vs regret is a fantastic framework for examining the “entrepreneurial condition”.

By: Adam Jusko

Adam Jusko — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:58:10 +0000

#11 is interesting in that the advice from most business bigwigs is that you need to be able to explain your business in 8 words or less (or whatever). I’ve always that was a nice goal but not really set in stone.

By: James Governor

James Governor — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:45:27 +0000

its damn lucky your number 22 guy is complete edge case otherwise all your businesses other than stormhoek would fail. want to sell more yachts? more suits? that would be bloody hard if your customers didn’t suffer from status anxiety…
or maybe your target customers are old money rather than entrepreneurs…

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 07:07:45 +0000

“Random thought number 1 should have been “stick to what you know and do it really well”.”
Yep. Sounds like the makings of a bestseller to me. Oh, and while I’m at it, I might even remove my kid from Harvard Business School.…

By: Ben Rowe

Ben Rowe — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:36:56 +0000

Great list Hugh, we entrepreneurs need some inspiration fodder from time to time. Thanks for that.

By: Rex

Rex — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 05:16:16 +0000

Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, for without sun sets and sex workers the former would be a wasted effort. #1 is soo right and #4 makes christmas with the family difficult.

By: Big Dreams

Big Dreams — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 04:26:25 +0000

I liked #15