Not only do I believe that everyone has the potential to be a business owner... an entrepreneur. But I also believe that everyone already is.
It's just a matter of how you look at and compare the concept of "employed by someone else" versus "employed by self."
Here's what I mean:
Let's say, for example, Acme Company employs John Doe. But, for the moment, let's not think about John Doe as a person with a job and a paycheck. Think of him as John Doe, president of the John Doe Company -- an entrepreneur.
As president of the John Doe Company, John knows exactly what he needs to do in order to keep his one customer (the Acme Company) happy. He needs to produce quality work, deliver on time, keep communication channels open, bring in new ideas, add to profitability, and so on.
If he does all this, the Acme will continue doing business with the John Doe Company. However, if he doesn't live up to its expectations, Acme will look for a new vendor (perhaps the Bill Smith Company) and stop doing business with John's company.
Now, the way I see it, the only real difference between this John Doe Company and any other is that this one has only one customer.
But let's say John comes to realize that he could do whatever he does for another company at the same time he's providing those services to the Acme. Then John's company would then have two customers. John is still doing the same work, but now he's doing it for two companies.
I know this is a strange comparison or analogy. Some people get it instantly. Others need to think about it a bit.
When the light comes on, most people are able to see that they are now and always have been in their own business... and that there's not really much difference between working for someone else and working for oneself. This holds true whether you worked as an executive, mechanic, secretary, sales clerk, bookkeeper, truck driver, or whatever.
Your success has always depended on you and you alone... and always will!
So the bottom line is that if you have 10 or 15 or 20 years of experience working as an employee for someone else and you've kept your boss (the Acme Company) happy, you most likely have the potential to start and operate a business of your own.
People will say to me, "Yes, but being in your own business is risky." To that, these days, I point to the 14 million people who were feeling pretty secure until the bottom fell out.
