Ready To Be A Professional Baby Boomer Entrepreneur?
When Seth Godin wrote this article, I ‘m sure he didn’t have us baby boomer entrepreneurs in mind. But it could have been written for us only because it speaks to our challenge. For that matter, it speaks to the challenge of entrepreneurs of all ages.
We know that the failure rate of entrepreneurs is high. Though we encourage baby boomers to become entrepreneurs as the alternative to traditional retirement, we know that the failure rate is also going to be high. The magic of what Seth has done here is to put his finger exactly upon the point that leads to so much failure.
We have the choice of stepping into this career path with either a naive mindset or a professional mindset. Most of the people with the naive mindset will fail. A few of the people with the professional mindset will also fail.
So, how are you going to approach your business to maximize the chance of success? Read Seth’s post for some valuable advice.
Shallie
Shallie Bey
Smarter Small Business Blog
http;//businessrebirth.blogspot.com
Naive or professional?
The naive farmer farms as his parents, grandparents and great grandparents did. She plants, hopes and harvests. Anything that goes well or poorly is the work of the gods.
The professional farmer measures. She tests. She understands how systems work and is constantly tweaking to improve them. When failure happens, she doesn’t rest until she understands why.
I didn”t use the word amateur, because money isn’t the point. The naive farmer is failing to take responsibility and failing to learn. The naive marathon runner straps on sneakers and runs (but doesn’t finish). The professional marathoner trains. The naive office worker empties his inbox. The professional works to understand how the office functions.
Mostly, the professional asks questions… What’s next? How to improve? What’s this worth? Why is this happening?
[By the way, it’s possible to be naive and happy. It’s difficult to be naive and productive, though.]
I spent the last week working with Western Seed and Juhudi Kilimo, two vibrant companies that are helping small-plot farmers in Kenya (and beyond) dramatically increase their yields, their income and their well-being. It became clear early on that the real challenge is to help the naive become professional. Once you open that door (whether it’s about how you build a website, swim laps or teach school), so many other things fall into place.
Before you can sell a service, a product or an insight to the naive, you need to sell them on being professional.
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