It’s the American dream.\u00a0 Owning your own business.\u00a0 Being your own boss.\u00a0 Calling all the shots.\u00a0 For me, business ownership has been one of the great adventures of my life.\u00a0 It’s awesome!\u00a0 But, it’s not for everyone.<\/p>\n
Probably\u00a0you all\u00a0know a story of the\u00a0greatest chef\/clothing designer\/carpenter who went into business for himself (or herself) but ultimately failed because he or she did not have a knack for handling the business<\/em> end of things.\u00a0\u00a0That’s not the issue I am addressing here.\u00a0 You can learn business. \u00a0<\/p>\n What I am talking about is the personality type that lends itself to being a successful Small Business owner.\u00a0 You can be a great business person, have an amazing idea, or be outstanding in your field\u00a0and still fail as a business owner.\u00a0 Listed below is my completely unscientific, self-composed list of characteristics needed for a Small Business owner.<\/p>\n Characteristics of a Successful Small Business Owner:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.<\/strong>\u00a0 A Small Business owner is\u00a0comfortable with insecurity.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 A lot of would-be business owners complain about the drone-like existence of cubical life.\u00a0 Meetings on Monday, reports on Tuesday, projects on Wednesday, customer\u00a0calls on Thursday, and\u00a0payday(!) on Friday, followed by a weekend, then repeat.\u00a0 Although this seems boring and dull, it is predictable…and stable.\u00a0 All bets are off when you are on your own, especially in the beginning.\u00a0 You have no certainty that you will have customers to call on or that payday will come.\u00a0 In our state various legislation is being introduced and debated\u00a0that will require Bottle Washer and I to completely rethink our business in ways we haven’t yet imagined.\u00a0 Right at the same time our lease renews.\u00a0 Talk about insecurity!\u00a0 Unless you can be comfortable with a degree of uncertainty, you will never be able to relax as a Small Business owner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 A Small Business owner can deal with the unexpected.\u00a0 <\/strong>Murphy must have had his own business, because his law,\u00a0“If something can go wrong, it will” is like the subtitle of Small Business ownership.\u00a0 If you are unable to react\u00a0quickly when things don’t turn out as expected, then owning your own place isn’t for you.\u00a0 Like this past week, for instance.\u00a0 Bottle Washer and I have had a problem staffing up for our busy summer season for about seven years, resulting in us having to give away business to a competitor every summer.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 But,\u00a0this spring\u00a0we finally had a great crew lined up, until…..one of our key employees broke her hand playing soccer, which means she will not be able to handle a big segment of her job.\u00a0\u00a0We had to quickly rethink our task allocation plans to be able to still\u00a0capture that market share.\u00a0 Mental flexibility is key in business ownership.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 A Small Business owner must be able to take responsibility:<\/strong>\u00a0 I will never forget the first time I walked into our office and\u00a0a customer was at the front desk giving one of my employees a hard time about a bill.\u00a0 My first reaction was to slip past the awkward conversation and retreat to the safety of my office, thinking “Man, I sure am glad I wasn’t up front when she walked in.”\u00a0 Whoa – wait a minute!\u00a0 Suddenly I realized this was my responsibility.\u00a0 The buck stops with me.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0I couldn’t hide in the back while my hapless employee got reamed out for something that wasn’t even her fault.\u00a0 I went back out there to\u00a0address and resolve the situation.\u00a0 Was it fun?\u00a0 Not particularly, but when you are the owner you need to take responsibility for everything that happens at your place of business – the good and the bad.\u00a0 (And, by the way, your employees will love and respect \u00a0you for it!)\u00a0 A shirker has no business being in business.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 A Small Business owner is a timely decision maker:<\/strong>\u00a0This one is the hardest for me.\u00a0 I am a horrible decision maker.\u00a0 I spend a lot of time gathering every bit of information that might possibly be relevant to the situation.\u00a0 I conceive of all the possible outcomes for all the possible courses of action.\u00a0 I make “Pro” and “Con” lists of \u00a0each of the options.\u00a0 I obsess over which is the optimal choice.\u00a0 I drive Bottle Washer crazy.\u00a0 And I stall for so long that I frequently\u00a0miss out on a great opportunity.\u00a0 Bottle Washer is different.\u00a0 He can assess a situation and make the best decision based on the information he has on hand.\u00a0\u00a0 Usually his decision is a good one.\u00a0 Sometimes it’s not and we deal with the result.\u00a0\u00a0This isn’t to say that you should make major decisions by the seat of your pants, but a business owner makes dozens of decisions every day, frequently without the luxury of\u00a0knowing every single relevant piece of information.\u00a0 There is a saying that says “Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good.”\u00a0 If you can’t confidently commit to an action without the assurance that it is the most perfect choice, then don’t quit your day job! (Or, get a good partner with this skill like I did!)<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0 A Small Business\u00a0owner\u00a0likes to work:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0saved the best for last.\u00a0 Frequently when I go back to my home town and see old friends they make some sort of comment like, “Wow, Chief, having\u00a0your own business – that must be great to have someone else\u00a0do all the work.”\u00a0 If they only knew.\u00a0 Owning a Small Business is the most labor-intensive job there is.\u00a0 My brother\u00a0Dan\u00a0is an engineer for a car manufacturer and well, you know those test tracks that they show on the commercials?\u00a0 That’s what he does – wrench on cars and drive on test tracks all day.\u00a0 Several of his mechanics\u00a0have left The Company\u00a0to start their own custom\u00a0shops.\u00a0\u00a0Dan loves cars, so I asked him why he didn’t do that.\u00a0 He looked at me like I was on crazy pills.\u00a0 “Are you kidding me?”\u00a0 Dan asked.\u00a0 “I would never go out on my own.\u00a0 I hate to work.\u00a0 I love coming home on Friday and knowing I have all weekend to do whatever I want.\u00a0 All my friends with their own businesses work all the time.\u00a0 They have no life.”\u00a0 Uh, yeah.\u00a0 So, if you want to hang out on the deck like Dan every weekend this summer, \u00a0maybe business ownership is not for you.<\/p>\n That’s my list of the five most important characteristics of Small Business ownership.\u00a0 But these are only from my own experience.\u00a0 What about you?\u00a0 What personality characteristics have helped you be successful?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s the American dream.\u00a0 Owning your own business.\u00a0 Being your own boss.\u00a0 Calling all the shots.\u00a0 For me, business ownership has been one of the great adventures of my life.\u00a0 It’s awesome!\u00a0 But, it’s not for everyone. Probably\u00a0you all\u00a0know a … Continue reading