I'll Have an Order of Entrepreneurship to Fix the Economy, Please

I posed these questions to my Entrepreneurial Mindset class the other day.


* How many of you think the Federal or state governments are going to end the recession?
* How many of you think the big corporations are going to end the recession?
* How many of you think the labor unions are going to end the recession?

Not surprisingly, no one raised their hand. Then I asked them who was going to end the recession and they all said it would be small businesses and entrepreneurs.

It is not the job of the government to provide jobs. The government should provide a safe environment in which small businesses can do business; the small businesses will do the hiring.

Somehow, many have gotten the idea that it's the government that owes them a job, i.e. livelihood. Part of the entitlement society we now live in, I guess.

Those of us that work with people to help them become entrepreneurs are finding that everyone comes with a built-in entrepreneur but for many the internal entrepreneur is suppressed their whole life. There are ways to free the entrepreneur inside people by helping them develop an entrepreneurial mindset. That mindset makes each a better person, whether or not they go out on their own or continue to work for someone else.

Those of us that work with aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners can now see that developing an entrepreneurial mindset in everyone is the best way to help people all over the world better their lives. It's like the old adage of teaching someone to fish instead of just giving them the fish. People with an entrepreneurial mindset learn that it's their choices, not their circumstances that determine the outcome of their lives.

As for the politicians, it's really difficult to cut through all the rhetoric of the campaigns. Both sides have some good ideas if you can wade through all the nonsense. When it comes time to vote, though, I'm always going to vote for the side that I think most likely to work to provide a safe environment that supports entrepreneurship, one in which small businesses can do business. That is definitely not the current administration.

*Click here for more information about the Entrepreneurial Mindset class, including information on the next times and places the course might be offered.