Deborah K. Swanson
In last month’s story about entrepreneurship, I mentioned that 5.6 million workers over the age of 50 are self-employed, up 23% from 1990. With these kinds of numbers, it’s an important subject in today’s volatile economic environment, and why this is the first of a series on this trend and all the aspects of being an entrepreneur. Even NPR is talking about how boomers are changing the definition of retirement. Some of us are leaving traditional corporate jobs before traditional retirement age and want to do something else for a while, like run our own business.
But just what does it take to do that? It always sounds like the magic bullet, but is it? What are the hurdles and challenges and rewards of it?
Using many sources, including the Small Business Administration (SBA), SCORE, and interviews with experts and business owners, we’ll cover in upcoming issues how to decide on a business, creating a business plan, organization, insurance, equipment, location, accounting, financing, buying a business or franchise, opening and marketing, special considerations for women operated businesses, finding mentors, and problem solving. We’ll also look into opportunities for veteran business people to help others and offer resources to get more answers.
Passion
While all of these topics are important, they lack the one element many find essential - passion. As Denis Diderot said, “Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” And, I might add, get you through the tough spots!
Gail Ramsey, a chiropractor in Montrose, said she was a wild kid, always in trouble, didn’t get a formal education and just tried to fit into life. Then she had an epiphany at the age of 30. Now 54, she says that moment changed her life forever. “I was an executive at Paramount Studios and got melanoma. I was seeing doctors to deal with it and ended up in an office with all kinds of alternative medicine specialists. I knew that was for me, my future. I was referred to a chiropractor and I had never heard of chiropractors. She was what I call a gifted healer who focused on nutrition. She helped me successfully prepare for the melanoma surgery.”
Back To School
After that experience, Ramsey immediately began taking classes to prepare for chiropractic school, much to the puzzlement of her high-paid industry friends who thought she was crazy to think of leaving the entertainment business. “I realized how connected everything was, that everything we do matters, and I was driven. Then my husband developed cancer and I knew in my heart I had to continue. He had taught me to think, to observe, and to value my mind, so it was absolutely right that I go back to school to learn to heal while he was dying. To be in a place of knowing like that is a gift.”
And passion, she says, is what it’s all about. “The passion has to be there, to get you through the tough times. You can’t learn that in a book or a course, it’s in your gut. Running a business isn’t for everyone because of the hurdles you have to face and overcome. When my husband died there were financial issues we hadn’t planned on and I could’ve easily let that stop me if I wasn’t so driven. My vision was so strong I couldn’t stop.” She realized that passion was also the out-of-control energy she had has a kid - she was just looking for a place to put it, where she could make a difference. “I was a diamond in the rough.”
In her practice, Ramsey has been replicating that healing organization she saw 24 years ago by creating The Center for Well Being and bringing in massage therapists, acupuncturists, herbs and supplements, networking with other specialists and holding informal chats with the community on various topics. “Your business is an extension of you. You’re the cause of its success, or not, and that can be very sobering. I find that the less I try to manipulate it, the better it grows. I trust, I listen to others’ issues and needs and try very hard to grow from each experience and handle things from a neutral, not personal, place.”
Not for the faint of heart
Passion may indeed be the key to survival. According to 2004 figures from the SBA, 572,900 new businesses were started, yet 554,800 businesses closed, for various reasons, for a net increase of about 18,000 businesses. But mortality is high with two-thirds of firms surviving two years, and just half survive four. Not great odds if you’re wishy-washy about going solo. But the rewards are great when you look at the contributions to society made by small business. Just look at these statistics from the SBA:
The estimated 23.7 million small businesses in the United States have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade. Imagine, it’s not Microsoft or Wal-Mart or McDonald’s, it’s small business that is generating the majority of jobs. Yet there’s more.
Small business rules!
Small business represents 99.7 percent of all employers and employs 50 percent of the country’s private workforce. So the remaining .3 percent of employers, the big guys, employ the other 50 percent. But it’s the little guys who generate the majority of the innovations that come from U.S. companies and make up 97 percent of all the exporters of goods. A productive lot to be sure.
So let’s look at the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur. The SBA summarizes it as:
Guts - that entrepreneurial instinct, which is usually nothing more than an overwhelming desire to own your own business. This is where that passion comes in!
Brains - Have solid knowledge about the business you’re about to start before you start it!
Capital - Have enough cash on hand to pay your bills for at least a year. You can start on a shoestring and forego frivolities, but do have enough to cover your needs.
Next time we’ll talk more about other decisions involved in deciding on a business and provide some resources. Until then, think about what business you might like to start.