More on How Come ...

Folks,

The lucky juxtaposition of Malcolms post #1126 and an email sent directly to me
by
listmember Bobbi Weaver got me thinking.

Malcolm reviewed starting a business, and what that is like. Bobbi mentioned
why she has
not started a business, for reasons commonly held to be true, but not true I
think.

Between the two, and on the topic of how come people do not start businesses, it
occurred to
me no one has described, ever, the internal process of starting a business.
I’ve described
the external steps one takes to start a small business intl trade company, but
what about the
internal steps one takes?

It is not the external steps people have a problem with, it is the internal
steps.

Yes, I’ve read all sorts of writings on the psychology of the entrepreneur, and
it has all struck
me as dross, untrue assertions. Scientists construct tests to determine if you
have the right
stuff. All junk, but probably the source of the opinion Bobbi expressed, again,
a widely held
opinion.

I will write something on this topic, with a view to helping more people start
their businesses.
Before I do, let me review what Malcolm and Bobbi had to say.

Malcolm attributed being farm raised to giving him the entrepreneurial bent (and
another
farm boy seconded that). I read that as an example of the jeffersonian ethic
coming through.
Malcolm referred to Drucker on the topic of management vs entrepreneur...and
leadership. vs
change. Drucker’s work was seminal for me on the idea that the innovator
introduces the
new item, and the conservator lowers the price. Somewhere in between those two
events the
two poles improve the product, come up with more versions, and speed up
delivery. More
better cheaper faster was how chairman Mao put it, but I’d correct Mao and say
better, more,
faster, cheaper.

We all know the objective steps.

Then Malcolm moves to what I would call cultural capital, and what Malcolm
called dinner
table discussion. The can-do attitude is passed on generation to generation. It
is part of the
lifestyle, encouragement is all around. On the farm, one wakes up, experiences
problems,
devises solution, surrounded by family and friends. Everyone benefits.

Malcolm made clear the spouse has to be on board. This point needs expansion.

Bobbi Weaver held “Business model I (John) lay out requires an entrepreneur, a
person with a
unique set of skills” Only those with the unique set of skills do this work,
those with out the
unique skills need to go through an apprentice, journeyman, master process.
Without those
unique skills, everyone else needs supervision.

This idea I recognize, I hear it all the time, the idea that entrepreneurs are
special breed... but
the idea to me is up there with cheap labor and comparative advantage as sheer
nonsense. it
ascribes to entrepreneurs a subjective internal milieu that is simply unfounded.
Widely
taught, but unfounded.

This got me going... The problem is not with the external, objective steps, as
Bobbi points
out. It is the intenal, subjective steps.

I’ve been quiet because I’ve been working on this. Maybe I’ll call it “Starting
The Business
Internally.” Soon I’ll post this, I hope.

John

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