The Other World Around the Corner

I took a little time off this week and attended several workshops at Trenton Small Business Week. I also attended the Small Business Expo at The Sovereign Bank Arena. It was very interesting and I learned a lot about new technologies and services (some governmental) available to the Small Business person. It’s a jungle out there, and some are scared because 1) in these tough economic times it is hard to get financing unless you really do a LOT of work before you even get started and 2) most small businesses will fail anyway. Those of us who have chosen to work in a bureaucratic system might wonder why they would even try. Let me tell you about some of the folks (names changed) that I met and got to know a little:

Chuck is an aging counter-culture type who still has long (graying) hair and who still is easily offended by “the man” and “the suits” strutting around looking important at these affairs. He wears jeans with wide suspenders and would like to run a small specialty construction company that does quality work and pays good wages to his people.

Andy is a young, exceedingly earnest, intelligent, hardworking, tech-savy marketing guy who is Mr. Positive, even in these down times. He sees everything as an opportunity for himself AND OTHERS and seems to have things going his way.

James is a thirty-something guy who is “just looking” because he thinks he might like to do “something like this someday.” He was very interested in finding out where the nearest Labor One-Stop was located, because he has to go there this week to claim unemployment benefits.

Anne is a middle-aged woman with a friendly, businesslike demeanor and appearance. She claimed to be there to check things out “for a friend.” But she was taking in everything she could get.

They were all bright, friendly people. I don’t know how many of them will ever start their own business and make a go of it (except for Andy, it will take a large meteor collision to stop him.) But they all seemed to have one thing in common –A DREAM.

Some were on their way to making it come true, some were trying to make it a reality, some were trying to flesh out a basic idea, and some were still too scared to even mention it out loud. But they all had a dream, every one of them, or they wouldn’t have been there. That made them fun to be around. I don’t think you can be a successful small business person without that dream, it just won’t work.

There is a big difference between trying to live a dream and sleepwalking.

They are excited and scared about what is coming tomorrow. For the most part we are bored by yesterday, today and tomorrow. Is that how it must be? Can a government worker be excited about yesterday, today and tomorrow. Sure we can, but it takes as much risk for us as it does for the entrepreneurs. Our government bureaucracy does not encourage risk takers, it discourages them. Bureaucrats must be willing to take risks and DREAM for a good cause. Sure, we must plan, budget, implement and revise. So do the dreamers, or they will fail.

After a few days out among them, I am not tempted to go out and join them. I am not an entrepreneur and I have always known it. But I envy them their dreams in a system where dreams are currency. In our system, our dreams may not bring us much money. But working towards them may make us happier and make the world, ourselves and government (of the people, by the people and for the people) better.