Recently we had the last real harvest from our garden as we picked tomatoes, arugula, lettuce, figs, beets, zucchini, and spaghetti squash. Then we got our first frost (the zucchini bit the dust). There’s nothing better than a salad you picked that day. The marinara sauce from our tomatoes puts to shame anything from the store. Just a little example of doing something yourself and loving the results.
Business ownership is alluring to many people because they feel they can do it better. When those people realize they don’t have a revolutionary idea for a startup, they often decide to buy an existing (mature, profitable, and fairly priced) business. It’s the pride of it being yours. Your decisions, control, creativity, etc.
I get it. We all have things we do that give us satisfaction beyond having someone else do it. Those things may be sewing, woodworking, tearing apart an engine (and getting it back together), and more.
When it comes to business, whether a one-person firm or a company with hundreds of employees, it’s freedom and success. Expect it to be more popular in the next few years. Why? It’s the economy, stupid (thanks to James Carville for the line).
Recently someone asked me if the economy is driving a lot of people to entrepreneurship. My answer was, yes, slowly, and every economic downturn pushes people over the entrepreneurial tipping point. Recessions push buyers to the market, many of them just waiting for an excuse, and it also pushes owners to sell. My guess is that in today’s market, owners of good businesses who’ve been contemplating selling are moving on it. They’ll stand out in the crowd of damaged companies and they know it.
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.” Amelia Earhart