Do You Have a Microbusiness Philosophy?
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Microbusiness entrepreneurship and philosophy – in the same arena? I can see some of you scratching your head about this idea.
Philosophy is about pursuing wisdom in a disciplined methodology. For those of us microbusiness entrepreneurs who express our creativity and passion through our businesses, we are “applied business philosophers”, or at least, in my opinion. Like many disciplines, even the most scientifically rigorous, the deeper we reach, the more we begin to see how what used to be “science” gradually becomes “art”. Even scientists (a crowd I once belonged to – long, long time ago) begin to see that quality in their discipline that cannot be quantified, compartmentalized, or fitted into a nice model for display.
When I started out as an entrepreneur, I focused a lot of attention on the discipline and tactical execution of strategies. I was passionate about my mission, but sometimes I took that for granted and don’t appreciate just how critical this passion had been for the longevity and sustainability of my business. As I matured along my entrepreneurship journey, I still focused attention on the tactical, but I began to pay more attention on that igniting passion, that wisdom – dare I say “soul” – of my business.
I’m not sure if I’ve quite figured it out at this point, because I find myself a neophyte again, looking at entrepreneurship from a fresh perspective and with new appreciation of how little I know. Ironically, this is accompanied with a wealth of insight of how many assumptions I made about the way I structured my business or branded my business, and whether those assumptions matched reality.
For example, I used to focus on consulting and training as part of my business offerings. Over the past few years I’ve realized that this focus was part of my growth as a new entrepreneur, to have hands-on experiences working with companies and individual clients. I marketed or branded myself via educating others and sharing my knowledge. Now, I’m slowing WAY down (because now I have a toddler who demands my attention most of the day), and I’m going back to the basics and reshifting my focus on “educating and sharing” in two areas I’ve become interested in: personal leadership and transformational growth.
Microbusiness entrepreneurship is my vehicle for bringing my ideas of personal leadership and transformational growth to the world. The wisdom of educating and sharing that I had engaged in when I first became an entrepreneur is now paving a way for my next entrepreneurial journey.
What wisdom have you gained from your microbusiness journey?
Image by Jin Neoh
Insightful comments, Jane. Thanks for posting.
I believe one of the principle reasons for people creating a micro-business and actively controlling its growth is so that they can flex their business as their lives demand.
I am in a similar situation to you – I have a four year old and a 6-month old at home. I can re-focus my time, chase business hard or less so and so forth according to their needs, my wife’s needs and my need for family time.
I posted on my blog about my ambitions and philosophy here: http://www.fourthirds.com/refocusing-ambitions/.
But what wisdom have I learnt? Two related things. Firstly, that simply I always have a choice. A choice to chase business or not. A choice of whether to accept a client or not. A choice to ‘down tools’ and play with the kids or work through. Secondly, that in order to make wise choices, I need to understand deeply what I want and need to achieve, and why.
Look forward to reading more of your posts!
Neil
Thank you Neil!
It sounds like we have asked ourselves similar questions about the motive behind our intention to become microbusiness entrepreneurs. I’m glad that you answered those tough questions for yourself and your family. I asked the same tough questions, and even today, find that staying on course is extremely difficult. This is where personal leadership comes in… it wouldn’t be courage if you aren’t afraid, and it wouldn’t be leadership if you don’t even follow your own lead.
Jane
Wonderful post, Jane!
My journey feels like it has been a lengthy one but, in reality, it hasn’t. As an entrepreneur (and, before that, as a human), I found myself looking around at a certain point in my life and asking myself questions about who I was and where my talents lie and, from there, what I wanted to do.
My first lesson was that, first and foremost, I am a writer.
Over the ten years or so that I have been researching and reporting and writing and thinking about microbusinesses, I also learn that I have leanings towards advocacy. Maybe I’ve always been looking for an underdog, somebody or some set of somebodies whose voice had been habitually silenced. It’s a peculiar spot for me because, in certain circles, fire and spirit and even occasionally logic are not match for numbers and data. But, as history teaches, the pen is mightier than the sword.
So, my second lesson was that, beneath it all, I am a fighter.
This new century we’re in is all about people making connections with people and everything about economics and about business that has distanced people from each other seems to be becoming passe (to put it kindly).
To me, the best thing about “microbusiness” as a broader concept is that it is all about meeting the material needs of humans in sustainable and non-rapacious ways. It’s about ‘need’ not ‘greed.’ And it injects a much-needed dose of humanity into the business world – not a moment too soon.
Lovely, thought-provoking stuff!
I quit my job a year ago to start a microbusiness. The microbusiness philosophy I’ve developed since then revolves around life, not around work. Sure, I get the job done well, but I can plan my work week so that I have time for the more important things in my life. Running my own microbusiness makes it much clearer that time equals money — if I’d rather have more time than more money, I can cut back on my work and have the time!