Can anyone be a business owner?

YES! Not only do I believe that everyone can be a business owner… an entrepreneur. But I also believe that everyone already is.

It’s just a matter of how you look at and define “employed by someone else” versus “employed by self.”

Here’s how I explain it:

Let’s say Acme Company employs John Doe. But, for the moment, let’s not think about John Doe as a person with a job and a paycheck. Think of him as John Doe, president of the John Doe Company – an entrepreneur.

As president of the John Doe Company, John knows exactly what he needs to do in order to keep his client – the Acme Company – happy. He needs to produce quality work, deliver on time, keep communication channels open, bring in new ideas, add to profitability, and so on.

If he does all this, the Acme Company will continue doing business with the John Doe Company. However, if the John Doe Company doesn’t live up to its expectations, Acme will look for a new vendor (perhaps the Bill Smith Company) and stop doing business with the John Doe Company.

Now, the only real difference between this John Doe Company and any other is that in this case the John Doe Company has only one customer. (What’s the difference, if any, between a monthly paycheck and a monthly fee or retainer? Nothing!)

But let’s say John could do whatever he does for another company at the same time he’s providing those services to the Acme Company. The John Doe Company would then have two customers. John is still doing the same work, but now he’s doing it for two companies.

I know this is a strange comparison or analogy. Some people get it instantly. Others need to think about it a bit.

When the light comes on, you’ll see that you are now and always have been in your own business… and that there’s not really much difference between working for someone else and working for oneself. And this holds true whether you worked as an executive, mechanic, secretary, sales clerk, bookkeeper, truck driver, or whatever. Your success has always depended on you and you alone!

So the bottom line is that if you have 10 or 15 or 20 years of experience working as an employee for someone else and you’ve kept your boss (the Acme Company) happy, you most likely have the potential to to start a business of your own.

P.S. People will say to me, “Yes, but being in your own business is risky.” To that I point to 14 million people who were feeling pretty secure until the bottom fell out.