The Owner's Manual for Small Business. Rhonda Abrams

process or a new way to make sales, handle customers, or reward employees.

      If you have a high need for creativity, make certain you remain involved in the creative process as your company develops. You’ll want to shape your business so it’s not just an instrument for earning an income but also a means of maintaining your creative stimulation and making a larger contribution to society. But don’t overpersonalize your company, especially if it’s large. Allow room for others, particularly partners and key personnel, to share in the creative process.

      

Control. Most of us start businesses because we want more control over our own lives. Perhaps we want more control over how our good ideas are implemented. Perhaps we want, or need, more control of our work hours or conditions so we can be more involved in family, community, or even golf! Control is a major motivator for most entrepreneurs—usually more important than money. But how much control you need—especially on a day-to-day basis—directly influences how large your company can be.

      If you need or want a great deal of control over your time, you’ll most likely need to keep your company smaller. In a large company, you’ll have less immediate control over many decisions.

      If you’re a person who needs control, you can still grow your business larger. You’ll need to structure communication and reporting systems to ensure that you have sufficient information about and direction over developments to give you personal satisfaction. If you seek outside funding in the form of investors, understand the nature of the control your funders will have, and be certain you are comfortable with these arrangements.

      

Challenge. If you’re starting or expanding a business, it’s clear you like challenge—at least to some degree. You’re likely to be a problem solver and risk taker, enjoying the task of figuring out solutions to problems or devising new undertakings. Challenge-hungry entrepreneurs can be some of the most successful businesspeople, but they can also be their own worst enemies—flitting from one thing to another, never focusing long enough to succeed.

      If you have a high need for challenge in your business life, it’s important to develop positive means to meet this need, especially once your company is established and the initial challenge of starting a company is met. Otherwise, you may find yourself continually starting new projects that divert attention from your company’s overall goals. As you plan your company, establish personal goals that not only provide you with sufficient stimulation, but also advance—rather than distract from—the growth of your business. (Or take up sky diving on the side!)

      

Cash. Every entrepreneur wants to make money. Perhaps it’s just enough money to provide a decent income; perhaps it’s so much money you can buy a jet. How much you want or need affects how you’ll develop your business. Will you need investors and when? Will you sacrifice control to grow the business quickly?

      Usually, control is the primary motivator for entrepreneurs. Control can mean the ability to make decisions, to directly influence the success of the company, or even to have the flexibility of choosing what hours and days to work. Others are motivated by the desire to create something new, whether art or software. My personal top motivator is “challenge,” so I’ve developed a business that is always exposing me to new industries and management problems. Otherwise, I’d be bored. Those who are only motivated by cash often fail.

Do You Have What It Takes?

      The cover story of a major business magazine carried the headline: “Do you have what it takes to start a business?” In the story, grinning entrepreneurs answered that question: “You’ve got to have a maniacal mind-set;” “I don’t need an excessive amount of sleep;” “The odds are, most times, you fail.”

      If being in business means you have to be an obsessive insomniac doomed to failure, then why are these people smiling?

      The fact is, that magazine got it wrong: you don’t have to be a compulsive workaholic to start a business. Millions of entrepreneurs run successful enterprises, and, thankfully, they’re not all obsessed solely with business. Most businesspeople find time for many other aspects to their lives—family, community, hobbies, religion, sports.

      The multitude of successful small businesses might not make it to the Top 10, or even Top 100, list of “best companies,” but those lists focus almost exclusively on financial factors.

      But money is not what motivates most entrepreneurs. What do most small business owners care about?

      

Creating something worthwhile. This doesn’t have to be a cure for cancer. It can be a new tool, a new computer program, a new widget that makes doing a job in your industry easier, or a service that helps people improve their lives.

      

Using a talent. Most people aren’t going to establish ballet companies because they’re amazing dancers, but lots of people start restaurants because they’re terrific cooks, go into the accessory business because they love to design jewelry, or make and sell custom cabinets because they’re great at woodworking.

      

Having more time for family. In today’s world, it’s hard to balance the desire or need to spend time with your family with most jobs. But by starting your own business, you may have more flexibility, so you can take the afternoon off to chaperone your daughter’s Girl Scout troop or take your aging father to the doctor.

      

Being your own boss. Many people start businesses because they get tired of seeing their supervisors make stupid decisions or of working in companies where they have little or no influence. Things may not always work out when you are your own boss, but at least you know the mistakes that affect your life are your own.

      

Creating jobs. If you want to make the world a better place, one of the things you can do is create good jobs for others. There’s justifiable pride in building a business that’s big enough to give other people work so they can feed their families, go to school, or pay their rent. And when you treat them fairly and create a positive work environment, you’ve truly improved the world.

       You don’t need to be a compulsive workaholic to start a business.

      

Doing a better job. Nothing is more frustrating than working for a company that’s doing a lousy job. Knowing that you could serve the market better—improve the product, give better service, cut costs, treat employees more fairly—is a great motivator for starting your own company.

      

Bringing your dog with you to work. This isn’t only about dogs, it’s about having more control over your working conditions. It could be the ability to work from home, to wear casual clothes every day, or not to commute long distances. But having my dog with me was definitely one of my motives when I started my business.

      In fact, that business magazine was out of touch with the reality of American entrepreneurship. Few entrepreneurs want to—or need to—be obsessive insomniacs to succeed in business. What successful owners of small companies have in common is that they’re motivated, self-directed, willing to take measured risks, determined, and optimistic.

      If you have what it takes, you may not end up on the cover of a business magazine. But you