Definition of an Entrepreneur

I’ve been in the game of running a business for years.  I also got into being a Entrepreneur Support Professional (ESP as I call us) before it was trendy.  Now-a-days everyone is an Entrepreneur or Entrepreneurial or is an ESP.  (I read the other day that one of the top 10 words used in resumes  is Entrepreneurial.  It’s just cool.)

I’d like to offer up an interpretation of Entrepreneur and flavor it a bit like Jeff Foxworthy might if he were from Lansing instead of the deep south.  :)

You know you are an Entrepreneur if:

• you can spell it properly every time
• you wake up at all hours writing up plans on how to market your business
• you wake up at all hours itching to talk with someone and can’t because it’s 2am so you write a book of an email to them instead, take a nap and then check your email at 6am hoping for a reply
• you’ve thrown up on the front lawn because you aren’t sure if you will make payroll (and half of your employees you consider friends)
• you’ve moaned to your friends about not having enough business (working hard but no payoff)
• you’ve moaned to your friends about having too much business (working hard but can’t keep up)
• you drive your car that has 210,000 miles on it (a few dents and scratches on it) to a business meeting and hope it doesn’t convey “I’m not successful” but you know it’s the right thing to NOT spend the money on a new car

These are just a few ways to know if you are an Entrepreneur.  Like Foxworthy, I can pull a few out of my hat every time I do this routine.  I don’t distinguish between Entrepreneur and business owner as I work with people.  If you say you are an Entrepreneur, then you are.  It seems to have all become one for many of us ESPs and us Entrepreneurs (I still consider myself one of those too).

And a message to all those who get their panties in a bunch over someone declaring themselves an Entrepreneur when “they clearly are not”, I say get over it and let’s move on to the business of supporting growth in whatever venture it is, Entrepreneurial or not.

Cheers — Miche Suboski

Moving Forward

It doesn’t take long to find great national press and top ten rankings about the Greater Lansing community.  In fact, the community and businesses within it, have been highlighted in Inc., Entrepreneur magazine, Kiplinger, and several other business news outlets in the past year alone.  It’s no mistake, however, that this praise follows a great dipping point in our local economy.  The Greater Lansing community merely went back to what made us great to begin with: Innovation.  The region is moving forward and we have all of the tools in place to make this the next great century in Greater Lansing.

-Jeff Smith