Revenue Journal®

I got an email today from someone who has left a company where he was the president, and is now investing in local businesses. He did such a great job of summing up the entrepreneurial spirit in his email that I will just let him say it:

Appreciate the congratulations and I'll accept part of it (I am in a good spot, doing what I really feel is the right thing for me). The outcome side is a big uncertainty of course. My wife and I look at each other sometimes and laugh ... "So, let me get this straight. We lost half our net worth last year and now our strategy is to spend a good bit of the rest of it on buying businesses that are struggling?" But, in the grand scheme of things, it really does feel right to go the opposite direction of conventional wisdom. This is a great environment to buy value and create value. If we believe in what we say, why not build our own portfolio of companies and get our money out of the lunacy of Wall Street and into our own Main Street. Just a simple matter of execution, right? :)

He's not the only one who is fighting the good entrepreneurial fight right now. No matter how bad things get, you just can't squelch that entrepreneurial spirit - the Phoenix rising from the ashes, and taking flight. Where most people see "recession" and "corruption" and "stagnation," the entrepreneur sees opportunity. He can't help it. It's just the way he's wired.

People having trouble trusting big business? Great, I'll start a small business, and be trustworthy. People don't want to put their money in Wall Street? Great, I'll start a business where they can invest in small businesses. People tired of complex, confusing business practices? Great. I'll start a company that has a straightforward product, and I'll promote it in a straightforward way. Everything will be simple, simple, simple.

What's an "economy"?

People talk about the economy like it's an entity onto itself. It's not. It's not an "it."

The economy is us. It's us, working. It's us, taking care of our families and buying the things they need. It's us, investing in our businesses. It's us, fulfilling our life's purpose.

It's us, finding new ways to help people, which is something I call "original value." Someone figures out how to help someone else, and that someone else is willing to pay for that help. There was nothing, and now there is something of value to someone, and revenue is the result. Everything else - financing, interest rates, options, equity, stocks - all those financial instruments tagging along for the ride - are not "original." They are piggybacking on the original value.

You could even say that the current financial mess we're in came about because the "original value to tagalong" ratio got out of balance. Those piggybackers are like leeches - put too many on the host, and the host gets really, really sick. After a while, all you have are the leeches, piled on top of a dead body. The reporters all stand around, shaking their heads. "It was nice while it lasted," they say. "What a mess now."

What they don't understand is the body is dead, but the spirit still lives - and has already moved on. It has found a new need to fill, a new purpose. It creates a new body for itself, and starts to make things happen. Sooner or later, one of the reporters says, "Hey, guys! Look over here! There's something going on here! A live body!" They rush over, "discover" another new market, and start pontificating about it.

In fact, the reporters are another form of piggybackers. They only talk about what the entrepreneurs do, and if the entrepreneurs weren't doing it, the reporters wouldn't have anything to talk about. It's like sports announcers. If there were no athletes, doing what they do, the announcers would be out of a job. Reporters are not creating original value. They're reporting on original value - as it's being created by entrepreneurs.

There's a general disenchantment with all things Wall Street right now. The tasseled shoes, the breathless pitches, the men who act like they're working on your behalf when they're really just selling something - anything - so they can make a commission. So they can feed their families and send their kids to college. I see people turning back to what they know, what they are sure of, what makes sense, what feels good and right. I see people helping people.

I don't know about you, but I feel great about this. I like Main Street. I trust Main Street. I think Main Street is going to pull us all up, to create a new economy, one that is more obviously "us."

So carry on, all you entrepreneurs. Fight the good fight. Don't pay any attention to those piggybackers and leeches. You're the real deal. And we're with you all the way.