Last year, my niece won her college’s entrepreneurship department’s “complete the sentence” competition by responding to the question WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ROCK STAR?
Her answer – short and sweet, yet packed with such deep wisdom: “…BECAUSE YOU GET TO WRITE YOUR OWN SONGS.”
I asked my brother, a life long entrepreneur, what he thinks about his life of business building and entrepreneurship.
He first addressed his daughter’s winning answer with a philosophical response.
“At first that sounded trite to me, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. It has depth. Because we all yearn to truly create, just as we all long to worship. These are aspects of what it is to be made in the image of God. God creates: we are made like Him, and therefore desire to create as well.
I keep “entrepreneuring” because it is the best position from which one can help direct outcomes that matter in the lives of people. But I use “entrepreneur” in a broader sense than most do. An entrepreneur in my view is somebody who understands how to “create new value,” no matter their field of endeavor. The mother who is innovating her child’s educational experience and the engineer who devises a new way of looking at making buildings resistant to earthquakes are both entrepreneurs. My experience in working with renowned entrepreneurs has taught me that the term “entrepreneur” applies horizontally across all areas of work; it is not a vertically defined group limited to those who start and run their own business. That’s why I think “Introduction to Entrepreneurship” should be a required class at colleges and universities that are serious about preparing their graduates for the challenge of changing the world in which they will live.
I like working with entrepreneurs because they bring an unmistakable energy to finding solutions. They also exude a sense of determination and self-reliance that is so refreshing in our day when the “entitlement mindset” seems so prevalent.”
Brainstorming creative solutions for earning additional income encourages us to “write our own song.” The spirit of entrepreneurship arises from those moments. Any songwriter realizes the risk of putting their music out there. She writes and rewrites. She may start with the chorus and then contemplate the verse. She realizes the tempo may not quite work with the syncopation, so she scraps her melody and starts over. Months have been poured into this outlet, but when her song is finally written, she steps back and listens to what she has created.
It took work. It took time, but when her passion was realized, her song was written and it was all hers.
The same theme runs through our brainstorming process for making money from home.
So what would your answer include. Fill in the blank.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ROCK STAR?
For me, I don’t need to be a rock star. I don’t necessarily even want to be one, but writing my own song is a dream that can be realized.
Is there a melody running through your mind yet? Have you started humming it?
(Read here for all of the 31 Days to Balancing Beauty & the Budget.)
I’ve always had the entrepreneurial spirit–I made my first business card at age 11 for babysitting in the neighborhood! I love having the freedom to choose to work or not work, and I love how being an entrepreneur means that you can earn more by working more or harder, not true in a typical salary job. Obviously there are cons as well, but I’ve learned so much from my many years and many businesses.
The thing I like best of running a business from home is that I daily/weekly/monthly see the hand of God blessing my endeavor. When the check book is empty, he provides what we NEED. This was harder to see when I worked a full time, salary job before children came along- the steady paycheck went right into the budget. But working contractually, like I do in my Notary business, allows me to see God’s provision! To Him be the GLORY!
I’ve just begun my first venture in entrepreneurship as a Registered Nurse in private practise delivering nursing foot care services to clients here in Toronto, Canada. I knew I needed to make a change from my previous salaried nursing position when increasing work demands left me exhausted, frustrated with no time or energy for my 8 children and husband. After much prayer, the Lord inspired me to channel my nursing knowledge into this much needed area of care. As I slowly build up my practise, I am forced to leave all things to Him and trust that this is where He wants me to use my expertise.
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but had never truly “done my homework”, and pursued several paths, with no success. Lately, I have felt the need to just wait on God.
Ironically, the church I just became a member of, was having a “clean up day”, and I was asked if I would like to clean the fridge. Not. I told them that I found cleaning fridges to be SO boring. But, I said they could hand me a putty knife or a paint brush any day. They asked if I was joking. I said “not at all”. So, that offer had me crack filling the nursery, which had me feel that I had only done part of the job, if I didn’t paint the whole nursery. See how my twisted mind works, lol?!
As I was painting the other day, (I’ve been at it about 2-3 hrs. a day for the past week) working my way through a bookcase, I felt God leading me to take a before and after picture for my “portfolio”. I got the pastor’s blessing, and so now I’m looking at going into painting part time, a few evenings a week, while I homeschool our daughter. And, on top of that, a business that feels more like pleasure than work. God is AMAZING!
I like how you made the word entrepreneur into something beautiful in your blog, sometimes it takes a different person’s view of things to change your own view. I have come to a wonderful way of being my own entrepreneurial rock star at home with my children and here it is. I hope you’ll feel the financial freedom I feel.
I had no where else to turn to bills piling up and Rent due at the end of the month, not to mention 4 boys to feed. It has given me the freedom to live.
I want to make money from home so that I can be in charge of myself! I want to create a relatively stress free environment in my home by being more available to my family as well.
I liked your bother’s insight about creating — liked it a lot. My husband and I never really examined our move back to farming after graduate degrees in totally different fields. It just felt right. But recently, we also came to the conclusion that we like to have a job where we create. We are both writers, he is also an artist, and has engineered and built major portions of our walnut hulling plant. He told me the other day that he likes being able to look at something and say “I made that.” And it’s really satisfying to know that we help feed people.
We definitely get to write our own songs. When you think about it, that’s nicer than what people say about us sometimes — that we march to our own drumbeat! (But that’s OK, too…)
I feel God put this post up for me to see at the right time. I feel that me struggling with going back to work and longing to work at home at the same time this post came up is no coincedence. I was laid off last December and found a temp job this week. I have cried and begged to my husband everyday to let me stay home. I feel horrible. During the time I have been laid off I was selling on ebay and loving every minute because I was also around for my 2 kids. I have always loved fashion and I felt like I had my own store running when I sold on ebay. I wish I had made it more of a job than a occasional 1-2xs per weel thing, I know I could make up most of my full time job income. I am praying that God leads me down the right path and that after this temp job is over I can work at home. My husband is very skeptical about me making enough income from home, so I am praying that everything goes well.