Have you ever wondered why some people own a business and others just work for one? Maybe you’ve thought about owning a business of your own for some time but you’re not sure if it’s the right step to take.
What kind of an individual is cut out to be an EMPLOYER? Usually, it is someone who sees an opportunity and has the commitment and courage to go for what he wants. That opportunity may come with obstacles, but the employer will see around the obstacles to his goal. He knows there will be challenges and even welcomes them. Why? Because he or she loves a challenge and knows that the difficulties in life separate the doers from the dreamers, the EMPLOYERS from the EMPLOYEES.
An employer is not someone who shies away from hard work. He is willing to put in whatever time is necessary to create his ideal opportunity. But the hard work always has a carrot dangling at the end in the form of success. With this success comes financial security and personal flexibility. An employer understands that over time, as he becomes more comfortable with employees assuming more of the daily operations, he will be able to step away from the business to some degree while having an asset working for him.
Someone cut out to be an employer has envisioned the end results from the beginning and worked tirelessly toward establishing that result. Challenges are met, problems are smoothed over and eventually the employees provide the employer with a nice and comfortable living.
Finally, someone with an EMPLOYER personality has passion. He will put his heart into a project and truly believes not only in what he’s doing but also in his ability to obtain the desired results.
What kind of an individual is the EMPLOYEE? An employee is not comfortable with risks and sees challenges not as opportunities but as insurmountable obstacles. He has thought about business ownership but lacks the desire to step outside of his comfort zone. Comfort is foremost on his list of desirable job qualities, and he would find working long hours while establishing a business distasteful.
The employee maintains his status quo and wonders why he’s not getting ahead. He punches his timecard every day while the employer makes money from his efforts. He imagines he’d take the step to business ownership if only the right opportunity came along and wonders why the stars have never been perfectly aligned for him to realize his dream. He doesn’t understand that the stars don’t align themselves and have never been perfectly aligned for anyone, including his employer.
There are lots of examples of people who’ve overcome obstacles through perseverance. It took Thomas Edison ten years to develop a practical alkaline battery, conducting over 28,000 tests. Further, he didn’t let lack of education stop him. He had three months of formal education and after that was home-schooled by his mother. But he had a passion for invention and believed in himself.
Prior to creating Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He managed to sell the cartoons through a distributor only to find that the distributor had gone behind his back and signed up most of his animators, hoping to make the Oswald cartoons in his own studio for less money. Disney also lost the rights to the character he created – talk about major career obstacles! Of course, you know this part of the story: Disney went on to create a new character, a loveable mouse whose name has been a household word for half a century. As for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit – Oswald who?
Ray Kroc was just a milk shake maker salesman when he discovered a hamburger stand in California that was using eight of his mixers at a time. When he visited the restaurant, he was amazed to see so many customers served so quickly. He convinced the restaurant owners, Dick and Mac McDonald, to open more of their restaurants and then proposed he be the one to manage them. Today McDonald’s has more than 30,000 McDonald’s restaurants in 119 countries and adds about 100 franchisees a year. Ray may not have envisioned everything that McDonald’s has become but he was able to see the value of a quick service restaurant to the public and is often credited with making the franchise model an America staple.
What about you? Where do you fit? Are you content to let life happen around you or do you want to be the person making things happen? Business owners see beyond the barriers of entry into business and focus on the carrot dangling at the end of the stick. Employees dwell on the barriers.
If you are ready to make a transition from employee to employer, becoming a franchisee is a great vehicle. The franchisor provides the business model and the training, the brand, and the operating system. You provide some capital, a lot of hard work and your passion. Without visionaries there would be no alkaline battery or Disney World or Big Mac. If being a business owner is your dream, believe in yourself and go for it!
