Entrepreneurship

The Waters of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is aptly suffixed with the word “-ship.” Like captains of seafaring vessels, anyone daring enough to enter the shark-infested waters of business better beware. That said, the opportunities are endless and the horizons unlimited. I like business. It is one part foolhardy, one part naivete, three parts perseverance, two parts heartache, one part fruitfulness, and more parts that I haven’t encountered yet. That’s what makes going into business so treacherous and so fascinating to me. You prepare as much as you can and learn as fast as you can, but the water continuously moves underneath you.

LinkedIn for Business

In rare moments, you can pause a moment to feel the wind in your face, watch the bow of the ship cut through the waves, and perhaps keep pace momentarily with a pod of silver dolphins. Enjoy them every time you can, because it won’t be every day. Instead, your everyday will be filled with creative problem-solving, artful negotiating, reading, writing, arithmetic, trial by fire, failures, successes, and most of all…other people. That’s why certain geniuses invented LinkedIn for Business. You can view my profile here at:

Marissa Hale

My first foray into LinkedIn came during the season Robert and I created The Roughshod Ribboniere. A lovely website selling American handcrafts, I was enamored of sourcing the artisans and their handmade goods, building the online platform, signing contracts, fixing price margins, and marketing away. The Roughshod Ribboniere was one of the first of its kind in cyberspace. How can I boast that? Because I had to ask a certain Canadian company to develop the back end we needed…and they built it FOR US. Then they added it to their offerings. If I’d known they were a public company I’d’ve invested. I’d be much wealthier today gaining those earnings off my own idea. Live and learn.

Failing Forward

Honestly, I don’t actually like the term ‘failing forward’, although that is the best way to fail. The alternative is to let failure kill the idea, the company, or worse, you. Failing forward is like Thomas A. Edison creating 1,000 ways that don’t work to invent the light bulb. He chose to see it as education leading him onward, not another reason to quit. Undertaking any type of business takes an unusual ability to withstand rejection, criticism, loss, and bewilderment. I guess that’s why many people aren’t entrepreneurial.

I didn’t realize LinkedIn offered content on business beside the actual profile and job postings. Lately, I’ve read posts by Bill Gates and 5 Hour Club. I love it! I’m learning perspectives from other business owners, entrepreneurs, parents, and philanthropists, enriching not only my workday but the team around me every day.

Entrepreneurship

Saying you go to work is not being an entrepreneur. Saying you’re in business may be entrepreneurial. In my personal definition of the word, you are the generator of your quadrant of the business and it wholly rests on you. At least, you are the tip of the spear – or the point of the bow – to keep the nautical analogy. If you go to work, clock in, clock out, and don’t worry about the company’s success as if it hinges on you, odds are it doesn’t. Entrepreneurs develop early, from paper routes to lemonade stands to creating widgets to building networks. It’s generally thankless for a really long time until you become the proverbial “overnight success.” You’ve helped enough people along the way and gathered enough skills and bruises to get up and go again another day.

How can you add some initiative to your desk, no matter if you own the company or not? An entrepreneurial mind-style benefits everyone. So, get some “get-up-and-go”, let the wind fill your sails, and point yourself in the right direction. I guarantee nothing though I’d be interested in what you learn from the adventure. Bon Voyage!