10+ Reasons Why We are on the Doorstep of “Brave New World

Times are changing – in fact change is the operative word and it’s the one constant we have in every element of our lives.  Western society has been entrenched in the concept of stability since we entered the Great Depression. As businesses grew larger we embraced a culture of control and systems in order to achieve stability. We valued certainty and pensions for our retirement above self improvement and upward mobility. Oh we still strived for both but within the framework of those organizations that were stable. We came to expect easy entry into the work force and a life long job ending in the golden years of a well funded retirement. A great dream that no generation has achieved. Even the baby boomers received a setback with the recession of 2008 and reduction in their savings at a time when they needed them

Now we live in an era where the largest organizations can and do fail or falter from GM to RIM we have learned the lesson that the status quo has become a fleeting allusion.

It’s time to give yourself the gift of entrepreneurial thinking.

Only you can do it. Abandon prison thinking. Ignore the reasons that prevent you from accomplishing things whether personal or professional. Approach your problems from the mindset of ‘how’ you are going to solve them not ‘if’ you’ll be  able to solve them.

Entrepreneurial thinking can be applied to every element of your life and it leads to another gift: self-determination

Frankly this is a must. In your business life the most important skill you can learn in the 21st century is the ability to create and manage your career. Is your personal life any different? If we don’t take control we will limit ourselves to a life of mediocrity with decreasing real wages. limited upward mobility, low satisfaction and increasing frustration

It’s time to trade in stability for agility!

The attributes that dictate success today are resilience and adaptability which happen to be the characteristics of entrepreneurs.

So as you reflect on this holiday season consider giving yourself the gift of an open mind – one that is open to possibilities and determined to find solutions.

All the best for the holiday season

Fred Dawkins, Author of Everyday Entrepreneur and the just released Family Entrepreneur

Much as we would like to, we never really love our parents as much as we do our children. Your business is exactly like a child. In the early or startup years it will depend completely upon you, looking to you for all the answers. You will always supply them with confidence, belying the uncertainty that you may feel as a first time owner just as you do as a first time parent. The child will look to you 24/7 in sickness and in health and as the parent you will always be there regardless of the problem, dropping everything else in the process. Your business and its components from customers to your team will do the same and like the parent you will be ready and willing to oblige. You cannot easily walkout on your children. Oh some due but for the majority it’s a non-starter. Same thing with your business. You are your business but try to remember your business is not you.

The middle years are the best when you have become comfortable within your developing family and confident in the decisions that must be made. Neither your child or your business will question you during this peak period. Things do get into a groove on both fronts but then comes the maturing years, the transition from total dependence  to independence. Tough for the parent to admit it’s time to let go and let the child mature  developing all of it’s capabilities, finding new methods and learning new things that the parent doesn’t know or understand.  So difficult to do but you the parent do it willingly in the best interest of your child. And so you must with your business. At some point you will become the limitation in your business. The day will come when it has outgrown you. It will not mature and reach it’s potential unless you let go. Easier said than done but be ready.

Like your first born that first business must move on to a new future. But then remember you can do it again. Maybe you already are. The second child is easier. There are tried and true practices that you know and understand. You can take that second child from gestation through birth to adolescence from startup to a thriving healthy entity. You can do this as many times as you can handle. And so you can with business. That’s what makes you a parent and that’s what makes you an entrepreneur. There are many mentors that can steward your child and your business into full maturity who cannot deal with the early years. You are the one who launches them from nothing and starts them along the path to maturity.

So recognize the need for that end game- when it is time to move on and begin again. It’s what you do best. The child will ask for you opinion. The business may ask you to consult. You will learn to enjoy both, but you will find your happiness doing it all over again.

Did you know that more than 350,000 Canadians live and work in Silicon Valley. That’s right more than one percent of our population and a much higher portion of our intellectual capital have left us for the world’s most prestigious and most productive ecosystem. This is both a problem and an opportunity but not one that government can solve or even try to solve. So how do we stem the tide?

It’s not a quick fix. When we are producing world class talent they are inevitably attracted to the epicentre of success, achievement but most of all opportunity. It is the opportunity that we need to focus on. The Creative Destruction Lab does that. It creates opportunity here in Canada. The leader Professor Ajay Agrawal is a dynamo. He is the living evidence that entrepreneurship can be taught, an academic with the drive and mindset that can match anyone in the business community. The stated goal of the Lab is to generate equity – specifically to create $ 1 billion in equity in the first ten years. After the first two years approximately $ 130 million has been achieved. However the real goal is to keep the best and most brilliant we produce here in Canada, helping to build our own world class ecosystem and offering a valuable example to others that “Canada’s Got Talent” and I don’t mean the variety acts we see on the American TV show.

Ventures receive the very best of mentorship. It is amazing to see how they evolve in less than one year. Watch for results – they have already started but many more will follow in the years to come

With the Vancouver Olympics on the horizon the Canadian Olympic Committee supported by the Government recognized a need to change the status quo – a need to disrupt the traditional methods and find a way to achieve the winning performances expected from the host country. The situation demanded an entrepreneurial approach based on opportunity and determination. The opportunity was hosting the games – the determination to win existed with the athletes but the momentum to surpass previous achievement came from the Own the Podium program that created an ecosystem promoting pride, confidence and results. It worked – in Vancouver the Canadian team set a record for the most gold medals won at a winter Olympics and collected more total medals than they had ever won in a single Olympics. The key was creating a culture that nurtured success and established that success as a new normal, an expectation. In the simplest terms a philosophy or mindset focused on making things happen- the essence of being entrepreneurial.

On an individual basis this program is a great example of breaking free of prison thinking and letting your determination take you through to success. But Own the Podium is far more significant than that. It is a great example of the collective creating the support system that produces individual success to the benefit of the entire country. We must do the same in the business world. Did you know that over 350,000 Canadians live and work in Silicon Valley? Why? Because the Valley offers the most highly developed tech ecosystem the world has ever seen. Do you also know that there is a worldwide competition for talent going on? Governments around the world are building programs to attract entrepreneurs to their countries. Canada has already introduced a fast track system to provide visas and a path to citizenship for entrepreneurs/innovators who can attract venture capital investment from Canadians. However if we can just keep our best and most brilliant home we can do well in this talent war and improve our prospects and results. We need to Own the Podium in tech development and in entrepreneurship.

We have a good start with programs like MaRS , Communitech and The Creative Destruction Lab at the Rotman School but we need the collective will and the support of government to build an ecosystem that is second to none and that brings out the very best from the natural ability that exists here. If one per cent of our total population representing a much higher percentage of our intellectual capital are living in California than we have the tools here but we are both losing them and underutilizing them. More or less like our Olympic performance prior to Vancouver. If we can do it in sport we can do it in business.

You are educated. Now what? The most important skill you can add today is the ability to create and manage your career. On the surface this is not the best time to graduate. The cost of education is very high, bringing student debt to record levels. Job stability is in decline. The distribution of wealth is skewed in favour of those at the top. Upward mobility is in jeopardy. The rate of change is increasing. All this means that your future is dependent on self-determination grounded in awareness of the world in which you live. In this environment, you are your own brand and must plan on reinventing yourself throughout your work life. Start engaging in entrepreneurial thinking right at the outset of your career. Whether you start a business, become a solopreneur, work in a large entity or engage in social entrepreneurship, you have to become adaptable and resilient in a world dominated by change. Entrepreneurial thinking is about a mindset not a skillset. Success is about finding a way not knowing the way. In the era of Big Data this is essential. We will never know enough or understand enough of what we know. So abandon prison thinking and get started.

Five ideas to reject:

1. Education guarantees you a future. Sorry you don’t have it made: education never ceases and formal education just gives you more opportunities. There are no guarantees
2. There are no jobs for graduates. There are barriers to entering the work force which are as insurmountable as we allow them to be. Resilience and adaptability start now.
3. Government will solve the employment problem. Would you really choose government as your advocate to solve any problem?
4. There is no future within small business. Life expectancy of all businesses is in decline. Strategic management of your career takes you where you can gain the most now!
5. Millenials don’t make good hires. Maybe you place a higher value on social media contact and demand access during the day but technology is your ally making you more productive than older generations.

Ten Reasons for Confidence:

1. Technology, your ally, has lowered the cost of administration through the integration of many management tasks. A one pound portable laptop allows anyone to incorporate their accounting system, sales marketing network, all communication, research, collections and payments not to mentions a wide variety of personal needs. Add in mobility via a smartphone and you are always accessible and connected. You have the potential to do it all, as a disruptor within a large corporation or government agency or as an independent.
2. Big Data is generating new problems at record rates. Every problem is an opportunity.
3. Social networking, another ally, has increased the reach of individuals allowing market access on a much broader geographic scope. Services can be offered at great distance. Endorsements can be sought and received across the country or even worldwide. Credibility can be built quickly through performance. LinkedIn is a great tool to market your skills and pursue your career strategy.
4. Websites can be both affordable and first class allowing an individual to build a professional image. Employee and entrepreneur alike can build their brand and market themselves.
5. Outsourcing is an established practice by which governments and large corporations are achieving flexibility which rewards specialization right down to the individual level. Businesses may only want you part time so find several of them and keep them happy.
6. Acquisition is a principal way for large entities to find innovation making startups, often founded on youth and enthusiasm a great opportunity if you can join the right team.
7. Succession is a huge issue for hundreds and thousands of viable independent businesses in North America as the baby boom generation hits retirement depending on their business to fund their future. You can find a mentor leading you to acquire your own business through an earn out that funds his or her retirement.
8. Size is simply becoming a liability – there are many small viable market niches that large companies and foreign sourcing will never fill. Adaptability, resilience and flexibility are essential in a world dominated by change.
9. Opportunity is nowhere, opportunity is everywhere. Recognizing opportunity is the cornerstone of success in every aspect of your career.
10. Determination was the key to graduating. It is also the key to managing your career.

Starting your career is the first of many problems ahead. Every problem provides an opportunity. The solution to a successful career lies within your ability to create your own brand.

Fred Dawkins is a serial entrepreneur with over 40 years’ experience and achievements in manufacturing, retail, land development, consulting and import/export. He holds a B Com in commerce and finance and a M.A. in economics from the University of Toronto. His business has allowed him to travel extensively, giving him insight into the emerging global economy and making him a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship in the 21st century.
Everyday Entrepreneur [Dundurn Press] is the first book in Dawkins’ Entrepreneurial Edge series, and is currently available at all booksellers, including Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Barnes & Noble and Chapters Indigo. His novel, 2020 Hindsight, explores major contradictory trends in society in a compelling contemporary fiction narrative, and is forthcoming as an e-book on Amazon.com.
Website: https://fcdawkins.com/