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

“Fred Dawkins sure can tell a story. I really enjoyed his previous one: Everyday Entrepreneur. Again with Family Entrepreneur, he gives us a great story and a pleasant read. He provides wisdom, comfort and learning about entrepreneurship from a family enterprise point of view. I kept thinking of those I know in that situation that would have benefited from reading it earlier in their life. If you are part of a family enterprise, here’s a chance to learn from Fred, an accomplished family entrepreneur, and make your life much more effective and rewarding.”

Brendan Calder Entrepreneur in Residence and Adjunct Professor GettingItDone
Rotman School of Management U of Toronto.

After reading Family Entrepreneur: “In the age of Twitter, it warms the heart that ‘smallbizpreneurs’ still rule the roost and family business remains the proven formula”

Peter C. Newman – Legendary Canadian journalist and author

Author Fred Dawkins has penned another winner with Family Entrepreneur. The third party narrative style of storytelling allows for a variety of opinions to be put forward while maintaining an entertaining read. Chalked full of real life scenarios and challenges that face every business, the Family Entrepreneur will engage all entrepreneurs from every generation, whether in a family business or not.

David Wojcik Host and Executive Producer BiZ TV Canada

“Working in the Financial Services industry for fifty plus years, twenty seven as an Independent Financial advisor, I dealt with high net worth clients & many successful family businesses. The first book in this series was very good but I believe that this second one ought to become the bible for every entrepreneur & budding entrepreneur as it is full of very valuable, helpful & vital advice & is very cleverly written. It is a book that should be read over & over & dipped into whenever there is a query or problem”

Frank Weisinger – Past National President of the Life Insurance Association (UK)

“Recently I was in the process of selling my historically significant commercial building. During the negotiations with realtors and prospective buyers, poring over lists, namely needs, wants, and conditions, I was overwhelmed and sought a diversion. In Fred Dawkins book, “Everyday Entrepreneur” I quickly became immersed in the text. His counsel on the key elements in negotiations in Chapter 18, Planning and Control, awakened in me an appreciation for what was most important for me as well as for the buyer, and the need for flexibility to reach an agreement. I accepted that it truly was a process that had to evolve, and because of his advice I felt empowered and confident to negotiate the sale.”

Elaine Tucker, Independent Business Owner

Fred’s book is thought provoking, highly entertaining while being truly insightful. Readers are challenged on their own beliefs and characteristics regarding entrepreneurship, mentors, career, and family. At times, I was laughing and other times intrigued by the business concepts subtlety being offered. It is full of rich ideas on how to develop and maintain an entrepreneurial mindset and how to build a business the right way, avoiding the issues that have caused others to stumble. As a serial entrepreneur and business coach I highly recommend Fred’s “Family Entrepreneur” for those in business or thinking about starting one.

Bill Simmel CEO& Founder Phoenix ONE Sales, Marketing, Management + Communications Inc.

In his second book Family Entrepreneur Fred Dawkins uses the same intimate discussion format that made his first book, Everyday Entrepreneur so informative and such a great text for seminars. Fred’s experiences as a successful family entrepreneur form the bases of real life discussion for concepts such as funding through leadership and the pitfalls and opportunities of personal issues, entitlement, rewards and succession that have special significance in a family setting. Best expressed in his own words “Entrepreneurship is a life philosophy grounded in opportunity, fueled by determination and focused on results.” Whether a beginner, well into an entrepreneurial venture, or a professor of business, this book is a must. It’s great stuff.

Dr. Freeman McEwen Dean Emeritus, University of Guelph

Reading Fred Dawkins book ‘Family Entrepreneur, Easier Said than Done’ is like having an experienced business coach who’s already walked down the same road you’re traveling, right there with you. While reading this book you’re bound to sigh with relief as he examines all the mildly crazy things we do as family entrepreneurs (we are not alone!). You’ll raise your eyebrows, smack yourself on the forehead and underline text reflecting his simple solutions and powerful observations and you’ll feel a surge of motivation as you put them into play immediately. So accurate are his examples of family business dynamics that you’ll feel such a familiarity with Dawkins’ writing you’ll swear he’s been reading your email. Written in a storybook format that’s enjoyably easy to read, you’ll want to take this book along with you on your next vacation. I have a hunch it’s going to be a book I return to and recommend on a very regular basis.

Sherri J Griffin 20 Year Training & Development Professional

“This book is an exceptional read that paints the bigger picture of entrepreneurship through easy but important dialogue. I recommend anyone interested in starting a business or entrepreneurship in general read this and take notes.”

Douglas Lusted CEO Linkett, The Next 36, First Cohort The Creative Destruction Lab at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Velocity Venture Fund Winner University of Waterloo

Utilizing his exemplary storytelling skills, Fred Dawkins has written an excellent book about entrepreneurship in a family setting environment and the the many challenges that it places on the entrepreneur and the family, as well. As indicated in his subtitle, it is easier said than done. The book clearly articulates a number of the issues involved in running a business so that the primary owner can prosper yet not conflict with family values, expectations, including physical, as well as financial and emotional needs. He cleverly exposes how frequently family members butt heads during the running of a family business and how difficult it can be to resolve differences among family members. If you’re a small business or entrepreneur working with your family in your business, I would highly recommend that you read Family Entrepreneur. It will provide you with valuable insights on how you might be better able to deal with the challenges in running a “family” business.

Jeff Sheehan- author of HIRED! Paths to Employment in the Social Media Era

Family Entrepreneur: Easier Said than Done by serial entrepreneur Fred Dawkins tells real-life stories that reveal the good, the bad and the ho-hum of family businesses. In an engaging, easy-to-read format, Dawkins shows you how to find your own solutions to questions about business controls, succession, dispute resolution, gender stereotypes, or decision-making.

Traditional family businesses are being disrupted as baby boomers retire. What are the new models to keep a business competitive and family ties strong? In Family Entrepreneur, memorable maxims guide the conversation and bring the reader into the conversation. A sister who functions as the COO of her brothers’ company but doesn’t get the credit or financial rewards. A brother who runs a business but can’t make critical decisions because their father left one-half of his company to each sibling. A brother who started his own very successful business and is being pressured by his parents to take his brother and sister into his own business. A mother who started her own fashion company and is now being overrun by her daughters.

Dawkins speaks to all entrepreneurs and ‘want-to-be’ entrepreneurs – those who start a business to provide for their families, to fulfill their dreams, to profit from their innovations, to be their own boss. Hear how they make their decisions – should they stay in the company? sell it? start a new business? In my own field of veterinary medicine, these situations are a recurring theme.

Focusing on family business and family dynamics, the Family Entrepreneur will give you the courage to tackle your own situation. Family relationships are complicated in the best of circumstances and running a company means constantly adapting to changing environments. Dawkins provides sage advice for anyone in a family business, emphasizing how important it is to face the issues head on as rationally as you can and not to allow emotion to dominate the conversation.

Dawkins celebrates the family business as the original business incubator and encourages would-be entrepreneurs to take the leap (after careful looking at all the options!). The valuable insights will guide you no matter where you are on the entrepreneurial timetable.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Stone | Dean, Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) | University of Guelph

In the fast paced age of corporations and global multi-billion dollar industries – Family Entrepreneur is a riveting road map for all readers, regardless of their desire to become an entrepreneur, or to simply learn key tools which will drive creativity, leadership and success in business and life.
Who said you can’t teach entrepreneurship? Effective and cleverly narrated through the eyes of a young female entrepreneur, Family Entrepreneur showcases the challenges, rewards and opportunities within life and family business from varying timelines. It’s easy to find one’s self and relate to the characters throughout the book. It reads like a novel, but is a sneaky and fun way of teaching the tools of the trade of family entrepreneurship – or for that matter – entrepreneurship in general.
Maryam Latifpoor-Keparoutis, Senior Development Manager, College of Physical & Engineering Science (CPES), University of Guelph

For the past fifty years our business schools have been working on a flawed model. We have focused on producing executives for large corporations; only recently have we introduced enthusiasm for entrepreneurship to our MBA programs. However we live in a world economy focused on globalization, revved up by the technological revolution and immersed in a 24/7 mindset. We have created an extremely fast paced environment requiring flexible management led by adaptable and resilient leaders – the essence of entrepreneurship.

The misguided emphasis on turning out high paid executives has led to politically motivated policies like ‘Too Big to Fail’ which can be more properly labelled “Too Big to Succeed” or simply “To Big”. Like their second cousin Big Government these monolithic corporations need the impact of entrepreneurs – people who are disruptors that challenge the status quo in the face of a new global reality. They are too slow and unwieldy and are led by overpaid executives far removed from reality, Increasingly they rely on growth by acquisition and flexibility achieved by contracting out. They are part of our reality but not the part that will have the greatest influence and guide the inherent change built into the global economy. Entrepreneurs will pursue opportunity around the world and find the many niches that will move us to more efficient allocation of resources and lower cost of production across the entire world. At the same time in the west where we have structural issues such as high unemployment levels among unskilled workers, entrepreneurs will invest locally finding opportunity and create jobs that will put these resources to work. Government cannot do this effectively and big business has no interest in doing so.

‘Everyday Entrepreneur’ encourages entrepreneurship at all levels, focused on preparing entrepreneurs for the challenges they will face through a wide range of anecdotes helping them experience the realities of life as an entrepreneur in this ‘New Era of Entrepreneurship’.

Praise for Everyday Entrepreneur

“Fred Dawkins employs a likeable cast of characters and the simple setting of Canadian cottage country in July to convey a complex set of ideas ranging from the nature-versus-nurture debate (are entrepreneurs born or made?) to a variety of essential how-to entrepreneurship skills to specialty topics such as gender, leadership, negotiation, and team formation, as well as the important role of entrepreneurship in the global economy. His casual, easy-to-read writing style belies the critical importance of his subject matter. Not just potential entrepreneurs but also governments, big companies, and business schools in the West must adapt to the new reality of an increasingly educated and ambitious middle class in so-called developing countries and take immediate steps to reinvigorate our large population of underutilized problem-solvers in order to remain competitive and continue to enjoy increasing prosperity. As Sam would say: It is not a question of if, but rather how.”
— Ajay Agrawal, Peter Munk Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, founder of the Creative Destruction Lab for entrepreneurs, and co-founder of The Next 36 entrepreneurship program.

Yesterday’s Alberta election produced a dramatic change but more than anything else it resulted from change and the inability of the PC party in Alberta to manage change.  One of the reasons so many experts maintain that failure is an integral part of succeeding as an entrepreneur is because we do learn from failure. We have to learn in order to recover so we take the time to analyze what we did wrong in order to avoid repeating the same mistake. Success masks our faults. It is rare for most of us to understand our weaknesses when we are getting results. Unfortunately for the electorate for a political party getting results means maintaining power as opposed to effective performance. When things are going well as they did for Alberta under the boom of the oil industry it was easy for politicians to look good and to develop some bad management practices. When a serious problem developed with falling oil revenues there was a huge need to adjust. We will never know whether the proposed budget was appropriate or not but remember when you have to provide customers, suppliers or employees with a bitter pill for the longer run good don’t turn around and immediately give them control to vote the new policy in or not.

My mantra for the individual in today’s dynamic world is that the number one skill you can learn is the ability to create and manage your own career, with managing being the key to sustain meaningful success. We face an unprecedented rate of change. Every one of us must have the ability to recreate ourselves in the face of this one certainty: change is a constant, by definition the only thing we can count on besides death and taxes. Despite the perception of many that entrepreneurship requires risk this need not mean reckless risk but instead should refer to managed risk. The PCs had the time and needed it to prove that their budget could work in an economy under duress rather than risking a quick election on the outside chance they would get another majority giving them even more time. So among the small business lessons from yesterday’s election results are the following:

1. Nothing lasts forever including good times in the oil industry

2. Sustained success requires a relentless commitment to adapt even after a long track record of doing so.

3. Managed risk produces results while reckless risk invites failure

4. Knowing your weaknesses in good times and bad will sustain your success

5. A change in leadership does not guarantee renewal of an organization

I’ m sure there are more.

Fred Dawkins is a serial entrepreneur and the author of a series entitled The Entrepreneurial Edge. The third book in that series Ageless Entrepreneur is available from booksellers across North America on May 9th 2015

 

 

 

 

Misconceptions about Entrepreneurship – Time to end the nonsense!
By Fred Dawkins, author of Everyday Entrepreneur
We are entering a New Era of Entrepreneurship where there is no room for prison thinking in a world dominated by rapid change. Embracing change requires resilience and adaptability which are key characteristics for all entrepreneurs. Unfortunately the existing stereotypes for entrepreneurs discourage countless people from embracing the role. These perceptions prevent too many from taking the leap of faith required to become one. The first step in breaking free is to dispel some of the myths that are holding capable people back at a time when they need to welcome the opportunity to create and manage their own careers.
Two of the most flagrant misrepresentations that discourage people are that entrepreneurs are gamblers who take reckless risks to achieve high rewards and that entrepreneurs need to fail in order to succeed. Many people are risk averse and most of us fear failure. These traits do not disqualify us as potential entrepreneurs. In reality entrepreneurship is not about the risk that you take but entirely about the results that you achieve. Being entrepreneurial relies on the determination to make things happen especially when many others don’t see that possibility. Becoming an entrepreneur is all about the mindset not the skillset. Entrepreneurs find the way to make things happen they don’t always know the way. Too many good opportunities die prematurely because people are risk averse. More people need to make the leap of faith based on their determination and the foundation of a viable opportunity.
However, being prudent prevents you from taking reckless risk and directs you towards managed risk which is the hallmark of free enterprise. Entrepreneurs are proactive and solve problems through determination not by taking unwarranted risk. Successful entrepreneurs always have a downside plan allowing for adjustment which mitigates risk. When they make plans they analyze a range of possibilities rather than marrying themselves up to a single goal or result. In this way they build a framework which helps them adjust on a timely basis. Put your best foot forward: at the very beginning establish the viability of your opportunity. Too much time, energy and money are spent trying to convert whimsical ideas into a sound business. A high tolerance for risk is not enough to make a bad idea succeed. This is the essence of the lean startup. Test your premise. Talk to your potential market. Get feedback and adjust. Manage your risk from the outset. Don’t plunge blindly ahead on the premise that risk is an integral part of the undertaking. To be sure there is risk but recognize it and manage it as best you can.
The concept that failure is a prerequisite for success is more nonsense and stems from rationalization by those who fail initially. Successful entrepreneurs abhor failure. For many of them the fear of failing is a powerful motivation. Most manage their risk effectively, anticipate problems, adjust quickly, bounce back from setbacks and manage to avoid failure – if they do fail they learn and move on. We all learn more from failure simply because we take the time to analyze it. In that sense setbacks do make you stronger and they only constitute a failure if we give up. On the other hand success is exhilarating and it masks our faults. Just as initial failure can set the stage for success to follow; initial success can lead to a sense of entrepreneurial infallibility. When that happens, as it does to too many, the critical things that built those initial achievements are often forgotten and ignored.
In order to break down these established stereotypes we have to understand how they evolved. Both derive from two specific types of entrepreneurs. First are the misfits or rebels who either cannot or will not conform; the gamblers to whom few of us can relate. Second and even more prominent are the tech entrepreneurs immersed in the world of venture capital where risk is high, failure is frequent and the rewards for success are dramatic. However Silicon Valley is not the center of the universe and these are not the definitive entrepreneurs; they are but two types of many, both removed from the traditional economy and the rock solid problem solvers that collectively form the engine that drives the economy. Those are the achievers that do make things happen especially creating jobs while big business is chasing lower costs around the globe.
In this new era, defined by constant and rapid change, we must all become more entrepreneurial. We can choose to establish an independent business or we can choose to become disruptors within the culture of big business or within the bureaucracy of big government. Collectively we are defining a new normal; one that is less stable and more dynamic. Regardless it is in our best interest to embrace the mindset of an entrepreneur, an attitude focused on action fueled by determination. We must indeed create and manage our own careers. Job stability is disappearing. The distribution of wealth is favouring capital not labour. Upward mobility is in decline. All of this means new and different opportunities. We can become the architect of our dreams or the victim of others’. Whatever you choose; don’t let misguided and outdated ideas limit your choices. .
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/
Read More “My article: The Misconceptions about Entrepreneurship”

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.

 

I am a serial entrepreneur who believes that the free enterprise system is the best alternative for creating upward mobility, a growing middle class, the most efficient allocation of resources and the least costly production of goods and services to the benefit of society as a whole. But free enterprise is based on the principal of a free and open market. Theoretically the ease of communication today should create more opportunity and much greater competition. Free enterprise does not thrive in a monopoly or oligopoly both of which limit competition but in many cases that is what we now have. As a result the middle class in the west is in serious danger of backsliding into the poor class from which it came over the past hundred plus years.

Branding and Brand power are the main tools that are limiting competion, allowing capital to seize a much larger portion of the pie at the expense of labour creating the status of superrich and the growing disparity in the distribution of wealth. These are serious dangers because market control interferes with free enterprise and skews the results. Yes it is still possible to create a new brand but increasingly large organizations block the market and take advantage by acquiring up and coming companies and only then allowing them full market penetration.

On an individual basis it is now critical to become an entrepreneur allowing for self-determination and upward mobility that is in decline for employees. The most important skill anyone can learn today is the ability to create and manage your career. The problem is much bigger for society. We have created a society in the west with very high expectations and a philosophy of entitlement. A large percentage of the population will not put forward the effort and level of determination required to succeed as an entrepreneur – not without first experiencing serious pain and a major economic correction. We are vulnerable but collectively we remain in a state of denial.

The capitalist system which allowed the middle class to flourish in the west is broken. Rather than continuing to create opportunity it has begun to limit it. Rather than spreading the success to the developing world we are in danger of returning to a more rigid class system with the superrich having a disproportionate amount of economic power. Solutions are impossible as long as we remain in a state of denial compounded by governments which have become dysfunctional. A good start could come from consumers by becoming better informed and breaking the power of the brands. This should be happening through social media but it isn’t. Instead brand control of the market is being re-enforced by social media marketing.

I am very concerned that I have lived and worked in an era that has been optimum for the individual but is no longer sustainable. I am very concerned that my grandchildren will be denied the opportunity that my generation has enjoyed. One of the great challenges of capitalism is to moderate the influence of greed. If we don’t find a way to level the playing field it’s difficult to predict how social unrest will manifest itself in a society where expectations cannot be achieved.