Book Launch for Everyday Entrepreneur – Saturday December 20th

Quite a number of my friends are professionals. Often they let me know how lucky I’ve been to own and operate companies with employees who keep churning out results even when I am at the cottage or on the golf course. For them time is money-they generate the revenue. They have to be there or nothing happens. I don’t even have to show up.

The traditional idea is that once you get to be the boss, you coast while others do your bidding. Maybe that idea’s grounded in the reality that most people get promoted to their level of incompetence where performance falls off. Of course it’s delusional to think that you start your own business and find a gravy train of financial success, freedom and success, all with little effort. This rarely happens but we do revere examples when it does like some the instant successes that have materialized in the tech world. Frankly that type of success is equivalent to winning the lottery which isn’t going to happen for many. Unfortunately this is the romantic side of entrepreneurship- rare but appealing.

If your goal is to get to be the boss and then take it easy , perhaps you should look to the public sector where that is at least a possibility. Being a true entrepreneur means living in a revolving door with each turn bringing a new problem to solve. If this lifestyle is meant for you , it’s like getting the business equivalent of a runner’s high, every day, all day. If not welcome to chaos. The faster the problems come the more you must thrive on the process. The last thing entrepreneurs want to do is sit idle while others do the work and get all the fun of problem solving.

That’s why they succeed in startups but struggle in managing established businesses even though they may have built those same businesses. No matter how great your innovation, converting that project to a successful business requires entrepreneurship. Success takes determination, adaptability, resilience, commitment and the certainty that you will take the project to completion and make that project happen. It is not the project that makes an entrepreneur. It is definitely the process! Very few are content to level their business and enjoy the fruits of success. So if you are all about power, money or prestige maybe entrepreneurship isn’t for you. Being the boss is just a necessary evil.

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”

Thursday I attended the Demo Camp at the Creative Destructive Lab at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. The Lab is focused on converting innovation to entrepreneurship selecting concepts with merit and guiding the founders through the process of getting to market. In the process the goal is to encourage the brightest and best to stay in Canada. The first program was completed in June. It is a competitive environment as it should be. Last September when the Lab was in it`s gestation period there were 76 project submitted. Of these the G7 founding partners selected the 18 that they felt had the most merit. The groups were assigned specific targets to carry out over a six week period at which time they met with the partners again. The one with the weakest performance was dropped. By June on completion of the program there were ten projects left. In less than a year the survivors have created over $ 65 million in equity with more to come. Great performance for a program in its infancy. Great things are destined to come out of this program. It`s already started.

I am very proud to have been invited to become a partner of the CD Lab. Not as one of the G7 partners who will continue to run the program in conjunction with the founders Professor Ajay Agrawal and Jesse Rogers but as one who is passionate about entrepreneurship and willing to help these people with phenomenal potential in whatever way I can. There are many levels and forms of entrepreneurship. The common bonds are the personal issues and fundamental business issues that every entrepreneur has to address from team building to funding. The transition from innovator to entrepreneur is difficult at the best of times but the pace at the Lab as for any accelerator is fast and furious. Understanding what to expect on these basic challenges can facilitate the transition and keep things in perspective.

Which brings me back to the title of this post. The adrenalin of the Demo Camp was contagious. Ajay and Jesse along with the G7 partners are building a culture of success. The combination of seeing the progress that was made last year as reported by the charter participants along with over twenty new pitches to show what is on the horizon was compelling and just plain exciting. There is a developing worldwide race to attract talent. Keeping our own is critical. Attracting sources from other countries nearly as important. Canada has introduced a new visa program to attract innovators who can confirm capital to support their programs BUT the key to attracting others is to keep our own, build a world class ecosystem and foster the culture of success. The Creative Destruction Lab will be an important factor in the process. Very exciting !!!!

Generally anything that makes government facilitate as opposed to over regulate is a positive step. The government of Ontario has just announced initiatives that could reduce red tape for businesses and create cluster developments to help drive regional economic growth and create jobs. Will these reforms ever see the light of day in a minority legislature flirting with an election or are they just pre-election temptations to attract votes away from the conservatives?

Regardless both of these ideas focus on critical areas in the face of a fast paced global economy where all countries are fighting for talent and for markets. Governments at all levels need to become more efficient and more effective. Over regulation serves no purpose other than to increase the cost of government and limit the competitiveness of the private sector, discouraging investment in the province in the process. There is a place for regulation and there are important roles for government but the former needs to be reeled in while the latter needs to be more selective. One preferred area should be to co-operate with the private sector and academia to create ecosystems that foster business opportunities in a variety of areas where we can build comparative advantages. This is now a stated goal for Ontario.

The most startling evidence of cluster development is Silicon Valley where 350,000 Canadians live and work. That’s right 1% of our population and a much higher percentage of our intellectual capital are resident in northern California. The Valley offers the most dominant ecosystem for an industry that exists, nurturing tech startups and venture capital investment at a phenomenal rate. It is not one that can easily be replicated and it’s been underway for over sixty years.

In other words this project requires genuine commitment from all concerned. We can only hope that the Ontario government follows through and that the Feds add a level of support. We are in a new era dominated by change. The culture of government and business alike has to change. Government must move away from a culture of bureaucracy that has become an unbearable burden. Big business must move away from a culture of control to a culture of empowerment as change dictates that the status quo is short lived.

These new initiatives serve as a reality check that we must become more competitive. Government can not be the agent of change that makes this happen but it can facilitate a co-ordinated approach by reducing the costs of doing business and helping to create ecosystems that support the efforts of the private sector. Let’s hope that all parties rally in support of these programs that will create jobs and point us toward a better future.

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