Welcome to the Wild Side – Going Entrepreneurial

My dad worked for General Motors for 37 years, his only full-time employer. My wife’s dad worked for DuPont for 35 years after a brief stint with IBM. Who knows – he might have been with IBM for 37 years if they had permanently assigned him to the Nashville office rather than sending him to Upstate New York. They used to be the norm – but now their career paths would be considered anomalies.

My career, which began at a local church as a youth pastor, and which includes three significant “employment” eras – plus a 5-year run of having my own company serve as my sole means of support – has been a much different path. This past week I concluded a three-year return to the corporate world. I moved to Nashville in late 2005 to launch a specialty book division with Integrity Publishers. When Integrity was acquired by Thomas Nelson, I served in the same publisher role with a much larger company over a well-established business unit.

With the publishing industry in a major funk – and no bailout being trumpeted on CNN – now was and is the time for me to get back to running my own business. One of the first responses I got to my announcement was from a good friend, also independent and entrepreneurial in mindset, who sent me a text that said “welcome back to the wild side.” As someone who thought he might be bankrupt and then wealthy and then bankrupt all in the same year, I can only smile – I can’t argue with his choice of words.

I’ve been asked if I’m worried about not being with a company in what may be the worst economic times since the Great Depression. Well, last I heard on TV, General Motors needs money from the government this week or it may be forced into Chapter 7, which means the doors would close. What safe place is there in the workforce today?

I’ve been told I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I’ve been told I’m crazy. Both statements are undoubtedly wrong – and right – for different reasons! Bottom line, I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all plan for navigating the white water rapids of today’s workplace. My inclination is that I won’t return to corporate (never say never), but I wouldn’t recommend that as the plan for everyone. Know thyself.

Have you considered – or been forced to consider – going entrepreneurial? I love the independent work world – but it’s a wild ride! I would offer three simple observations that might serve as counsel and advise for someone reading this.

1. Everyone needs more than one “customer.” Your employer may be your boss and your means of financial support, but your employer is also a customer for your services. Is it smart to have one customer? Maybe it was in a bygone era but in times of economic turbulence, when many companies are struggling to stay alive, that’s probably not the case. But isn’t that kind of thinking disloyal and dishonest? I’m obviously not condoning or advocating the stealing of time and resources from the one paying you, but there’s nothing dishonorable in using gifts and skills, some of which may not have an outlet in your primary job, in ways that meet the needs of other customers.
2. Hard work is the order of the day. Duh. That may seem too obvious to mention but let’s face it, we do live in an incredibly comfortable epoch of world history – with lots of our free time devoted to entertainment. A friend – and yes, he, too, is independent and entrepreneurial in his mindset – sent me this word of wisdom recently: “He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgement” (Proverbs 12:11).
3. Ultimately, there is no security in your own labors. So what’s the point in trying? There is great reward in working hard and working savvy, but the only true security is found in faith in God. The words of Job, who was the wealthiest man of his day, who lost his wealth, his health, and his family in a series of calamities, still ring true today: “Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return” (15:31). Trust God more.

So whether your company is definitively in the black or the red, whether your career is booming or languishing, whether you have made the move to the independent work world or are happy in corporate, all I can say is it’s a jungle either way, so ‘welcome to the wild side!’