My client in China once asked me, “What words come to mind when you think of China?”
I replied, “Culture, History, and Tradition.” Then I asked him what words came to his mind when he thought about America. His reply was so fast that it startled me, “Freedom!”
From the view outside of our country, what distinguishes America and Americans is that we are free. We can choose the jobs or careers that we pursue. We can choose the city in which we live and the way we spend our time. Not everyone on Earth can say that. That’s why millions of them want to live here.
From a business standpoint, there’s another aspect of America that’s significant. We can choose the services we offer and the problems we seek to solve. In fact, the mix of businesses and the quality of them is better here than anywhere. That’s because we are free to craft our businesses to fit the needs we seek to address. Those who don’t adapt to the needs and wants of the market will soon find themselves out of business.
There are more transmission shops in America than anywhere because there are more transmissions here. All countries have automobiles, and most countries have auto repair businesses. However, they’re heavily restricted in how they can offer their services and where they can get their parts. We’re free to adapt, grow, or evolve to fit the customers’ needs and market demand for what we do.
During America’s founding, Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out that our ability to spontaneously organize to meet a need or achieve a goal is fundamental to who we are. If you think about it, that’s entrepreneurship. It’s our ability to create a business, at will, to reach an outcome or fill a need.
There’s another aspect of America that’s illustrated by entrepreneurship, personal accountability. We appoint ourselves to address the problem, and we sink or swim based on our ability. In our society, a person’s willingness to do what is necessary and accept the outcome is vital to what makes us American. We don’t guarantee a free ride or an easy path to anyone, but we do guarantee that you can take your best shot, and if you win, you keep the rewards. If you lose, you pay the price. That’s our deal, and most of us wouldn’t have it any other way.
Still, some want to change the rules. They want to remove the risk but keep the potential rewards. They gripe about a lack of fairness, and they want a “level playing field” so everyone has the same chance to succeed – a nice concept, but not reality.
For example, Nature shows us what works and doesn’t. In Nature, every living entity survives or suffers based on its ability to cope. Weaker animals don’t survive. Rapacious predators destroy their own food source, and then they starve. If a person is too short or too tall for an activity, it is harder for them to do it. This doesn’t mean the rules should be changed. It just means they didn’t select the right game for themselves. In another field, they may actually have an advantage.
Farmers have known this for centuries. Farming is never-ending hard work with some big payoffs and some disastrous losses. When an infestation or bad weather attacks a crop, the farmer fights it and sometimes pays dearly. When a drought kills the crop, there is no “fairness” entitlement. That’s how the world works. But with this risk come some pretty great rewards. In a good weather year, the crops may pay double what’s normal. Farming is a life choice with much satisfaction and much risk. Farmers are genuinely Entrepreneurs and most assuredly true Americans.
You are America – even more so since you work in a small business. Most jobs in America come from small businesses. Most communities in America are built around the businesses, churches, and schools that supply their needs. Each small business thrives by providing solutions through direct contact with people whom they get to know. Each church is a collection of friends who share the same faith and who seek, through weekly gatherings, to become better people. And each school is centered on the students, not the teachers. In America, it’s always about the customer.
Businesses are society’s way of solving its problems. When something is needed, or something breaks, we turn to others for help. The more you help, the more you earn. And in America, the rewards are yours to keep (after Uncle Sam takes his share), but so far, most of it still belongs to you. So, be proud to run a small business. Take pride in being an entrepreneur. Find needs and fill them. Be a problem-solver. That’s the benefit, right, and responsibility of being an American!
God bless America!
Jim Cathcart, the “Virtual VP and Strategic Advisor,” is a Mentor who helps businesses grow their people and their profits.
As the author of 20 books and an Executive MBA professor, he is known worldwide. His TEDx video has over 2.3 million views, and he’s been inducted into the Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame. Maybe he can help you grow your business this year. Contact him at info@cathcart.com.
