The internet is filled with creators who write for other creators who are building all sorts of amazing businesses. But most entrepreneurs I work with are just normal people running normal businesses. These are the oxen that keep our economies going.
Where there are no oxen,
the manger is empty,
but from the strength of an ox
come abundant harvests.
Pro 14:4 (NIV)
Where there are no oxen,
the manger is empty,
but from the strength of an ox
come abundant harvests.
- Pro 14:4 (NIV)
We are not “Internet Creators”
The internet is filled with creators who write for other creators who are building all sorts of amazing businesses from their creativity. I think it is great that so many people can build a business directly from creative skills such as writing, music, art etc.
But most entrepreneurs I work with are not internet creators. They are just running “normal” businesses in a variety of industries such as manufacturing, water processing, electricity, healthcare, agriculture, IT services, Fintech etc.
We are not “The world’s greatest entrepreneurs”
Bookstores are filled with books written about people who have built amazing businesses, riding on the fame of names like Gates, Jobs, Rockefeller, Dyson, Bezos, Walton, Carnegie, etc. All of these great entrepreneurs have done amazing things, and we can learn a lot from them. But most of us are not them. It doesn’t matter how much Mozart inspires a young musician – that inspiration will simply not translate into the transferred ability to write a symphony by the age of 8.
Similarly, no matter how inspired you might be by Steve Jobs, and how many times you read about how he sold, and how he controlled every message in his company, most entrepreneurs are never going to build a billion dollar company. Most of the entrepreneurs I work with, are just trying to build a sustainable, healthy business that will provide good secure jobs for their people, and make a positive impact on the economy, society, and their environment.
We are not building Unicorns
Venture Capitalists invest in businesses with an expectation that ten will fail and one will shoot the lights out, and they are always hunting for the unicorns and the gazelles. Most of us are not building unicorns or gazelles. We are building oxen.
Our economies are not driven by unicorns and gazelles. I am not undervaluing the tremendous benefits we are deriving from having Uber, Airbnb, Google, Microsoft, Apple and other large companies who have brought us products that have changed our lives for the better (and sometimes for the worse). But those are not the businesses that excite me.
Oxen – Now THOSE excite me
The businesses that excite me are the thousands upon thousands of small businesses that have been running for a few years, have proven that they can survive through the tough times, are employing five or six or fifteen people, and are providing those people with good jobs.
I like to call these companies “Oxen.” They are not quick. They don’t grow rapidly. But they get work done that makes the world a better place, all day, every day. I am passionate about oxen. I believe that an economy made up primarily of oxen, is antifragile, and incredibly powerful.
Keep doing the good work
If you are a small business entrepreneur, running just a normal business that employs a handful or two of people, then I salute you and would like to encourage you.
The journey is often a hard one.
But please do not give up.
Without each one of you, our country, our continent, and our global economy would collapse.
Blessings to you
Ashton
Grow Your Business
5-2-50 is a community of Christian small business entrepreneurs eradicating poverty through creating good jobs and building wealth. We focus on business growth in both staff numbers, to create jobs, and net profit, to generate wealth for reinvestment, whilst freeing the founders from the day to day grind of their businesses, to build what God is calling them to next.
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