Our society, especially since 911, celebrates as heroes fire and police men and women and our armed forces men and women - and very rightly so. But there is another category of heroes in our society that is often overlooked - YOU - the small business owner CEO.
Did you know that small businesses employ over 40 million Americans, with 98% of those companies employing less than 100 people, generating in excess of $5 trillion in sales each year? In fact, despite all the attention given to "big" business, the backbone of our economy is small business.
At the same time, look at the RISKS small business owner CEOs take every day: More than 400,000 new small businesses start up every year, yet 80% of those will fail within 5 years. It's your capital, sweat and tears on the line everyday - and that of your family.
Consider these facts about the business environment you operate in everyday. A company changes control every 15 minutes; 96 percent of all companies fail within 10 years; 26,000 new products, services and brands are introduced every year; 16 – 30 percent of all consumers change brands in one evening of watching TV commercials; business to business selling is at an all time high of competitiveness; and a corporation fails every 3 minutes. It’s real tough out there!
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Gala with a friend who was a local finalist. What a wonderful program! 30 local businesses were celebrated in 8 categories. All 30 were celebrated and each had an awards show type professional video done about them and their company. It was like an Academy Awards show for small business owner CEOs.
I wish you could have been there to see these great Americans be cheered by their employees, vendors, customers and friends with laughter and tears as they got the awards.
You deserve an award - but the best I can do here is say: THANKS for what you do, and all success in your business and your life. Without you, our thriving US economy would not be the world leader it is today!
At the same time, I want to use this occasion to ask you to do something for yourself as well: Give yourself a break! Pat yourself on the back. Take the day off and go do a round of golf with a friend. Go grab your significant other and have some fun together. You may not make it to the Ernst and Young awards, but you are great nevertheless!
Our society has not offered the recognition small business entrepreneurs deserve, so I felt compelled to send this out. If you connected to it, I urge you to forward it to a business owner friend. Maybe it will cheer him or her up a bit. You all deserve that award, so here’s to you!
Henri Schauffler, The CEO Coach, has dedicated the last 20 years to helping
small businesses like yours to Outmanage, Outhire, Outsell and Outprofit
All the Competition. For a FREE business assessment and tune up to see
exactly how you are doing in all Eight Essential Areas for Business Success,
go to http://www.QuickBizQuiz.com.
