One of the big challenges that I see small businesses and
startups having today is having entrepreneurial employees. I hear many of
you right now saying “Are you crazy?†Maybe, but that is beside the
point. Let’s observe the following:
- The entrepreneurial community
has been exploding over the past 20-30 years. 30 years ago, there
were only a fraction of entrepreneur programs in theUnited . Since that time, there is
States
hardly a college that does not offer classes or programs in
entrepreneurship. - Employees have always been
taught to innovate and become better at their jobs (Intrapreneurship), and
becoming entrepreneurial within the companies they work for. So they
are trained with many of the same skill sets as entrepreneurs. - The barriers of know how, and
social pressures of one who wishes to start a business have dramatically
reduced over the past 20-30 years making it very easy to start a
business. You might have had an uncle, back in the day, that said he
was going to be an entrepreneur, which often meant he would join Amway
business, and the rest of your family stopped associating with him! - The level of free information
exchange has dramatically increased with the adoption of the internet,
search engines, and recently blogs.
With these considerations, I come across companies all the
time that are finding it harder and harder to find employees that stay and grow
with their small business or startup. Often their employees are thinking,
“Why can’t I be making the money that my boss is making?”, “I
can do that better than she can!”, “What is stopping me from doing
the same thing they are?†The results are that small businesses and
startups are finding it more and more difficult to find employees that are
dedicated to the goals of the company. I think small businesses and
startups should be concerned about the employees they are hiring and implement
a careful strategy to keep their employees from going on their own and
possibly becoming the next Threat to Your Business.