I’ve been hearing a lot about Michael Gerber recently. For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, he’s the author of The E-Myth and the newer E-Myth Revisited. His fans are fond of quoting phrases like “move out of your comfort zone” and “work on your business, not in your business”. His books contain a number of useful ideas and distinctions. However, I’m troubled by what lies behind those ideas. Gerber’s basic premise is that most of us start [...]

Let’s take a look at three people and the paths they take after starting a one person business. Bonnie is an entrepreneur. She starts a one person business doing financial planning. She does well. She enjoys her work but finds that her real passion is for the business itself. Within two years, she has more business than she can handle. She hires another financial planner to handle the overflow. Her business continues to grow. Soon she hires another planner and [...]

After four years of being a lifestylepreneur, I’ve concluded that self-employment is like anything else. There are good days and bad days. There is joy and despair. There are pluses and minuses. There are some things I do miss from my corporate days, of course — namely the certainty of the steady paycheck, company subsidized health insurance, a ‘help desk’ to call when my computer acts up, and the company cafeteria on days when my cupboard is bare, But none [...]

For the last year or so, I’ve been seeing a disturbing trend. I call it Budding Entrepreneur Syndrome. Basically, it’s the tendency of many business coaches to try and push soloists into becoming full fledged business magnates. There’s a belief that every one-person business owner is in fact a "budding entrepreneur" who just hasn’t flowered yet. I blame Michael Gerber! Michael, who is the author of The E-Myth series of books, has become the darling of many business coaches. His [...]

I used to love dancing. I used to listen to music all day. I used to really enjoy going to movies and eating popcorn. I used to… I used to… I used to… What’s happened to us? Why has work taken over our lives? And how can we reclaim it back? I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about me. Over the years, work took over my life. I stopped listening to music. Hadn’t seen a movie in over a [...]

Recently, I decided to add some new pictures to my website and blogs. On a sunny spring day, I dragged my wife Janice (otherwise known as the ever-patient one) outside to take some photos of me with the digital camera. Now I don’t generally take a very good picture. It’s not the oldness or the baldness that bothers me. It’s the fact that I have no eyes. If I smile even a little, my eyes scrunch up into nothingness. It [...]

For much of his life, my dad worked in a GM auto plant. One day, when I was a kid, my dad brought home a loose chunk of paint that he'd scrounged up somewhere. When I say a chunk, I mean it was a one inch thick chunk of brown, solidified paint. He'd brought it home for me as a present. I don't think I was too impressed. My dad knew better. I followed him downstairs to his workshop and [...]

Twenty-five years ago, I was a bright kid just finishing high school. My teachers were full of recommendations about what I should study in university. I should go into computers. I should study English. I should get a degree in physics. I was interested in all those things but nothing really grabbed me. So they asked me “What do you want to be?” I didn’t know. I started off in biology (???) but quickly grew bored… although superheating glass beakers [...]

Friends know me as the world’s biggest 5 year old! So when I came across Marilyn Scott-Waters folding paper toy site at The Toymaker, I thought I was in heaven! Marilyn makes her unique creations available online for children all over the world. Last year, she published her first book of toys. Some of her designs are stunningly intricate, like her paper theaters, and yet easy to put together. Marilyn was gracious enough to take a break from her busy [...]

Changemakers.net is a project of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public that focuses on supporting the rapidly growing community of social entrepreneurs. It describes its mission as: …providing inspiration, resources, and opportunities for those interested in social change throughout the world. So what are the first steps to become a social entrepreneur? Changemakers asked six successful social entrepreneurs how to move from vision to reality. Here’s the essence of their advice: • Know what you feel strongly about and why • [...]