I started poking about Steven Seppinni’s site today and saw some things that I liked, specifically this article: Economy Down-Entrepreneurship Up. It is very true; there is risk in everything, including having a job. However, we do need to remember that running a business is not an easy way out. Believe me. I have been doing this for 11 years (well, minus the break wearing a hard hat in the middle). When it’s good, it’s fantastic. It’s like nothing else in the world. It means picking up the kids from school and attending every play or ceremony. It means no commute (sometimes). It’s the joy of walking into your high-school reunion and when people ask “So, what do you do now?” you can answer “I own an international company.”

In the bad times, however… yeesh. It can mean going a week surviving on 3 hours of sleep a night just to get done what you think will bring you money. It can mean not having cash to buy groceries, so you end up using your Large Chain Store credit card to feed your children (who think it’s the best thing ever to eat macaroni and cheese, and Ichiban all the time, but you worry about fresh vegetables…). It can mean scrambling at the 11th hour to try and find just one. more. thing. to sell so that you can make rent. It can mean not making it to one of those school activities because you can’t afford the gas to make the trip. It also means no sick pay, nor benefits, nor unemployment benefits… so if you run out of work or if you’re sick for too long… tough. No corporation there to bail you out.

But oh… those up times. That insidious Hope that keeps us going; that sweet, sweet taste of triumph when you sell your first book/hour/course. The Dance of I Am Awesome when you land that new contract. The look on your little boy’s face when he looks back at you from the stage, holding his newly-earned Certificate For Being Awesome in Math… That is so worth a couple of weeks of Ichiban.

I am an Entrepreneur.

Rawr.