B.E.S.T.
A PUBLICATION OF RECCO S. RICHARDSON CONSULTING, INC.
Volume 5 • Issue 5 • Summer 2008
“The Entrepreneur’s Spirit”
By Recco S. Richardson, MA, LPC, ABD
Professional Psychology Doctoral Student, Walden University, Minneapolis, MN
Acknowledgment
This article features text taken from the “Entrepreneurship: Introduction & Advanced Topics” training
course. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Recco S. Richardson, Recco S.
Richardson Consulting, Inc., 6309 N. Saginaw St., Flint, MI 48505. Electronic mail may be sent to:
[email protected]. The full training of this article is available on compact disc at:
www.richardsonsconsulting.com.
A special thanks goes out to my editor, Jennifer Kildee, of Kildee Communications
([email protected]).
Abstract
This article investigates effective entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is an approach to life and business
that requires hard work. The key to successful entrepreneurship is vision, risk taking, balance between work
and family life and skill attainment.
General Review
I’m often asked the question, what is the key to our successful programming? To be honest, it would be
easy to say that the key is the strong work ethic and outstanding people skills that my staff and I possess.
However, to be truthful, the key is having an entrepreneur's spirit.
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RSRC Program Areas
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Treatment Department
Prevention Department
Education Department
Speaker’s Bureau Department
Research Institute Department
On-line Counseling
Business Support (B.E.S.T.)
Resource Center
Post-Adoption Department
B.E.S.T. Program
The Business Entrepreneurship Supervision Teamwork (BEST)
Program is designed to meet the specific needs of:
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Corporate employees
Managers/Supervisors
Business owners
Aspiring entrepreneurs
See web site for more B.E.S.T. program information:
www.richardsonsconsulting.com
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take place a regular basis.
Risk taking is not to be confused with being
irresponsible or impulsive. Rather, it should be viewed
as a “planned necessity” that pays dividends now and
down the road. Every few months, I look for new risk.
Since the beginning of the year 2008, I have undertaken
substantial risks on two new programs (Young Success
Program and Gifted Learner’s Program).
As I look back, needless to say the majority of my
business risks have proven to be worthwhile and
prudent. However, over the years I have taken several
risks that appear to have not been good decisions. A
return on their initiation has not yet been realized and
my disappointment remains. These risks and their
associated ramifications did not cause me to lose
everything. Rather, what I learned was valuable business
lessons. The business lessons continue to aid in the
success of our current programming and future risktaking activities.
An entrepreneur's spirit is a business perspective
that recognizes that successful business ventures
provides employment, spurs economic growth,
generates innovation, contributes to the local tax base
and meets the expressed needs of individuals (Garrett
& Wall 2006).
For various reasons and circumstances, most
individuals who have an entrepreneur's spirit never
leave the comfort of their current full-time
employment, or they dabble on a part-time basis in a
business venture. In doing this, they often miss out on
an opportunity to move society and their families
forward socially, emotionally and financially.
Entrepreneurship is Hard Work
What makes America a great nation is the
opportunity for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship
requires hard work and risk. The equation is simple,
the harder an entrepreneur works and the more risk
they are willing to take, the more opportunities they
will have to strengthen society and to experience
tremendous financial gain.
The Balancing Act
Wrestling with the Vision
The key to successful entrepreneurship is vision.
Among other things, vision can prompt new and
innovative business ventures. To move to the next
level in personal business endeavors, a clear and
concise vision of the business is needed (Dingle,
2007). The vision must be effective and
communicated to employees, clients and funding
sources regularly.
Instead of wrestling with the vision, I’m finding
that aspiring and up-and-coming entrepreneurs spend
too much of their time and effort managing the
business and fretting over small details. By spending
70 percent of my time wrestling with the vision, the
other aspects of our 15 or so initiatives and programs
work themselves out.
Risk Taking, A Game You Can Win
For entrepreneurs, the name of the game is risk
taking (i.e. financial programming). Business owners
who fail to take risk eventually become an afterthought,
dwindle away or lose market share. After years of
entrepreneurship, I’m convinced that risk taking must
The balance between work and family life is a
critical aspect of entrepreneurship. When family, work
schedules and demands become incompatible, a change
is considered. Also, when the strain between work and
family becomes too great and behaviors and values are
challenging, a change is considered. Challenges are a
necessary evil and should not be feared or avoided.
Interestingly, as I talk with entrepreneurs from all
walks of life, they do not report that their many
challenges cause them to consider closing down their
venture. They report that consideration is given to
"throwing in the towel" when their businesses’ financial
streams and income begin to dry up. In other words, they
do not seriously contemplate quitting their
entrepreneurship dream when various “balancing act”
challenges seek to overwhelm them. Rather, they
consider quitting when the business begins to lose
money. For most entrepreneurs, financial loss
determines that the balancing act is not worth it.
I have learned to cope with balancing work, family
and addressing challenges by realizing the level of
compensation and income involved. The finances from
my business endeavors do not solve the balancing act
problem. However, the generated finances allow my
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family to be fulfilled in one area so as to make up for
dissatisfaction in another.
Required Skills
In June 2007, I had the opportunity to present
a series of entrepreneurship workshops at a
business conference held in Atlanta, Ga. I
continue to communicate with several of the
attendees by e-mail, phone, and text messages. At
some point during our communication, they bring
up the information I shared regarding the required
skills of aspiring entrepreneurs (Brown, 2007).
Below is an abbreviated review of the skills.
I. Finance & Accounting
This area is the heartbeat of the business. The
successful entrepreneur learns to manage cash
flow and read financial statements. To ensure that
I remain on top of my businesses’ finances, I
make it a point to talk with my bookkeeper at
least twice a month. Sometimes our
conversations are pleasant and brief, while other
times they are very pointed and feature us
agreeing to disagree.
II. Human Resources
The human resources process includes the
hiring and processing of new staff persons. For
us, the hiring of staff is monumental. My staff
(and I) delivers direct services to our clients. If
our clients do not buy into my staff members, in
120 days there will be no business.
The hiring of the “wrong” person can be a
nightmare. When interviewing potential
employees, I assess how easily I might be able to
motivate them, their sense of urgency to help
others, how our entrepreneurship dreams correlate
and their system for organizing task and reports. I
also assess their sense of teamwork.
III. Operations & Production
This is often an overlooked area. The
planning of operations and control pieces should
take place regularly. Take it from me, for every
component of your business venture, there should
be a check and balance system, procedures/
policies, etc.
IV. Marketing
The successful business owner utilizes various
marketing mediums to create foot traffic and to retain
customers. In this day of technology and ongoing
advancements, the sky is the limit as to the marketing
opportunities available.
Some years ago, my marketing professor made a
profound statement to me. He stated, “Richardson, you
must market the sizzle, not the steak.” As I view the
success of our marketing efforts, it does appear that the
sizzle (benefits) is the difference, not the steak (product).
V. Customer Service
The fastest way to become extinct is to place the
wrong person in the customer service area. It can be
difficult but well worth the effort to secure staff persons
who are able to manage complaints well, empower staff
to resolve problems, etc.
What I’m finding is that customers don’t necessary
recall the high quality of service provided. What they
recall and talk to others about is the insufficient and poor
personal service they received. When dealing with a
difficult customer, I remind myself that they can “hurt
me more than they can help me.” This realization often
changes my approach when dealing with them and I
make every effort to give them their desires. Why do I do
this? Because the customer (and their money) is always
right.
References
Brown, Stephanie. (2007) Seven Skills for the Aspiring
Entrepreneur. Business & Economic Review. 2007, 16-18.
Dingle, Derek. (2007). Reinventing Black Business.
Black Enterprise, 37, 11.
Garrett, Thomas & Wall, Howard. (2006). Creating A
Policy Environment for Entrepreneurs. Cato Journal, 26, 3,
525-547.
Professional Scholarly Articles
By Recco S. Richardson
Richardson, Recco S. (2007). “Parenting the Defiant Child.”
Unpublished.
Richardson, Recco S. (2008). “Bias in the Counseling Session:
Are Religious Individuals Pathologized?” Unpublished.
Richardson, Recco S. (2008). “ The Entrepreneurs’ Spirit.”
Unpublished.
Copyright (July 2008) Recco S. Richardson Consulting, Inc. This publication is protected.
Individuals may print or download the content of this publication only for their personal use.
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Resource Center
Our revamped Resource Center is complete. To view the
site, go to www.richardsonconsulting.com, move the cursor
over “home” and click on resource center. The components
of the Resource Center are:
Parenting The Reactive Attachment Child: A new release,
this compact disc provides clear instructions and examples
regarding parenting children who have failed to bond/attach
to parent figures. A thorough review of attachment theory,
the child-parent relationship, and other critical concepts is
provided.
Raising Girls to Be Women: The healthy development of
young girls is critical to the stability of our society. This
compact disc explores the power of young girls and strategies
for assisting them in overcoming past hurts, abuse, and low
esteem.
Compact Disc Center
Newsletter Archive
Scholarly Professional Articles
Book Club
Young Adults That Excel: The most difficult time of life is
age 16-24. This compact disc motivates youth to excel beyond
their potential. The material provided regarding success, love
and mentoring is dynamic and life changing.
Featured Program:
Compact Disc Center
To meet the growing demand for personal growth and
professional development, the Compact Disc Center
provides insightful information on a variety of topics. We
utilize high quality disc and recording equipment that
captures the full experience of the speakers’ passion and
knowledge.
Available Compact Discs:
Indicators of Child Sexual Abuse & Recovery Strategies:
Childhood sexual abuse has been an explosive topic for the
last 20 years. This compact disc discusses how to protect
children from sexual abuse, the signs of sexual abuse and how
to help children recover from the trauma and stigma
associated with their abuse.
Working Professionals Guide To Servicing At-Risk Youth:
As more and more American youth engage in risk taking
behaviors, it is necessary to provide advanced and effective
interventions. This compact disc provides professionals (i.e.
teachers, social workers) with insight and strategies for
managing the behaviors and mental health issues of at-risk
youth.
Single Parents Raising Boys: Parenting males can be
a very challenging, yet rewarding experience. This
compact disc discusses how to gain the respect of
males, strategies for maintaining proper boundaries,
and helping boys to overcome their hatred of females.
This is our best selling compact disc.
Unraveling The Defiant Child: This compact disc explores
and offers hope regarding parenting and educating children
who regularly display counter-productive behaviors and
who have an inappropriate level of anger. To avoid undue
levels of frustration and anguish, parents and teachers are
provided strategies for addressing a child’s rage and
indignation.
The Call To Greatness: This inspirational compact disc
examines the lives of ordinary individuals who achieved a
legacy of greatness. Step-by-step principles are provided
along with examples. Individuals who desire to take flight into
their future would benefit from this compact disc.
Helping Children Overcome Grief: This compact disc
provides a solid working definition, interventions and
suggestions for assisting children in their efforts to overcome
the death of a loved one, adoption issues, low esteem, poor
Understanding Childhood Anxiety: This compact disc
provides an extensive review of childhood anxiety. At the core reasoning, depression and much more.
of the material is strategies for helping children overcome the
Career Paths For Today’s Youth: This inspirational
associated depression, poor concentration, low esteem, and
social isolation. This compact disc has received overwhelming and motivational compact disc discusses career paths
for youth. A special emphasis is placed on careers
praise from school teachers and parents.
found in the health and human services arena.
Contact Us
Recco S. Richardson Consulting, Inc.
“Helping Individuals Live Fulfilled Lives”
North Office .. 6309 N. Saginaw St .. Flint, MI 48505
(810) 394-7815-Office (810) 732-6657-Fax
[email protected]
Disclaimer
Prior to making a referral to RSRC, staff at agencies such as DHS, CMH, School Districts, Corporations and the Courts
should verify a client’s eligibility through their local contract/budget office.
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