Seeing the Destination

One of the biggest challenges with a journey out of corporate America to small business is knowing what the heck small business is. This is easier said than done. Entrepreneurship is not just a difficult word to spell, but it has a lot of definitions. If you get 10 "entrepreneurs" together, you can probably get at least 15 definitions of entrepreneurship. (And maybe as many spellings!)

I have long subscribed to the belief that the definition is in the eye of the beholder. Whether it is starting a business from scratch, buying a business, running a franchise, or working in a small business, entrepreneurship takes many forms. In the end, it's a personal definition.

Until you are able to begin defining this end state, the reality of making the journey becomes more difficult to see and more unlikely. So, begin by creating your definition of entrepreneurship. Beg, borrow, and steal at will from the range that already exists. And don't let folks tell you that yours is wrong. If nothing else, most entrepreneurs are an opinionated bunch!

Giving that seemingly simple concept some thought will yield more progress than you think.