WHO IS TODAY'S SMALL BUSINESS OWNER? "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a small problem. Our Co-Pilot has taken ill and we need a volunteer to sit in his seat and assist the pilot. Is there anyone on board with flying experience?" I look around and no one is raising their hand. Could it be there are no Cessna jockeys on this flight? After about ten unresponsive seconds, I slowly raise my hand. The above is a fantasy of mine and we'll return to it in a moment. But for now, let's get to business, small business, that is. Who is today's small business owner? You've all heard the old saw about how a small business owner wears all the hats. Well….its all too true. In fact, today's small business owner needs to be competent in so many arenas. He must be a Personnel Manager, a Marketing genius, a part-time Accountant. She must be a Sales Rep, an Operations Supervisor, a Systems Analyst and an IT Manager. He and she must be a Legal eagle, a PR Specialist and an inspirational leader. Life as a small business owner is so much more complex than it used to be. Over time, the profile of a successful small biz owner has evolved and is far more sophisticated than it was fifty years ago. Traditional Mom and Pop industries are now populated by bigger players and more educated operators. Just surviving takes victory against enormous odds. SmallBiz Rule #1: Know yourself. Make sure you really want to own your own business. Egads! Why would anyone want to be a small business operator when the demands of the job have shifted so? Interestingly, I don't believe people select this career path. No, it's more like the calling picks them. Type A personalities, the kind of folks who want, nay NEED, to be in charge simply gravitate towards small business. Many find that it's not all they imagined and bail rapidly. Usually, it's the people management side that does them in. Ted Williams, the greatest hitter of all time, was a lousy baseball team manager. He couldn't bring himself to manager players of lesser skill than he. Gee, Ted, that was everybody on the planet! Could you lower your standards just a tad? Many business owners are the same way. They unreasonably expect employees to think, act and care as they do. When reality hits and it becomes obvious that employees will never behave as the Type A Owner does, about half the would-be entrepreneurs bail. So, who's left? All the other rookie small business owners that have people management skills. Now they just have to overcome problems in the other arenas. Can they market, sell, plan, add and subtract, manage tech issues, inspire AND stay legal while they do all that? A severe weakness in any of those areas and the business owner will usually fail. The best ones recognize their weaknesses early and hire the necessary help. Less than 40% of all small businesses last over six years. Now let's rejoin my fantasy in progress. Upon reaching the cockpit, I find out that both pilots are incapacitated (which I knew of course, because I've already seen that movie) and they need me to fly the plane and land it. Being the good Type A personality that I am, I wanted to be the one in control. I NEEDED to be the one. If no one else on this plane has any flying experience, then I knew I was the best hope everyone had. So I sit down and put the headsets on and talk to the tower. Since my only flying experience was playing Flight Simulator twice (and I crashed both times) the air traffic controller does not share my confidence that I can land this baby! That's OK. I listen patiently to his instructions and after about the fifth time that he condescendingly asks, "Do you think you can do that?" I just lose it. I practically scream into the headset, "You idiot! I'm a small business owner. I can do ANYTHING!" Well, now I've done it!. I feel like Bruce Wayne with my mask off. I'm Clark Kent and Lois has just seen my Superman undies! Yikes, now they all know! I'm a small business guy and nothing scares me anymore. I can do anything. Small business! I love it!