September 2008 Archives

The generation just entering the work force has many names  -- Generation Y, the Entrepreneurial Generation.

In her book RenGen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What It Means to Your Business Patricia Martin labels them the Renaissance Generation, or "RenGen" for short.

She makes some fascinating observations about this generation. 

From a recent interview with the New York Times:

First of all, I predict that what we will see out of the younger RenGen is the largest class of entrepreneurs the United States has seen in a long time. Not only are they driven to do original work, but they are going to want to live that out in originally designed careers.

In order to do that, they'll work hard to create their own enterprises because that is where they can realize their dreams. Boomers are noted workaholics and appreciate the pluck of the young RenGen. But Gen X, often characterized as Dilbert-style middle managers, will struggle to lead these spirited young workers.

This is right on target with my observations of this generation.  They are eager to chart their own courses in life and see an entrepreneurial career as the best path to pursue their dreams.

She calls them the Renaissance Generation because she believes they will be a truly transformation generation. Again from the New York Times interview:

Two things are going on simultaneously, and they live in creative tension. One is that we are ending one civilization and we are creating a new one. Witness what is happening on Wall Street. The second is the outpouring of creativity facilitated by the Internet. There is a generation that will lead us into what will literally be a second renaissance.

I certainly see them as leading the transformation of our economy.   This is already underway.  That is why it is so important to break out of our 1900s paradigms.

We can only do this with less regulation and taxes, not more.  We are witnessing this week what happens when politicians muddle in markets.

It is time to turn the entrepreneurial spirit loose around the globe. 

(Thanks to Jennie Bowman for passing this along). 

Setting the price for a new product or service can be an agonizing process for new entrepreneurs.  If they set them too high they risk turning off new customers.  If they set it too low, they risk leaving money on the table and locking their businesses into low prices.

Diana Ransom writes about the challenges of pricing at SmartMoney. 

Newbie entrepreneurs often miss the mark on pricing, says Laura E. Willett, a small business advisor and finance professor at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. Entrepreneurs either blindly place a price tag on their product or service without taking a proper reading of the market or, perhaps more commonly, they underprice their offerings on purpose - effectively apologizing to the market for being new and inexperienced.

Ransom interviewed Belmont alum Cameron Powell for her story:

When Cameron Powell launched River Rock Media Group, a Nashville, Tenn., photography and media production company in 2005, he charged just $75 an hour for his photography service. Considering that similarly equipped photographers can earn between $1,500 and $2,500 for a full day's work, he's certain he underpriced himself.

"It got me gigs and it gave me experience working with people. But it didn't help me gain a whole lot of footing with the market I wanted," says Powell who now earns the going rate. Instead, he adds, "I was attracting people who didn't have any money."

If you have to offer low prices to enter a market, make it clear that they are introductory discounted prices.  Don't start with a low price and hope that you can increase it down the line. 

The march toward socialism was slowed down yesterday with the courageous vote in the House.

Things will get worse before it finally gets better.  But, if we let the market work, our economy will come back stronger than ever.  And entrepreneurs will be at the heart of this economic resurgence.

We have now peeked behind the curtain and seen the truth about the Wizard of Oz that is our federal government.

Still confused about what has actually happened?  Wonder how we got into this mess to begin with?  Here is one of the best explanations of how we have got into this mess that I have seen direct from Bird and Fortune.

Always remember -- the same politicians now working hardest to pass a bailout are the very ones who created the mess by meddling with the housing market as part of their grand plan of social engineering.

For now remember that cash is king, debt is your enemy, and patience is a virtue.  Stay on track.

Inc magazine interviewed their list of top thirty entrepreneurs under thirty years old to get their take on the current economic conditions.  These young entrepreneurs will be leading this economy over the coming decades.  I was impressed by their wisdom and the realistic view they are taking regarding the current situation.

What gave me the most confidence for our future is their belief in the power and resiliency of the free market economy.  Here are two excerpts:

I think we should stop the bailouts to avoid creating a moral hazard that will engender worse market corrections in the future. It's best to take our hits now and build a solid foundation for the next 100 years of growth. American entrepreneurs are just as smart and hard-working as they were two months ago and we can grow our way out of this slump. (Matt Mullenweg, 24, founder of Automattic, a San Francisco-based software firm).

Historically, the market has always corrected itself. I feel very uncomfortable with the government picking and choosing what companies they bail out. The government and Federal Reserve must continue to make a business-friendly environment with lower taxes and other pro-growth policies. At the same time we must learn from this incident. The way companies will learn is by not getting get bailed out for making bad decisions. This country became great through capitalism and the free market. Over-regulation will hurt us in the long term. (Rob Van Etten, 28, founder of Brighton Cromwell, a Randolph, N.J.-based supply chain management firm).

Here are this month's Small Business Facts from Denny Dennis at the NFIB Research Foudation:

The TOP 9 Questions for September 2008 

1. ENERGY - What are the most frequent steps small business owners have taken in the last three years to reduce their energy consumption? (Vol. 6, Iss. 3, Q#6a).

2. INVESTMENT - How do small business owners assess the financial viability of a major investment in their business? (Vol. 3, Iss 3, Q#7).

3. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS - How many different financial institutions do small businesses use for loans and services? (Vol. 5, Iss. 8, Q#5b).

4. BUSINESS OWNERSHIP - How many owners does a small business have? (Vol. 4, Iss. 7, Q#5).

5. IRS - How satisfied are small business owners with their recent dealings with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? - (Vol. 6, Iss. 6, Q#11). 

6. ECONOMY - As the economy began to decline late last year and the Federal Reserve adopted the role as the principal decision-maker on economic policy, how much attention did small business owners and managers pay to activities of the Federal Reserve Board? (Vol. 8, Iss.1, Q#19)

7. MANAGEMENT - How many small businesses have at least one employee (not including the owner(s)) whose primary job is to manage or supervise other employees? (Vol. 4, Iss. 7, Q#9).

8. SUCCESS - What are the most important factors small business owners use to judge the success of their firms? (Vol. 1, Iss. 6, Q#3a).

9. IT - How much long-term benefit would small businesses realize by increasing the use of information technology? (Vol. 7, Iss. 5, Q#12).

My column in this week's Tennessean looks at the impact of the financial mess on small business (based on post I wrote earlier this week):

The impact of the financial crisis of the past couple of weeks has created lots of hyperbole.

With the quasi-nationalization of parts of the financial industry (and the auto industry may not be far behind, by the way) we have become the United States of France, according to an essay published at Time.com.

If you haven't seen the video "The Call of the Entrepreneur," I strongly suggest you tune to Fox Business Channel this weekend.

It will air from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday 9/27/08 and from 12:00 to 1:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday 9/28/08.  I have my TIVO set up to record this one!  We hosted one of the premier showings last year here at Belmont -- it was truly inspiring.

You can find your local channel for Fox Business at their channel finder.  If you do not have access to this channel you can click here to learn how to set up your own viewing.

As you watch, think about how Wall Street and Washington are trying to strike a deal that will erode the free enterprise system in America.

New ventures are popping up on college campuses across the country and around the globe. 

StartupNation has announced their top 20 Dorm-Based Businesses.

Congratulations to Belmont's Andy Tabar for making this year's list!  Here is a profile they ran of Andy and here is an "in his own words" interview with him.  Andy is a two time winner of Belmont's student entrepreneur of the year.

The perspective we are hearing from our social entrepreneurship students is that they want to tackle one social problem at a time.  They are not interested in massive solutions to problems, as they believe that all this does is create big, inefficient bureaucracies. 

MakeZen's Weblog offers an interesting take on this perspective.  The post challenges how we have conceptualized our past approaches to solving social problems in this world.  It clearly echoes what we are hearing from our social entrepreneurship students:

It struck me soon after how peculiar it was the way the question was formulated: would I like to join them to FIGHT against women violence? Why do we use the word "fight" that implies violence to get rid of violence? FIGHT against poverty, injustice, war etc. is something that we normally hear in the news, in the mission statements of some NGOs, and indeed in the life mission of some social entrepreneurs as well. It surely carries a negative energy and it will strengthen the other opposing energy. I believe it more and more that true and LASTING changes can never take place from a negative state of consciousness because ignorance will grow stronger when it is being attacked!

So don't fight against war, poverty and injustice- rather- work for peace, for fairness and let peace flow through all your actions in order to create true changes! It's possible, even in the most despair situation!

And what do those in the VC world have to say about the economic mess created by greedy bankers and the abuse of power from Washington?  This segment of the entrepreneurial economy seems to be operating with a "business as usual" outlook according to a post at venturebeat.com.  The post includes comments from several tech insiders.  For example, here is Guy Kawasaki's take:

The collapse of greedy banks that loaned money to people who should not have bought homes should be unrelated to venture capital investing. In fact, it should make venture capital a more attractive investment class. But it won't because it's all a mental game. When Wall Street goes into a funk, it affects the mood of the venture capital industry. Truly, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists should be worried about what may happen in five years, not five days, but short-term emotions will rule. With regard to entrepreneurs specifically, if the Lehman debacle scares them from starting a company, they were going to fail anyway.

 (Thanks to Jim Stefansic for passing this along).

When you first launch a business you should be ready to "dance with the market."  And you should be ready to let the market lead this dance.

We enter the market with a plan in hand.  It is a plan that we may have agonized over for weeks, months, or even years.  We have done our research, created a carefully thought out marketing plan and operating plan that both help justify our financial forecasts.

And then a funny thing happens.  We assumed that the market wanted "A".  But, if we listen carefully, we often find out that it really wants "B."

Our Entrepreneur in Residence this week, Matt Meents, is a case in point.  Their company, Reside, originally was set up to build high-end websites for the real estate industry.  Although they did land some accounts with that profile, the market soon began to tell them that there was a wider market for what they offered beyond real estate. 

If Matt and his partner had stayed rigid in their plans, their company would never have grown the way it has.  The market wanted to help them grow, but they had to be willing to listen to what it really wanted and adapt their plans.   

The dance with the market never really ends.  Markets are dynamic, so you need to be ready to follow where it leads you.

We have had the pleasure of hosting Matt Meents as our "Entrepreneur in Residence" this week.  Matt is co-founder of Reside, based out of Minneapolis. Matt was a student of mine when I taught at the University of St. Thomas.  It is so rewarding to have students come back and tell their story to my current students and work with them one-on-one as they work toward launching their ventures.

Matt has been focusing on two messages here at Belmont this week -- focus and culture.

Matt has viewed building the right culture to be one of his primary jobs as CEO of this fast growing business.  From their website:

The company also reflected on the culture that it had established internally over the years, based on the theme of "Rockin," and what that meant to the group.  They agreed that "web for business" is what Reside does, but doing good in the world is what they are really all about.  Based on that understanding - and the desire to leave a corporate legacy - the concept of The Residers (a virtual band) was founded.  TheResiders.com would provide the interface for the company's pro-bono initiatives and would play "alter-ego" to the group's corporate image - providing them a framework for an ultra creative marketing and web tool application. 

2007 saw the launch of The Residers and the "Rockin' for a Cause" initiative.  And in 2008, the mission - and company's growth - continues.  And what does Matt Meents, founder and CEO of Reside have to say about all of this?  "We're really just getting started," states Matt.  "Looking back, I am humbled by what our small band has already achieved.  But I get really excited when I look to the future...because I can only see good things ahead!  We be rockin'!"

The culture that Matt has instilled is a true reflection of his personality.  It is a culture that respects the clients, the employees and the community.  He has built a team that not only shares his vision, but also embraces the culture he has instilled in Reside.  Too often we ignore the importance of hiring people that fit into the culture, only looking at their technical competence.

I am so very proud of Matt and appreciate his willingness to help our aspiring entrepreneurs here at Belmont this week. 

The impact of the financial crisis of the past couple of weeks has created lots of hyperbole.  With the quasi-nationalization of parts of the financial industry (and the auto industry is not far behind, by the way) we have become the "United States of France" according to an essay at Time over the weekend.  A caller to a radio show this morning said we've become the USSA -- The United Socialist States of America.

But what does all of this mean for the millions of entrepreneurs across the country and around the world?

Credit will become much harder to get.  In a statement released last Friday, Mike Diegel of the NFIB said "There is less for the Wall Street banks to lend to each other, and likely a little less for community banks to lend out."  But debt is the last thing any entrepreneur needs more of right now, so this is not as big of an issue as it may seem on the surface.

Credit will be harder to keep.  As I have warned for some time, banks will be setting higher standards for business loans and will start calling in loans from people who have never missed a payment.  Their businesses have just become too risky for the tighter standards the banks have to meet.  The events of the past two weeks will only make this worse.

Cash is King... and Queen, and Prince, and Princess and Emperor, and Ruler of the Universe!!!!  Need I say anything more??

Higher taxes will make all of this even worse.  Government seems poised to tax our way out of this mess.  We will have to if we have any hopes of paying for all of this mess.  The "soak the rich" strategy that is now gaining steam means that entrepreneurs will carry most of the higher tax burden.  Higher tax rates on entrepreneurs means less new businesses will form and our economy may stall.

Property rights are the hidden victim.  Layer the nationalization of our financial system on top of the Kelo Decision and we now have the most drastic weakening of property rights in the history of the US.  This will also dampen our entrepreneurial spirit.

This ride is only beginning, so hang on to your hats!

Knowing how to effective sell is probably the most underrated skill an entrepreneur needs.

We need to know how to sell to the customer -- products or services rarely "sell themselves".  It takes hard work and perseverance to get the connected to our customers.

We need to know how to sell to sources of money.  Bankers (if there are any left who lend money these days) and investors need to be sold on you and your business.

We need to sell to potential employees.  Going to work in an entrepreneurial venture, especially if it is still a start-up, is a risky move.  Most potential employees are more risk adverse than we are -- that is often why they are not entrepreneurs.

In an article at Smart Money, Diana Ransom examines the art of selling to the customer for a new start-up business in interviews with Don Kuratko from Indiana University, Stan Mandel at Wake Forest, and me. 

The first step is to recognize that challenges you face as a new venture:

Many novice entrepreneurs stumble when trying to win over their first few clients. Besides just making simple mistakes during the presentation, start-up entrepreneurs have few, if any, success stories that they can point to, says Jeffrey Cornwall, the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. The lack of an established track record can really hurt a business's chances of landing a client, especially when the client is already working with a more-established competitor.

Ransom then identifies six key elements that lead to an effective pitch: 

• Know what you are selling
• Customize the pitch
• Back up claims
• Create a client base
• Offer free or limited use trials
• Enlist an advocate

I won't be blogging this week.  My mother passed away today and I need to head down to Florida to be with my father. 

God Bless you, Mom.  I'll miss you...

My column this week at the Tennessean is on focus:

Focus. That is what I find myself saying to entrepreneurs time and time again.

The most important tool to help get focused is a mission statement. A good mission is a short statement that clearly defines what we do (our product or service), whom we do it for (our market) and how we do it (our business model, such as retail, manufacturing, Web-based etc.).

One of the commons myths about entrepreneurs is that when they were in grade school they probably got a "does not play well with others" on their report card.  But, nothing could be farther from the truth.

This Lone Ranger Myth is perpetuated by many first-time entrepreneurs as they launch their first ventures.

Jonathon Fields has a great post on his own tendency to fall into the Lone Ranger Myth at his blog:

My thought process went something like this, "I'm pretty smart, I work harder and faster than anyone I know, I can learn entire new fields in the blink of an eye. And, though it often takes an ounce of blood and a whole lot of pain, I almost always achieve what I'm shooting for. So, really, why would I need anyone else to help me out? All other people do is muck up MY process!"

But the truth is that we all do benefit from help and counsel of others and from building a solid team. 

As Robert Reich points out in his classic essay "Entrepreneurship Reconsidered: The Team as Hero," we seem to want to celebrate the Heratio Alger type stories of entrepreneurs overcoming all odds to make it on their own in our society.

But the truth is, most successful entrepreneurs rely on teams.  They may be formal teams that come together either as partners or as key employees supporting the entrepreneur.  Or, they may be informal teams the entrepreneur pulls together as advisors and mentors. 

Fields reflects on the impact of learning this lesson and letting go of the Lone Ranger Myth:

In business, mentors, partners, managers and staff joined as a family to allow me to accomplish what I ever could have done alone. And, in my personal life, simply asking questions of people close to me, yet far more experienced in the ways of being a good dad, husband and son...and being open to their answers has added so much to my ability to nourish my relationships.

I read an interesting post at the blog Escape From Cubicle Nation.  Pam Slim states the following:

I have a theory I am postulating in The Book that once people disconnect from the "my corporate job sucks and I am trapped in cubicle hell" world and start a successful entrepreneurial venture that they naturally become more compassionate and interested in social change.

I like to ask my students what they would do if they had enough money to take care of all of their financial needs for the rest of their lives.  The majority talk about such things as giving back to parents who have supported them, focusing their time and resources toward addressing social problems, and giving to their church. 

I see evidence every day -- from my students and from the entrepreneurs I meet in the community -- that supports Pam's assertion. 

F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "Optimism is the content of small men in high places."

I could not disagree more.  Optimism is the content of free people who have been empowered to make change. 

Once entrepreneurs are freed to make economic change through their ventures, their desire to turn that energy toward making social changes makes perfect sense.

Let me start this post by saying thank you to all of you who visit this website. Thanks to all of you who send me ideas for posts.  Thanks to my lovely wife, Ann, for taking on the role as my editor and sounding board for this blog. 

Five years ago today, under the patient guidance of blogger Bill Hobbs who I also need to thank, I launched this blog.  I had just recently started teaching at Belmont University.  Bill wandered into my office and asked me if I wanted to be a "blogger" for the University. 

Poor Bill -- he had no idea what he was in for when he recruited me.

I had never been to a blog, and really had no idea what one was.

As I understood what he was saying at the time, it was a forum to write about my passion -- entrepreneurship.  People would come to the site and read what I have to say and hopefully it would create some interesting dialogue.

At first I struggled.  I had a hard time getting this blogging thing.  I struggled with my writing style and I struggled on what exactly I should write about day after day.

Bill told me to be patient.  More and more people would find their way to the site.  Eventually I would find my "voice" for the blog.

I thought, "What the heck.  I'll try if for a little while and see what happens."

Well, 2024 posts and five years later I am still trucking along.

I often think that my time as a blogger is coming to an end.  It is hard work. I keep thinking another forum or technology will take its place.  But, every time I think it might be time to hang it up, something always seems to happen to renew me as a blogger.

It might be an e-mail from a reader, a thoughtful comment posted at the site, or kind words from someone I meet who is a regular visitor to the blog. 

Entrepreneurship has probably never been more important in our economy than it is today.  The US is an economic super power that has a weak and aging economic foundation.  Entrepreneurship is the key to re-inventing this economy.  The world is increasingly turning away from government solutions and looking to the free market as the means for prosperity.  Social entrepreneurship is being viewed as the key to finally finding real solutions to our social ills.  Entrepreneurship really does matter.  So I will keep on blogging about it.  I will keep on talking about ways to help entrepreneurs succeed in their risky endeavors.  And I will keep on talking about how we can break down governmentally created barriers that inhibit our entrepreneurial economy.

Will I be blogging on September 10, 2013?  Who knows!  But, I will be blogging tomorrow.  We'll see where that post takes us.

I am pleased to announce that Belmont University's Undergraduate Entrepreneurship program was just named to the Top 25 programs by Entrepreneur magazine -- Princeton Review in their 2008 rankings.

GO BELMONT!

There are two financial goals tied to entrepreneurship.  One is generating income.  The other is creating wealth.

For most entrepreneurs wealth is generated through the value they can create in their businesses.  But, what a business is really worth is often hard to determine.

Today a new site was launched called BizEquity that offers business owners a tool to help estimate the value of small businesses.  (Note of full disclosure -- I am an unpaid advisor for this project).

What does the site offer?

And it is all free to the user. 

There is also a companion blog that offers more information on business valuation.

I received information about a study that reminded me once again that business ethics is messy.

We would like to think that being ethical is a simple process of deciding right from wrong.  Although sometimes it is, more often it seems to take us into a murky gray of ambiguity and seemingly irresolvable dilemmas.

The study was conducted by Experian, a global information services company.  The study examines the payment behavior of the small-business owner in relation to the current mortgage crisis. The study found that business owners with a severe mortgage delinquency were more likely to pay their business obligations instead of their mortgage. It seems that because of deteriorating equity, high mortgage payments and limited refinancing options, business owners chose to ensure the business' survival, preserving their source of income at the risk of losing their home. For the report, Experian compiled a sample of 2.7 million business owners and analyzed the payment behavior of those owners with a mortgage over the course of one year.

New entrepreneurs often struggle with the need to put their house at risk to help start a new venture.  This study suggests that once the business is operating they will tend choose their business over their home.

What an agonizing choice this must be for most of these business owners.

Keep your business afloat, but lose your home.  Keep your home, but risk losing your business.  Ethical choices are not always as clear cut as we would like.

Blogger Milt Capps interveiwed me about my passion for bootstrapping for his blog Venture Nashsville:

Cornwall said he's passionate about bootstrapping because, "first of all...it's a critical skillset for all entrepreneurs" and those who create businesses need to "understand that this is going to be a major part of their ability to manage the resources they have," going forward, no matter the state of the economy. Bootstrapping, he said, can help avert crushing debt, minimize the need for partners, help companies survive between financing rounds, reduce the drain of personal energy and other resources, and generally help entrepreneurs "find a way to be the most efficient you can with the money that's at your hands."

I believe that once again this year we have a choice between a gentle stroll toward socialism with McCain (although some argue he may actual take us on a rather brisk walk) versus a full sprint to socialism with Obama (think Usain Bolt).  I don't think either candidate is addressing what needs to be done in our economy to bolster and support long-term entrepreneurial economic development.

That being said, here are a couple of links that compare the stated policies of Obama and McCain that relate to small business:  from inc.com and CNN Money.com.

I wrote a recent post on Entrepreneurial A.D.D.  As a follow-up, my graduate assistant, Joe Ormont, found a very good post at Court's blog that offers some tips on getting focused:

• Do it doucement (slowly, very slowly) (not sure whether this is a Bond movie line actually). We often fail when we try too hard. Take it one step at the time and incorporate necessary tasks week by week.
• Don't measure yourself against others in competition. Use them as a guideline if all. You will only set yourself up for early failure when you try to compare what they have and you haven't achieved.
• If you run a business besides working a day job, invest more emotional energy into your business. After all, it is your future and deserves your full attention.
• Don't be put off by setbacks, keep persisting!
• Do something for your business every single day, regardless how tired you are.
• Use personal visualization techniques to day dream. They are very powerful.
• Don't spend your time with negative people and business dream wreckers. They are poison, especially in the early (failure) stages of your business.
• Be proud of your achievements, however small they seem.
• Learn from your setbacks and mistakes and do it better next time round.
• Don't try to complicate things - keep it easy.
• Have fun.

Some good thoughts to reflect on at the end of the week.

Some partially good economic news for a change.

The August ADP National Employment Report and ADP Small Business Report showed that small businesses (businesses with fewer than 50 workers) added 20,000 jobs during August.  

If we look at just the service sector, we see an increase in 36,000 jobs. 

However, of some concern to me is that goods-producing small businesses lost 16,000 jobs.  These jobs tend to be better paying.

I have all but given up on Republican politicians.  But Gov. Sarah Palin may make me change my mind.

James Pethokoukis' at US News offers this quote from her 2006 campaign for Governor:

"As Mayor and CEO of the booming city of Wasilla, my team invited investment and encouraged business growth by eliminating small business inventory taxes, eliminated personal property taxes, reduced real property tax mill levies every year I was in office, reduced fees, and built the infrastructure our businesses needed to grow and prosper."

He ends his assessment with the following:

And don't forget she was apparently a Steve Forbes supporter in 1996 and has spoken favorably of Ron Paul. While economic conservatives surely want to hear much more from her, they see things right now as "so far, so good."

Indeed.  Her addition to the McCain ticket may not be enough to win me back this fall -- only time will tell.  But, Palin in 2016 (or maybe even in 2012) may have a nice ring to it for those of us yearning for a pro entrepreneurship free enterprise agenda. 

Virtual Entrepreneur reflects on some of the ways that entrepreneurship builds a person's character in a post about the non-financial rewards of starting a business.

While there is no guarantee of riches, through the pursuit, you will obtain rewards of character. And the development of sound character is perhaps the most important perk of entrepreneurship. At the end of the day, no one really cares how much money you made. They care about who you are.

I could not agree more.  And we need to be deliberate in our decision making and actions in business, as each one shapes our character.  From Bringing Your Business to Life:

[T]he moral and spiritual character of an entrepreneur or businessperson will be captured in the responsible relationships he has forged with others in the actions of running his business. More specifically, this can be shaped by the opportunities he pursues, who he chooses to do business with, who he hires, decisions he makes about products and markets, decisions about whether and how fast to grow, the corporate culture he builds, and his engagement with the community as a leader and/or citizen.