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A CHRISTMAS PRAYER
by Marty Robbins

Dear Lord I want to thank you
for what You've done for me
For all these many blessings
In a world that's caught in grief and misery
No matter where I wander
I 'm always in Your site
and so my thanks to You, My Lord
upon this Christmas Night

If all my prayers aren't answered
then Lord, I understand
There's others more deserving
Others Lord who need a helping hand
I pray you'll guide and keep me
Ever near the light
And so My Deepest Thanks My Lord
Upon this Christmas Night.

I will be spending the next few days with family as we celebrate Christmas. 

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas.

Each year I share the original proclamation for our American Thanksgiving holiday.  Even in difficult times we have so much to be thankful for.  This is still a land of bountiful opportunities.  President Washington's words remind us the importance of giving thanks to God for all of his blessings with a humble heart.

"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:

"Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

"And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

"Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd day of October, A.D. 1789."

George Washington

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...

 

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.

Here are the Top 9 questions from the NFIB Research Foundation for August 2008 from their searhable database 411 Small Business Facts:

 

1. CREDIT SCORING - How familiar are small employers with "credit scoring?" (Vol. 7, Iss. 7, Q#5).

 

2. INFORMATION SOURCES - What is the most important media source of business news and information for small employers? (Vol. 7, Iss. 6, Q#6).

 

3. EMPLOYEE OBESITY - Do small employers consider employee obesity a business issue or a personal issue? (Vol. 4, Iss. 3, Q#11).

 

4. ECONOMY - How many small employers have made a business decision in the prior six months directly as a result of action taken by the Federal Reserve Board? (Vol. 8, Iss. 1, Q#19a).

 

5. POLITICS - How interested are small employers in public affairs and politics? (Vol. 5, Iss. 4, Q#1).

 

6. INCOME - What portion of small employers obtain 95 percent or more of their entire personal income from owning their (primary) business? (Vol. 7, Iss7, Q#7).

 

7. PRIVACY - How many small employers maintain information on customers or potential customers that reasonable people would consider personal or confidential? (Vol 1, Iss. 8, Q#6).

 

8. INSURANCE - What do small employers think is the largest problem with business insurance? (Vol.2, Iss. 7, Q#1).

 

9. EMPLOYEE TRAINING - How many small employers in the prior three years sent at least one employee to a four year college to obtain or upgrade job skills? (Vol. 5, Iss 1, Q#26a).

 

This is the best time of year to be a professor!

Students are back on campus and classes are getting ready to start this week.

Belmont University is a case in point for the power of publicity.  At the University level, we are coming off our third straight year in the NCAA basketball tournament (we are the team that almost beat Duke last spring).  This fall we will be hosting the third Presidential Debate.  Both of these have given us so much added name recognition.  We have record enrollments this fall.

In our Entrepreneurship program, we have also gotten some wonderful attention in the press, which has added to interest in our growing program.

I am teaching a grad and an undergrad class in business planning.  I try to tweak my classes every semester.  This fall I intend to focus much more heavily on planning for tough economic times.  Bootstrapping will certainly get more attention.  Also, I will be getting them to think more clearly about the upside and downside risks that current economic conditions create.

Should be a great fall!

Welcome to the new home of the Entrepreneurial Mind.  Nothing has changed other than our address.  After almost five years of blogging we had started to outfgrow our old digs.  So we decided it was time to make a move.  It is the same blog -- just a new location.  Thanks to all the folks at Belmont University for their continued support.  Please bookmark our new address. 

Megan Dorn has become the new editor at The Start-up Blog.  She is already busy beefing up the site.   A good blog for anyone who likes the practical content that I write about at this blog.

I should also note that Megan is a fellow Cheese Head -- Go Packers!

This will be my last post for several days.  Mrs. C. and I are taking a trip to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary -- off to the beach, playing some golf, and visiting old friends along the way. 

I will be going "off the grid", but I plan to plug back in and start writing again soon after Memorial Day. 

Senator Sam Brownback and Representative Jim Saxton have released an updated version of Recent Economic Developments today, titled "Unprecedented Fed Actions, Recession Signs, Stagflation Fears."

Highlights of the report are:

- The Fed agreed to take $29 billion of assets onto its balance sheet, retaining private asset management firm BlackRock Inc. to manage the portfolio which is, effectively, owned by U.S. taxpayers. This raises many public policy issues.

- The unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in March, from 4.8% in February.

- Non-farm payroll employment declined by 80,000 in March, the 3rd consecutive monthly decline. Higher unemployment and declining payrolls suggest that we may be in a recession.

- GDP growth was an anemic 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fears of stagflation have arisen given: slowing growth; rising unemployment; employment declines; rapid increases in energy and food prices.