Jobs 957
Date:
Hollywood has painted an unrealistic image of business owners. The mention of someone who owns a business conjures up images from greedy bank owner Mr. Potter in the 1946 movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” to nuclear power plant owner Mr. Burns in the television show “The Simpsons”. Owning the company doesn’t mean sitting in a leather wingback chair all day and counting piles of money while all the workers bees make more; it means quite the opposite. You’ll never hear a business owner say “That’s not in my job description”. Business owners refer to themselves as the chief cook and bottle washer because they have to do whatever needs to be done whenever it needs to be done.
Employers have become accustomed to employees who do the least they can to get by, which is usually what’s printed in their job description. Because of this, companies add “...and all other duties as needed” to every job description. But those who excel in their careers don’t need a job description to tell him what to do. They do whatever needs to be done, whenever it needs to be done, without waiting until they’re asked. In other words, they act like they own the place. I’ve owned my own company since 1988, and often hear people say they’d like to own a business. When I ask why, they give answers such as “So I can set my own hours”, “To make what I’m really worth”, or “So I won’t have to answer to anyone”. I tell them not to go into business for themselves, because they don’t understand what owning a business really means.