Business Plans For The Top 1%

That's you and me.  About 1% - 2% of the top performers in all industries leave their jobs each year to open their own businesses.  About 80% dream of doing it.  You and I actually do it.  That makes us the top 1%.  The other 20%?  Well, they are happy being employees, and I am glad for their happiness -- it just isn't my kind of happiness.

I am not sure there is such a thing as an "average" entrepreneur.  We are each so different, with different motivations, different goals, different challenges, different backgrounds.  The one thing we have in common is the desire to excel in a business that we define.  And that is a great goal.

So how does it feel to be in the top 1%?


Smug?  Maybe for a few minutes.  Then the reality hits.  Good grief, there is is so much to learn, so much to do, so many decisions to make.  Especially if this is your first business, do grab a copy of Start Up Right Now (pictured above) to take you through some of the initial decisions you will making.

Wealthy?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Actually, most entrepreneurs earn less than their corporate counterparts.  While money is important, other factors play a bigger role.  We enjoy the independence.  We work very well independently, and with others.  We need the flexibility of a home office.  No, it is more the quality of life that changes for an entrepreneur.  If we work 14 hours a day it is because we have determined that the effort is important, not a supervisor telling us to do so.  And if we sneak out at 3:00pm to watch our daughters play basketball, well that's our decision too.

Satisfied?  Yes, that seems like a good descriptor.  I have never seen a study to substantiate this, but I suspect that few people who have ever had their own business actually go back to work for someone else.  We like this way of life, and we plan to stick with it.

There are a slew of business plans to help us on the way, but ultimately it is our gut that sends us in the right direction.  We are indeed a gutsy, determined group.  I like being in the top 1%.  I suspect that you do too.