Once you have done it, done it meaning become a business owner. Afterwards it seemed so simple, owning a business, and you think anyone can do this. But can anyone really do this? Start and run your own business? The question seems simple enough to answer, but is the answer right there, in front of you?

I like to use analogies and Im also a big fan of Seinfeld. In one episode, Kramer wants to build levels in his apartment. Jerry, knowing that he will never do it, bets Kramer that he wont get it done. Kramer, sure of himself that he will, takes Jerrys bet. After a couple of days, Kramer tells Jerry that the bet is off because he decided that he wasnt going to do it anymore. And Jerry claims, That was the bet.

I bet that Millions of people cant and wont ever own their own business. And its not that I dont want a million more business owners, its just that they will never follow through with it if they tried. Most people do not have a certain drive inside them to carry it through. Just like Kramer and the levels, too many people think about it, talk about it, but never carry it out. Why? Because these same people spend their lives just going through the motions of their day. They get up, go to work, come home, go to bed and then do it all over again the next day. Even their job is performed the same way. They go to work, perform some job functions, have lunch, perform some more job functions, and then go home. I am sad to say, that these people couldnt and shouldnt be looking to go into business for themselves.

All business owners are not the same, but a lot of them carry with them one or more characteristics. Business owners dont have a set routine in their day or their job. And even if it becomes a little routine, they usually think of ways to make it different or better. For the employee to make the leap from employee to employer, there should be something inside of them that pushes them to want a better day, a better life and even a better job. Im not even saying a better company to work for, I am saying a better way to do their job, a more efficient way of doing their job and a desire to move up through the chain at their job.

One of my favorite jobs was running the swim program for the local Y; my job title was Aquatics Director. After I was hired for the position, my Executive Director wanted to meet with me on what was to be expected of me. He went over the swim program, the summer camp swim program and the budget for the Aquatics Department. As I was scanning through the budget, I saw a -$68,000 at the bottom of the page. Yes, it was a negative $68,000.

I asked him, What is that number at the bottom of the page?
His response was, Thats the net loss for the pool.
I stated, Yes, I familiar with a net income (loss), but why is it in the red?
His response, The pool loses roughly that much money per year, but dont worry we have allocated a loss from the pool into the budget for the rest of the Y.
I stated, Ah Give me two years and I will have the pool at least breaking even.
His response was basically, Knock yourself out.

There wasnt any real urgency in his voice. I guess because the pool has been losing money for so many years, who do I think I am to think that I can do any better?

So now here I am, running the Aquatics Department. I treated the job as if I was the owner of the pool. I was already there for a few months so I knew what changes could be made immediately as well as changes that would need a little time to develop. I worked extra hours developing an improved program schedule that would increase revenues and decrease costs. After two years, the Aquatics Department went from -$68,000 to a -$7000. Ok, so I didnt breakeven, but I would have made a profit in the third year.

I know that if I didnt make any changes and all I did was come in and run things like they were before, I still would have gotten my paycheck and I still would have gotten my annual raises. However, this was a chance to test my business owning skills. I had to manage people, advertise for swim lessons, work with vendors in ordering chemicals, work with other departments, work on a budget every quarter, interview, hire and train lifeguards and swim instructors, and work with the local Red Cross chapters in getting programs into the Y. The best part was that it wasnt my money that was invested so if I messed up something, it didnt hurt me financially. Yes, maybe I could have gotten fired for messing up, but if I was going to get fired for trying something new and failing at it, well then it wasnt a place I would want to be employed at.

If you can see yourself in my example of an owner mentality, then you have the deep down passion and strength to make owning a business a reality. If you read this article and thought that I was crazy for doing all that extra work and for the same amount of pay if I didnt do all that work, then you are like millions of Americans out there that will always work for someone else.