The guerrilla entrepreneur knows that the journey is the goal.
He also realizes that he is in control of his enterprise, not
the other way around, and that if he is dissatisfied with his
journey, he is missing the point of the journey itself. Unlike
old-fashioned enterprises, which often required gigantic sacrifices
for the sake of the goal, guerrilla enterprises place the goal
of a pleasant journey ahead of the mere notion of sacrifices.
The guerrilla entrepreneur achieves balance from the very start.
He builds free time into his work schedule so that balance is
part of his enterprise. He respects his leisure time as much as
his work time, never allowing too much of one to interfere with
the other. Traditional entrepreneurs placed work ahead of leisure
and showed no respect for their own personal freedom. Guerrillas
cherish their freedom as much as their work.
The guerrilla entrepreneur is not in a hurry.
A false need for speed frequently undermines even the best-conceived
strategies. Haste makes waste and sacrifices quality. The guerrilla
is fully aware that patience is his ally, and he has planned intelligently
to eliminate most emergencies that call for moving fast. His pace
is always steady but never rushed.
The guerrilla entrepreneur uses stress as a benchmark.
If he feels any stress, he knows he must be going about things
in the wrong way. Guerrilla entrepreneurs do not accept stress
as part of doing business and recognize any stress as a warning
sign that something's the matter -- in the work plan of the guerrilla
or in the business itself. Adjustments are made to eliminate the
cause of the stress rather than the stress itself.
The guerrilla entrepreneur looks forward to work.
He has a love affair with his work and considers himself blessed
to be paid for doing the work he does. He is good at his work,
energizing his passion for it in a quest to learn more about it
and improve his understanding of it, thereby increasing his skills.
The guerrilla entrepreneur doesn't think about retirement for
never would he want to stop doing work the loves.
The guerrilla entrepreneur has no weaknesses.
He is effective in every aspect of his enterprise because he has
filled in the gaps between his strengths and talents with people
who abound in the prowess he lacks. He is a team player and teams
up with guerrillas like himself who share the team spirit and
possess complementary skills. He values his teammates as much
as old-fashioned entrepreneurs valued their independence.
The guerrilla entrepreneur is fusion-oriented.
He is always on the alert to fuse his business with other enterprises
in town, in America, in the world. He is willing to combine marketing
efforts, production skills, information, leads, mailing lists
and anything else to increase his effectiveness and marketing
reach while reducing the cost of achieving those goals. His fusion
efforts are intentionally short-term and rarely permanent. In
his business relationships, instead of thinking marriage, he thinks
fling.
The guerrilla entrepreneur does not kid himself.
He knows that if he overestimates his own abilities, he risks
skimping on the quality he represents to his customers, employees,
investors, suppliers and fusion partners. He forces himself to
face reality on a daily basis and realizes that all of his business
practices must always be evaluated in the light of what is really
happening, instead of what should be happening.
The guerrilla entrepreneur lives in the present.
He is aware of the past, enticed by the future, but the here and
now is where he resides, embracing the technologies of the present,
leaving future technologies on the horizon right where they belong
-- on the horizon until later, when they are ripe and ready. He
is alert to the new, wary of the avant-garde, and only wooed from
the old by improvement, not merely change.
The guerrilla entrepreneur understands the precious nature of
time.
He doesn't buy into the old lie that time is money and knows in
his heart that time is far more important than money. He knows
that instead, time is life. He is aware his customers and prospects
feel the same way, so he respects their time and wouldn't dare
waste it. As a guerrilla, he is the epitome of efficiency but
never lets it interfere with his effectiveness.
The guerrilla entrepreneur always operates according to a plan,
He knows who he is, where he is going, and how he will get there.
He is prepared, knows that anything can and will happen, and can
deal with the barriers to entrepreneurial success because his
plan has foreseen them and shown exactly how to surmount them.
The guerrilla reevaluates his plan regularly and does not hesitate
to make changes in it, though commitment to the plan is part of
his very being.
The guerrilla entrepreneur is flexible.
He is guided by a strategy for success and knows the difference
between a guide and a master. When it is necessary to change,
the guerrilla changes, accepting change as part of the status
quo, not ignoring or battling it. He is able to adapt to new situations,
realizes that service is whatever his customers want it to be,
and knows that inflexible things become brittle and break.
The guerrilla aims for results more than growth.
He is focused upon profitability and balance, vitality and improvement,
value and quality more than size and growth. His plan calls for
steadily increasing profits without a sacrifice of personal time,
so his actions are oriented to hitting those targets instead of
growing for the sake of growth alone. He is wary of becoming large
and does not equate hugeness with excellence
The guerrilla entrepreneur is dependent upon many people.
He knows that the age of the lone wolf entrepreneur, independent
and proud of it, has passed. The guerrilla is very dependent upon
his fusion business partners, his employees, his customers, his
suppliers, and his mentors. He got where he is with his own wings,
his own determination, his own smarts, and, as a guerrilla, with
a little help from a lot of friends.
The guerrilla entrepreneur is constantly learning.
A seagull flies in circles in the sky, looking for food in an
endless quest.. When it finally finds the food, the seagull lands,
then eats its fill. When it has completed the meal, the seagull
returns to the sky, only to fly in circles again, searching for
food although it has eaten. Humans have only one instinct that
compares: the need for constant learning. Guerrilla entrepreneurs
have this need in spades.
The guerrilla entrepreneur is passionate about work.
He has an enthusiasm for what he does that is apparent to everyone
who sees his work. This enthusiasm spreads to everyone who works
with him, even to his customers. In its purest form, this enthusiasm
is best expressed as the word passion -- an intense feeling that
burns within him and is manifested in the devotion he demonstrates
towards his business.
The guerrilla entrepreneur is focused on the goal.
He knows that balance does not come easily and that he must rid
himself of the values and expectations of his ancestors. To do
this, he must remain focused upon his journey, seeing the future
clearly while concentrating upon the present. He is aware that
the minutiae of life and business can distract him, so does what
is necessary to make those distractions only momentary.
The guerrilla entrepreneur is disciplined about tasks at hand.
He is keenly aware that every time he writes a task on his daily
calendar, it is a promise he is making to himself. As a guerrilla
who does not kid himself, he keeps those promises, knowing that
the achievement of his goals will be more than an adequate reward
for his discipline. He finds it easy to be disciplined because
of the payback offered by the leisure that follows.
The guerrilla entrepreneur is well-organized at home and work.
He does waste valuable time looking for items that have been misplaced,
so he organizes as he works and as new work comes to him. His
sense of organization is fueled by the efficiency that results
from it. While he is always organized, the guerrilla never squanders
precious time by over-organizing.
The guerrilla entrepreneur has an upbeat attitude.
Because he knows that life is unfair, problems arise, to err is
human, and the cool shall inherit the Earth, he manages to take
obstacles in stride, keeping his perspective and his sense of
humor. His ever-present optimism is grounded in an ability to
perceive the positive side of things, recognizing the negative,
but never dwelling there. His positivity is contagious.