Today’s post is a little different than usual, it’s taken from an e-mail Perry Marshall sent to his subscriber list over the weekend. As you read it, be aware that Perry isn’t trying to sell anything at all.
I‘ll never forget my 2nd trip to Africa. I’m somewhere southwest of Nairobi Kenya, visiting George Karanga and his wife Jane, two very special people who run a foster program for AIDS orphans.
I’m meeting a woman whose husband is dying of AIDS, he’s down to 66 pounds… all kinds of kids who’ve lost both parents to HIV and now live with aunts, uncles or grandparents… people who are deathly sick for lack of $1.00 for a bus ticket to go to a medical clinic… a woman who’s 8 years a paraplegic, living under a tin roof in a dark mud hut, her sole entertainment her radio, her cat, and her kind neighbors who look after her.
Not a cheery scene.
But the epiphany occurs when I meet a fellow named Paul Mungai, who runs a cobbler shop. Paul, ironically, is crippled, but he knows how to make and fix shoes. And he knows how to run a business.
He started with just $50.00 of seed money and now has, by Kenyan standards, a sound business. He’s feeding his family, he’s paying his rent, his kids have uniforms to wear to school, and everyone in his care has enough to live on.
There’s a gleam in his eye. We exchange a few words and share our mutual understanding: There is one and only one path out of poverty. The one and only path out of poverty is entrepreneurship and business success.
It ain’t government. It’s not social programs. It’s not charity. It’s not even jobs or technology. It’s entrepreneurship.
The message was loud and clear: What you and I do may be daring, crazy, irrational and largely misunderstood. Condescending do-gooders may tell you you’re greedy or too successful. Your brother-in-law may think you’ve got your head stuffed in a cloud.
The government may think it has the right to confiscate your profits and give them to “education” or other well-intentioned social programs. You might cater to some strange market, doing something that most people consider frivolous.
But the fact remains: What you and I do is profoundly important. You and I pave the road that leads from poverty to success. We create the ingenuity and jobs and wealth that makes good medical care possible.
We create the world that has enough to eat, the world where even welfare kids in housing projects get three square meals a day.
So don’t ever apologize to anyone for doing what you do. If it wasn’t for you, me and the rest of us entrepreneurs, “they” would still be sleeping on dirt floors.
That conversation with Paul in Kenya sparkled with the mutual awareness of what I just described to you.
And as George took me to see other recipients of Micro-Enterprise seed funding – a lady selling sardines and tomatoes on a nailed-together stand on the side of the road, several women selling fruits and vegetables in the local markets, I thought of the entrepreneurs I meet in the US, Canada and Australia.
I thought of those rah-rah Amway rallies I was going to years ago, and the easily-exploited naivet? that’s so characteristic of the “Biz Op” market as it’s sometimes called.
And like it or not, it’s that raw enthusiasm and independent spirit that drives the prosperity of the West.
Where that drive, imagination and ingenuity are lacking, people starve – literally.
So yes, some business people are too greedy. Some entrepreneurs don’t care about their fellow man. Some people do make their money by dishonest means. But remember, the character quotient is no better on the poor side of the fence.
So if you’re prospering by means of an honest enterprise – or if you’re struggling to put one together – then you are a hero. The bards and minstrels may not sing songs about you, and your handsome face may never appear on The Apprentice, but what you do every day when you get out of bed is a worthwhile and indeed necessary thing.
Don’t ever forget it. What you do matters. A lot. It’s worth celebrating and it’s HONORABLE.
Editor’s note: Perry Marshall is an expert at Google Pay Per Click. Sign up for his FREE 5 Days To Success With Google AdWords course
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Wow, I’m a little overwhelmed at his message, but very happy to see it. Sometimes plugging away at an idea is just that, plugging, plugging, and more plugging.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I love what I do, have fun doing it, and will continue to do it. However, finances do need to be taken care of and I have to eat.
For now, my “day job” remains, and dreams of the entrepreneurial spirit remain strong. I’ve never apologized for my dreams……………..:)
LisaNewton’s last blog post..Independence Day, Paramount Studios, and a Contest
I know what you mean. I’ve been doing quite a bit of introspection and re-evaluation lately. There’s no way I’m going to give up but, yeah bills to pay, mouths to feed etc…
Lovely post!
There’s nothing wrong with making loads of money as long as we do it with integrity, and without selling our souls or exploiting, prostituting , enslaving or bombarding others. Creative, hard working entrepreneurship done well can be a fantastic win/win, but entrepreneurs need customers and if we want to use our buying power, we need to assertively avoid those who make us feel like fresh flesh at a vampire fest or who try to tell us we’re wasting our time if we buy less but go for quality and Fair Trade products. We need to assertively boycott those who try to wear us down with icky sales bombardments, or who simply treat us like we’re so stupid we don’t understand their marketing techniques. Making money with meaning is the only way this planet can afford to go now.
So many people were wrongly taught that money is the root of all evil, but money itself is just currency, a means of exchange. The more money we have, the more we have available to use to help others. I also believe, though, that love, time, emotional support and energy are currency we can give away if we have enough reserves of it.
Sometimes, an obsessive, unhealthy pursuit of money for the sake of the trappings and status means we deplete what we have to offer in those areas. It’s all about balance and having real self knowledge, really knowing what you want the money for. It’s about sitting down and figuring out what we really need.
My godmother spent her whole working life in a basement factory in Greece, leaning over vats of molten wax making church candles. Her husband was away at sea for ten month stretches to send money home. She was always exhausted, he rarely saw the kids. In the end they had enough to set up a business for their daughter and to pay for their son’s education. They also saved enough to build their own home on the mountain. My godmother died three months after her husband retired and came home from sea. She never got to see her grandchildren although they’ll inherit the house.
Balance. The whole planet needs balance.
“Balance. The whole planet needs balance”
Truer words were never spoken. Again I am reminded of why I love Aikido so much, it’s all about balance and control, or as Yoda would say, “Control. Control. You must learn control.”