« And don't forget please and thank you ... | Main | They don't want us watching (or listening) »
October 06, 2005
Squeaky microbusiness wheels
To what degree does anybody want to be important?
I can sit here and prate about how microbusinesses are changing the economy and the world, but if that level of economic keystone-ness is more of a burden than microbusiness owners want to bear, then perhaps they will be unwilling to assume the mantle of "engine of the U.S. economy," political rhetoric notwithstanding.
See, part of being an engine is that you make noise when something isn't working.
Microbusiness owners, as a group, don't want to make noise. They prefer not to attract attention to themselves in any context that doesn't have to do with making a sale.
They often feel frustrated at policy makers who can't seem to figure out how to address problems when the solution seems "so obvious." But they also tend to be too intimidated (or something) to use their famous innovative thinking to find ways to make themselves heard.
Or maybe they see themselves as too busy to be bothered.
I got to thinking about this when I read this post over at Seth Godin's blog.
You see, what's needed is abundant thinking by business owners about how policy effects their businesses.
If you look around and decide that there's a policy issue around your business that needs fixing, you can think, "If I make a stink about this, what will happen if I'm wrong? What if nobody pays attention to me? What if partisan hacks chew me up and spit me out on talk radio?"
Or you can think, "If I make a stink about this, maybe I can show them how to solve this problem, not just for me but for all us microbusiness owners."
When those policy-oriented challenges gum up the works, are you a big enough engine to squeak?
Posted by The Journal Blogger at October 6, 2005 07:26 AM
