The “New Rules” of Business

As you may know if you have read much of my material, I’m a bit of a comedian and satirist. I grew up on a steady diet of Mark Twain, Douglas Adams, and my personal hero, Kurt Vonnegut.

Today’s thought was sparked by modern satirist, Bill Maher. He has a part of his show – as well as a book and blog – called New Rules where he talks about one thing, and then comments on a “new rule” that turns it on its head. That process got me thinking about how this might apply to business.

I have been in one form of business or another since I was 15 years old. Since I recently turned 50, if you do the math, you will see that a good part of my life was lived in the B.I. era… Before Internet.

It never ceases to amaze me just how much business has changed. And the best part is that, for the first time ever, the playing field has been leveled to the point where anyone with the right attitude and willingness to learn, and willingness to work hard, can start a highly successful business.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the New Rules:

Old Rule:

The company tells you when, where, and how you must work.

New Rule:

The office has been replaced by the coffee shop, the desktop has been replaced by the laptop, and board meetings have been replaced by the Mastermind Group.

Old Rule:

In order to start a business, you had to beg and plead with banks or venture capitalists and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars (or even millions) just to get it off the ground.

New Rule:

Anyone with an idea, a laptop, and $100 can launch the next big thing that takes over the world.

Old Rule:

Any business you start, assuming it survives, may well be run for the rest of your life, and even handed down to future generations whether they wanted it or not, because of the huge finances involved.

New Rule:

Because the entry requirements are so low, you can start and stop as many businesses as you like, even creating an entire portfolio of small, independent, income-producing businesses (i.e. websites) that provide you with as much or as little as you need to maintain your perfect lifestyle.

And, last but not least, my personal favorite…

Old Rule:

An “entrepreneur” is someone who went to business school, earned a fancy MBA, learned how to come up with ideas, find funding, launch a business, rent a huge office and warehouse, hire and manage loads of employees, and work 150 hours per week for the next 40 years.

New Rule:

You don’t go to business school to learn how to start a business. Business school is where you go to learn how to run someone else’s business. Instead, you launch a business with a laptop and outsource everything you can’t or don’t want to do to freelancers willing to do the job on the cheap.

This is what makes Wealthy Affiliate such an amazing opportunity for us all.

Today, an entrepreneur is someone who no longer follows the Old Rules.

Today, an entrepreneur is someone who makes their own New Rules.

And if you are reading this right now…

Today, YOU are an entrepreneur!