Why entrepreneurs will not save the world

Callum Laing, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Fitness-Buffet, argues that articles like this recent Forbes piece Why Entrepreneurs Will Save The World reflect an unhealthy preoccupation with entrepreneurship and adds one item too many to an already busy-to-do list.

Years ago, I wrote an article for a newspaper denouncing the media’s growing obsession with entrepreneurs as the new rock stars. It was during a downturn and I pointed to the army of recently laid-off people who, unable to find jobs, re-branded themselves first as ‘consultants’ and then when that didn’t work as either ‘lifestyle coaches’ or ‘entrepreneurs’.

Inspired by whoever was on the cover of Forbes magazine, they would ‘find their passion’ and throw themselves headlong into building a business with the charming naivety and enthusiasm only a fresh entrepreneur can muster.

Within 12-18 months, however, most of them had burnt through their lifetime’s savings, often taking on personal debt, alienated their friends and family by trying to sell to or borrow from them, and closed down their businesses. They then return, tails between their legs, to the workforce to lick their wounds.

Perhaps those were the lucky ones. The rest of us stumbled on.

I am not simply giving a negative take on entrepreneurship. It is in fact the reality for most people who start businesses, where failure is a near certainty. And while all business owners may understand that intellectually, they won’t understand its true toll until they experience the death throes of a business, the unpleasantness of laying off staff, and dealing with unpaid suppliers.

Many years later and another downturn later, the media is once again full of stories of rags-to-riches entrepreneurs and the appeal of ‘freedom’, ‘making a difference’ and ‘saving the world’. A whole new army of people who should know better will throw themselves into creating a business despite facing the sort of odds that make casinos look kind.

So do I disagree that ‘Entrepreneurs Will Save the World’? Forbes makes no apology for the hyperbolic headline, yet in the same opening statement reveals they are actually talking about an ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ rather than entrepreneurship.

I would argue that you do not need to be an entrepreneur to have an entrepreneurial mindset. In fact it may be best for you not to start a business. Solving problems creatively has been done by the best employees since the Industrial age and you would be hard-pressed to find a CEO or business owner who isn’t focused on attracting and retaining the best minds to their company — and then providing them the environment to do the best work.

“The employee we mock often has resources we could only dream of and a mandate to use them in the pursuit of solving the problem.”

I believe in entrepreneurship. I have enormous respect for those that create and contribute. For those that leave it all on the line, succeed, and retain some level of sanity in the process. My peers on this journey inspire me every day with their accomplishments. I want entrepreneurs to be recognised by the press. I want people to be inspired and go out and start their own businesses.

However, the current glorification of entrepreneurship is bordering on sycophantic and I’m not sure it is healthy for either the entrepreneurs or the those aspiring to become one.

Entrepreneurs will save the world? Isn’t it enough to deliver value to customers, employees, shareholders and the community?

Proclamations like these fail spectacularly to prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs for the realities of the worthy endeavour they will be undertaking.

“Entrepreneurs already take ourselves and the games we play far too seriously. Let’s not build us up to be more than we are.”