Entrepreneurial Democracy

The Power & Freedom Of Self-Employment


It’s important for each of us to consider, once in a while, why we are entrepreneurs, especially the home-based business kind. True, many of us do it for the money, others for the freedom it offers. Then there are those who have started their own business sort of as a protest against authority, some were forced into it because they had no job after being caught in some corporate disaster, and still others have become part of a new way of life which Daniel Pink calls “The free agent nation” in his book by that name. Regardless of why we are entrepreneurs, we are all exercising our rights as citizens in a democracy to do as we wish whenever and however we want. We are true examples of Democracy at work in daily life. Isn’t this great?

By looking at what it means to be examples of Democracy itself, we can see new ways to approach customers successfully, develop exceptional marketing plans, and attract finer people to our businesses. How better to spread the word of the benefits of our culture of Democratic work? It’s important we realize the significance of what we do and how we do it. Only by staying true to our Democratic ideals, exercising our rights as citizens, and by our example leading others to participate in the Can-Do Spirit of Democracy can we remain free. There are daily threats to our freedoms, and it is painless for the nation of free agents to demonstrate how everyone can help to maintain freedom and equality.
Speaking of Democracy, what is it? Part of the dictionary definition is “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system, a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.” These definitions apply to national and local governments. People living in democratic societies expect and would like for the same principles to apply to their workplace. There is no legal requirement for democracy at work, and so it never exists completely, though some managements may try to tell their employees otherwise. Here’s where the problem with democratic work began.

The early leaders of the U.S. had some influence on how things are in this country today. Other countries around the world, many of whom are very young or struggling democracies, should take note of what is happening here. Perhaps they can organize their cultures in such a way as to avoid some of the problems we are encountering. Thomas Jefferson was one leader whose ideas still influence current events in the U.S.

Jefferson’s ideal was an agrarian orientation for the U.S. economy; at the time there was unlimited land and he thought it should be used to sustain economic development without the intrusion of manufacturing and the city life it would bring. Jefferson opposed urban manufacturing and said, "While we have land to labour then, let us never wish to see our citizens occupied at a work-bench, or twirling a distaff...for the general operations of manufacture, let our workshops remain in Europe.” It looks like Mr. Jefferson is finally getting his wish, although the results are far different from anything he could have envisioned. American workers (and those from older Western countries) are losing almost all manufacturing and many services to overseas companies, though most are not in Europe.

The Industrial Revolution began in England in the early 18th century and came to the U.S. a few years later. Academics and engineers began to develop ways to improve the efficiency and profitability of the new manufacturing facilities. The leader who emerged from these management efforts was Frederick Taylor, whose scientific management techniques were a successful effort to improve manufacturing but with no improvement to employees. Scientific management achieved greater productivity but required extra work effort from employees; any opportunities for increased income are myths and determined by the piece-rate level set by management. Later thinking by Mazlow and others about achieving self-actualization and like ideas are serious efforts to fool employees into thinking they are really being benefited by management. All managers are not bad people; their jobs require them to run efficient, profitable companies, and the only way to do this is to get more and more from employees. The managers themselves are employees and are in the same situation as regular employees, except they often have enormous salaries and stock options.
Because democracy and citizenship have not followed workers into the workplace, these companies are the last holdouts of feudalism. CEOs are like monarchs in their own little fiefdoms, with courtiers at their command (managers). Employees in these situations do just about whatever they are told, because they feel there is no voice or influence for them. They just have to do whatever the CEO says in order to keep their job. This is why some surveys have said as many as 71% of workers watch the clock and can’t wait to go home. They are not connected to their work in any way. 74% of respondents further said the reputation of U.S. corporations is tarnished by the likes of Enron and continuing misdeeds by managers everywhere. This is no indictment of capitalism; it just means workers and management need to make serious efforts to overcome whatever myths and misunderstandings there are between managers and employees. Companies could not exist without some kind of worker and most workers can’t survive without their work, so the two must figure some way to live together. This may all be a moot point in the not so distant future as robots become larger players. Somebody else can worry about this.

Everyone has to make some kind of effort in order to have enough wealth to live. Even those who inherit great sums of money must ensure adequate investment to keep the money coming. Many people even say they look forward to work which is wonderful; it could all change in a flash, however, with a merger or bankruptcy. Others are actually encouraged by management efforts to provide new free training and for recognition programs rewarding outstanding effort. It takes little imagination to see these are really ways to extract more work for less pay from employees. The training is free, but new knowledge is expected to be used with little or no additional money; new duties may even require extra unpaid hours. The recognition itself implies additional work with no more pay.
Employees experience additional strain by having to treat customers like the company requires one to treat them, when in fact they realize the customer is just like they are when acting as a consumer of goods. This is very stressful on employees since they are confined to narrow efficiency rules set by others. Workers want to treat customers as they, themselves, want to be treated, but they can’t because of company restrictions. To combat this frustration, it is necessary to say we are interdependent and assert our rights of citizenship in commerce as well as in politics. When we define our companies as being of, by, and for individual economic citizens, we can begin to become democratic in the workplace; this is new—it has never been democratic before.

For whatever reason, many people will never be able to be full-time home-based entrepreneurs. However, using the free agent concept, most people can find some way to bring in a little extra income from a sideline business every month. I have never believed in the concept of a “Real Job.” It is my personal opinion that no one should work for an employer, any employer, except one’s own self.

Why?

By definition a “Real Job” is working for someone else: family, friend, a small or large corporation, the government; there’s no difference. Most of these employers would really like to have your whole life—your whole being—entirely devoted to them, so they can make a lot of money, and they want you to do all this for absolutely nothing! You won’t, but you will do it for next to nothing!
And what happens? First, virtually nobody is allowed to slave for the same company until they retire any more. Downsizing, mergers, layoffs and the bottom dollar have stopped all this. So you go from prison to prison, glad to get a little handout and keep struggling. A few larger companies have pension or profit sharing plans. Most have gone to some kind of employee “forced saving” plan where they highly shout that they are contributing to your retirement plan, but you pay most of it. Everything you have in these plans, like a 401(k), may be subject to mismanagement by your company or other advisor. You must be vigilant in overseeing these things in addition to all the other injustices you may be experiencing. For years employers have been reducing all benefits, from retirement plans to medical insurance. Some even “borrow” from pension plans or otherwise use up their value before retirees get much of it! The smaller outfits, where most people work, don’t have any of this stuff anyway.
The Social Security Administration says 85 out of every 100 Americans reaching age 65 don’t have as much as $250. That’s sad, after working 40 years! You just gave away your life for absolutely nothing! The answer? PAY YOURSELF and have no employees, if possible. Employees are a lot of trouble, with taxes and workplace regulations and such.

How do you work for yourself? Well, you automatically think of a franchise, but costing $50,000 to $millions$, most people can’t do that. Or perform a service, perhaps one you like to do or have special licenses to do. Yes, this includes doctors, lawyers, accountants and other high profile types as well as landscapers and carpenters. But, in addition to the cost and time to acquire the knowledge, all of these have an Achilles heel! There’s only so much one person can do, and if the person (even a doctor) can’t work, they don’t get paid! Salaried people may think this does not apply to them, but somewhere in your policy manual, it spells out when your salary stops. If there’s no policy manual, I can promise that the owner will stop your salary as soon as he thinks there won’t be a public outcry over mistreating you.

The issue of how to get away from the ridiculous “Real Job” syndrome bothered me for a long time. Until the ‘90’s there was really nothing else to do but try to start or buy some kind of “Real” small business. That was too pricey for most people, and you still had to be there to make any money! The computer, the coming of automatic perpetual marketing like Google’s Adsense, pay-per-click plans, and affiliate programs have changed all that. Now there are many affiliate plans on the Internet, and a few have incorporated the network concept. The reason this is so important is, rather than providing only linear income, where income stops when you stop, affiliate programs and internet marketing leave renewal income which you get even if on vacation or sick or asleep!
Here are some other important reasons why you should never work for an employer. These are the actions that literally torpedo millions of hard working people at the most vulnerable time of their life. All companies, large and small, are biased against their employees. The older and more experienced they are, the more likely they will be to have their jobs terminated! Older people are often in charge of organizations because they pay attention to matters important to the corporate culture. They share age and experience bias, even though they are part of the group. The CEOs and Human Resource people are just plain GREEDY! They’re looking after their own skins! They have stock options; you DON’T!

Some organization issues that skew bias against older workers with more experience are:
1. Older workers are less willing to accept any whim of management. Young ones don't know any better.
2. Age, length of service and experience are threats to costs. The longer they work for a company, the more likely they are to become eligible for pension plans and entitled to more vacation time and other perks; and statistically they often use more medical benefits.
3. The longer people have been in the work force, the more they earn. This causes employers to look for ways to replace older workers with cheaper ones. All this begins to happen just when kids are going to college, when you just bought your "dream" house and when aches and pains begin. Employers are certainly not going to hire costly experienced people like they just got rid of!
All this means that when it happens, you WON’T be able to find any kind of job you want or that pays you enough. Probably you’ll try it with two or three jobs, have no time for important things, and break your health doing it! My advice to everyone, of any age, is: don't become involved in working for someone else, ever! Many of you are already working for someone else. Now is the time to prepare to break away and get your life back! There are many ways to make a living without having a real job.

Go out on a limb. Stop worrying about how to make money for someone else. Find something you like to do that people will pay for and make your own way. With the Internet, it's easier than ever, and it’s possible for anyone to do! You really don’t need a lot of money to get started in a sideline business. Forget the Corporate Culture. Every single company out there would like for you to give them every moment of your entire life for free! That's a fact. They only grudgingly pay because they have to. Don't put up with this! PAY YOURSELF! Get out of your comfort zone before you are thrown out, and reclaim your life. Then you can just quit instead of getting forced out.
Entrepreneurial Democracy is getting more attention as a concept, and it is much easier to do. Free agents work at whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it, and they serve only the customers or clients they choose. We discussed employees having to treat their customers in a manner they, themselves, would not like. This is what Karl Marx called “alienation,” separating who workers are from what they do. He warned laborers, “You are not you anymore, comrade.” But the new free agency does away with this dilemma, which is probably the result of the Calvinist work doctrine of self-denial. The new work ethic requires self-expression which transforms working people back into their real selves.

Self-expression is now available to all. The Internet, with its knowledge highway, has broken many formerly rigid manufacturing operations into segments that can be managed by individuals or small groups, like finding sources, providing information on uses, catalogs, and easy ways to order, as well as continuous customer service. The circle has come all the way around from Alienation to Digital Marxism (Daniel Pink’s term) where workers own the entire means of production and are able to carry it with them wherever they may go.
There are still going to be employees who don’t want the responsibility of working for themselves. They don’t want to make decisions about what they should do because they have always been told to do what others tell them. Probably this will never completely change; my hope is they, and all workers including professionals, will at least try a little sideline venture.
Show the world what Entrepreneurial Democracy is!