A lot of people shy away from entrepreneurship because they believe it’s risky.  This perception results from a mentality that reinforces the notion that a good education, a job with a good salary, investment in a 401(K), and retirement at age 65 all lead to a safe and secure financial position. 

For a variety of reasons, however, that path isn’t safe and is, in fact, more risky than being an entrepreneur.  Yet people think the opposite is true.  This thought process is a function of one’s mindset.  Some of us grasp an entrepreneurial mentality at a young age.  Others–indeed, the majority of people–don’t recognize this mentality early on and, instead, learn how to be employees.  Only a small group of individuals with employee mentalities learn and strive, later on in life, to attain the entrepreneurial mindset.

I want to illustrate this distinction (between grasping entrepreneurship early on in life and settling for being an employee) with a story. 

A few months ago, I was doing some work on the landscaping in front of my house.  Three boys approached me, one of whom was on a bicycle.  The boy on the bike seemed to be about 11 or 12 years old, while the other two boys were younger, probably around 8 or 9.  The older boy offered to have my car washed for $15.  I thought about it, and I said, “sure.”  I figured that I work 50-60 hours per week, and I don’t have time to clean my car on a regular basis.  $15 was a good price, and it made sense. 

The older buy told me that they would wash the car outside the younger boys’ house, which was down the street and around the corner.  I drove my car over there, parked it in the driveway, and I walked back to my house.  The older boy told me they would take about 30 minutes to wash the car.  $15 to have three kids wash my car seemed more and more like a good idea. 

I returned in about half an hour to pick up my car and pay them for their work.  As I rounded the corner, and my car came into view, I saw a peculiar sight.  The older boy was sitting on his bike, and the two younger boys were feverishly drying the car with towels.  As I got closer, I noticed that the younger boys were sweating from the hard work of washing the car.  (It was a very hot South Florida summer day.)  Meanwhile, the older boy had not broken a sweat.  He seemed to be guiding and instructing the two younger ones.  It was almost as if he was the boss, and the younger boys were his employees.  When I paid the $15, it was the older boy who reached out and grabbed the money.  I surveyed my car (on which they did a good job), thanked them for washing it, and I drove back to my house.

Then it hit me.

Here it was, at its most fundamental level, the difference between entrepreneurs and employees.  This was a classic business model.

That day, the older boy started a business.  He recruited the younger boys to help him in this car-washing venture.  He was the owner and boss of the business, and the younger boys were his employees. 

The older boy searched for customers.  When he approached me in front of my house, the older boy–not the younger ones–did all the talking.  In other words, he charged himself with bringing in business that provided the work for his employees and the revenue from which to pay his employees. 

He handed down orders instructing them how to wash the cars while he supervised their efforts from his office (his bike). 

He received and processed payment for their work (my $15).   He then paid them wages (maybe $4 each per car), and retained the rest as profit for himself (the remaining $7 per car).

If the older boy had recruited 3 or 4 more boys to help him out, this small one-time business could have been more lucrative for him.

The older boy clearly understood that he could make a lot of money by being a business owner.  He understood the value of coming up with an idea and building it to fruition.  Moreover, he realized that the way to make the most money was by leveraging his resources (employees) to maximize the potential of his car-washing idea.  

It was amazing that, at his young age of 11 or 12, he understood this valuable concept about wealth creation.  He may not have realized the impact of his understanding.  But I was positive that, as he grew older, he would recognize more substantively the value of his mindset.  He won’t be the college student interviewing for jobs at big companies.  Instead, he will be the college student locked up in his dorm room working on a website for his startup online business.  He will be the prototypical entrepreneur. 

The two younger boys didn’t see this distinction.  They thought it was a great idea to get paid to wash cars and couldn’t see beyond that level.  That is the mindset of an employee, not an entrepreneur.  (I want to note that there is nothing wrong with that.  My intention is not to offend employees, especially if you have prestigious company jobs with large salaries and great benefits.  If that is what makes you happy, that is fine.  We should all strive to do what makes us happy.)  

I think it’s important to point out that a choice does exist because most employees often don’t see it.  You don’t have to be an employee.  Instead of working for someone else, you can find your own passion and your own niche and work for yourself.  With time, you can even have people working for you and helping you build your business. 

If you don’t understand this entrepreneurial mentality, it is never too late to adapt your mind by learning about it.  It is as simple as the story above.  The best book on the subject and on the distinction between employees and entrepreneurs is Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money–That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!. 

When you think about it, why would you want to wash cars for the rest of your life? 

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