"I know most employers don't think it's their job to make the people who work for them happy," says Scheer. "But I think they’re missing the boat. When the people who work for you are happy, they're better, more productive workers. It all goes together."
It also creates a healthier, more collaborative environment. Revealing a refreshing change of pace, Scheer recently called a meeting of her entire staff to discuss "how we can better serve each other." She asked all 20 of her employees to rewrite their own job descriptions to reflect what they think they're really "brilliant at." Why? Because she wants them to think more deeply about what they do best. If possible, she's going to harness those talents for the benefit of her clients and her company.
While many entrepreneurs are driven by a desire to make money (and lots of it), she feels a compelling need for community. She's dedicated herself to offering a safe, caring environment that allows individuals to develop their full potential. Her philosophy is reminiscent of a wonderful T.S. Eliot quote:
When the stranger says: "What is the meaning of this city? Do you huddle together because you love one another?" What will you answer? "We all dwell together to make money from each other," or "This is a community"?
That's the wonderful thing about deciding to become an entrepreneur. If you don't like the people you work with and for, you can change those dynamics by selecting yourself to be your own boss and hiring people you respect and admire to work for you. Would you call that self-empowerment or self-employment?
Starting Small
Many entrepreneurs are high-stakes players unafraid of taking big risks. However, this doesn't mean that you can't start small. If you think you might have an entrepreneurial spirit lurking in your psyche, you can experiment with ideas and supplement your income by showing a little resourcefulness and ingenuity.
When I was a kid, my mom had a million ideas for low-capital businesses that she ran out of our house. At various times, she recruited and placed temporary summer help in suburban homes, planned weddings and parties and sold genuine jewelry at highly discounted prices. This last idea was her real brainchild, and created a small business that's supplemented the family income for more than 20 years.
The inspiration came to her while she was sitting under the dryer at a local beauty salon marveling at how much idle time, money and chatter surrounded her. Before you could say, "I’ve-got-a-great-idea-for-a-new-business," she'd lined up a slew of wholesale jewelers to lend her merchandise on consignment, negotiated permission from local salons to let her set up shop in side from time to time, printed business cards and declared herself a jeweler. Over the years, the idea has even been copied by others.
While her business stayed small, you can choose to grow yours bigger. Many a successful company started out as a seedling in someone's kitchen, living room or basement. When the Hopmayers started baking scones for Chicago-area grocery and department stores, they were operating from the basement of their Wilmette, Illinois, home. They hired their 22-year-old son Jeffrey to help them bake and learn the business. Original American Scones may have been a hobby to his parents, but the ambitious younger Hopmayer saw his future in that little company. While no one imagined that he could actually run a successful manufacturing company from the basement of a suburban home, Jeffrey Hopmayer exercised remarkable flexibility and resourcefulness, pressing bathroom scales, laundry sinks and neighborhood kids with bikes into service.
Eventually, Original American Scones outgrew its rec-room roots and moved into larger quarters. In the process, though, Jeffrey Hopmayer developed it into a $93 million business with national distribution.
While entrepreneurs like him are obviously exceptions to the written rules of success, they're also proof positive that given the right idea, the right time and the right inclinations, the sky really is the limit.
