Today’s Innovators
Many of today’s business “gurus” and investors do not consider a person an entrepreneur—nor their business a startup—unless they have a high-tech product. Business web sites, blogs, and ezines all seem to promote high-tech as the primary means to innovative salvation of America’s economy.
That’s a shame because with more and more U.S. high-tech being outsourced to other countries, it is now more important than ever that we acknowledge and support the “real” startups—those that do not involve high-tech products. Of the over six million new businesses started each year, only a handful of them are considered high-tech, yet they are the ones that attract the attention of investors, the government, and the media. Very few people acknowledge that the remainder of the six million even exist.
Take for example, Annie Haven, who started her business in 2005 and has steadily grown 30 percent a year ever since…with customers as far away as Spain and Singapore. And what is Annie’s business? She sells dried cow manure on the Internet.
Annie grew up on a cattle ranch and developed a process for drying cow manure and packaging it in 3 inch by 5 inch “tea” bags. The “tea” bags can then be steeped in 5 gallons of water to make liquid fertilizer for plants and gardens. Since the cattle are free range and eat only organic food, the fertilizer is also organic—and all natural.
To me, that is pure innovation…good old-fashioned American ingenuity…and we need to encourage and support more people like Annie Haven. Whether through the media, private investors, or the government, more attention needs to be paid to the “simple” innovations and creations that are being carried out every day by totally unknown and out-of-the-spotlight people.
My hat is off to Annie, and all the many unsung innovative entrepreneurs around the world.
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It is Never Too Late
Sometimes we don’t realize our true potential until we get a bit older. I have always appreciated the wisdom and capabilities of the older generation—we can all learn much if we just listen. So, today I am combining the recent success of an older person with the success of one of my favorite entrepreneurs, Mark Johnson.
Here’s what I mean:
If that is not inspiration enough, check out Mark Johnson’s interview on the Bill Moyers Journal show.
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Small Business for Real
If you want to see small business at its finest—check out this video.
(email subscribers, view on my blog)
Notice the passions this business owner has—he loves his business, he loves his customers, he supports other small businesses, he tries to stay away from unhealthy products, he rejects unhealthy packaging, he is passionate about the environment (and points out the hypocrisy of governmental environmental rules)…and on and on. This entrepreneur could be the poster boy for small business.
How well do you fit this standard?
Don’t Miss This!
During the month of August, PBS stations around the nation will be featuring the “Playing for Change” feature film, Peace Through Music.
We are honored to finally share this film with you, as it embodies four years of traveling the world and discovering the power of the human spirit. —-Mark Johnson
Here is a brief movie trailer of this film (email—view on blog).
For a schedule of when the film will be aired on a PBS station in your area, click here.
Playing For Change: Peace Through Music is a story of hope, struggle, perseverance and joy. Directors Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls, along with the Playing For Change team, traveled the globe with a single minded passion to connect the world through music. Their ambitious journey took them from post-apartheid South Africa, through the ancient sites of the Middle East, to the remote beauty of the Himalayas and beyond. Using innovative mobile technology, they filmed and recorded more than 100 musicians, largely outdoors in parks, plazas and promenades, in doorways, on cobblestone streets and amid hilly pueblos. Each captured performance creates a new mix in which essentially the artists are all performing together, albeit hundreds or thousands of miles apart. Playing For Change: Peace Through Music is the story of this unparalleled international musical collaboration and its remarkable power of redemption. (From the Playing For Change web site.)
Old Guys Rule
Considering that we live in a youth oriented society, I always enjoy reading about an older person successfully pursuing their chosen profession. For example: I recently read about David Pelham, the Science Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. David is 90 years old, and refuses to slow down. He says he learns something new with every article he writes.
Pelham’s passion for pursuing a news story hasn’t slowed down one bit. He spent two weeks in the Ethiopian desert following fossil hunters around. He does say of this trip, “That was when I was younger…three years ago.”
Hats off to the David Pelhams of the world. I think we could use a little “wisdom-of-the-elders” right about now.
Person of the Week
Earlier tonight ABC Evening News with Charlie Gibson presented their “Person of the Week.” Here they featured one of my favorite entrepreneurs, Mark Johnson, with some of the Playing for Change folks. If you have read some of my earlier posts, you know that I have held Mark up as an example of the qualities that entrepreneurs should strive for. To see what I mean, take a look at an interview with Mark on the Bill Moyers Journal.
(email subscribers—view on my blog)
Obsession, passion, perseverance, capabilities—these are the necessary traits of a successful entrepreneur. We can all take a lesson from Mark Johnson.
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