In the beginning we were a nation of adventurers willing to strike out into the unknown and take chances on an uncertain future with dreams of prosperity if not for ourselves for our children. This came naturally to us: our parents and grandparents risked death on the high seas crammed into the wooden bowels of barely ocean worthy craft all for the dream of a better life away from the rigid class structures of Europe. They were of a different sort or breed compared with those who stayed behind. They were adventurers who were willing to take big risks, even facing death, on the hope of future rewards even of those rewards were uncertain, improbable or even unknown.
Our forefathers and mothers moved West in search of a better life. And as it is with all who strike out from the comfortable and familiar, many failed. But some succeeded. Collectively, they built new towns, cities and states and created wealth and prosperity where there was none before.
In the East, a merchant class arose following in the footsteps of renegade entrepreneurs like John Hancock who helped free the nation from rigid and stifling constraints of stuffy old England. Our eastern cities began to rival those of Europe and a new class was created: a large and prosperous middle class.
Entrepreneurship exploded in this country around the turn of the last century when the industrial revolution spurred the creation of giant corporations. And we invited in the people of the world who were fleeing economic desperation and political strife in their homelands. The immigrants didn’t just work for the corporations, they started new businesses: restaurants, ethnic delis, service stations and so many others that served the growing populace. My grandfather was among them: he left Germany in the nineteen twenties. He started and nursery lost it and started another business. I vaguely remember him and several of his employees plying into a landscaping truck filled with rakes, lawn mowers and shovels off to preen the manicured lawns of long island.
Our forefathers, these immigrants, pioneers, refugees, ultimately succeeded in creating a better life, not only for themselves for us as well.
And along the way in the last sixty or seventy years as we have revelled in our prosperity, we have largely lost it: the drive, determination, grit and tolerance for uncertainty that propelled us here. We go to college, get a degree and hope to find employment at a large corporation that will pay us well and give us a nice benefits package. If we get laid off, we look to the government for an unemployment check. Most of us don’t even know how to be self sufficient. To be fair, our technologically complex society has at least something to do with it: many of us have specialized professions that do not easy translate into a skill or vocation outside of bureaucratic company or the government.
Which brings us to my point: solving our countries economic problems and well, the lemonade stand. Over the past couple of weekends my kids (9 year old twins) set up a lemonade stand and sold the yellow elixir to thirsty Parade of Homes passersby. They learned the thrill of running their own business and having people buy and enjoy their wares. They learned about the cost of raw materials and pricing their product to make a profit. They learned about sitting around and persevering during the slow times waiting and hoping for busy times. And they learned how to make money apart from a wage handed down from an employer. For a brief few hours they were self-employed.
So how does all this help the economy? The way we grow our economy and as a society depend on our ability to innovate and move forward. And for this we need people who think outside of the box and our willing to risk failure for the reward of self determination. In the fifteenth century, they were called explorers; in the sixteenth and seventeenth century they were called colonists; in the eighteenth century, they were pioneers; and for the last hundred years we have known them as entrepreneurs. Perhaps the lemonade stand will help my kids realize that they do not need the safety of a regular paycheck to survive and prosper but that all they need is a belief in themselves and their abilities. And it is never too late for all of us to realize these lessons.
Perhaps among those that will read this blog post are future innovators who will create products the rest of us are not aware yet aware that we need or want. Perhaps among those who will read this blog post are the future employers of thousands. Perhaps among those who will read this post are those that will help ensure future of this nation’s continued prosperity. And perhaps for some the journey began when they were young and got their first taste of entrepreneurship running a simple neighbourhood lemonade stand.
