My Thoughts On Enterprising

In my participation of the business world, it is evident that while money does not buy happiness it does aid in the reduction of financial stress. Such a reduction in stress, as reported by a study conducted by the Urban Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University examining the complex links between health and wealth, contributes to overall better well-being, and therefore a greater quality of living. Similar conclusions follow in my interactions with various folks along all fences of the socio-demographic spectrum. Though in my observations, I discovered certain factors more powerful in contributing to this reduction of financial stress than others, and most notably that these individuals’ path to financial success are less connected to the quantity of income, but more so to the stability derived from recurring income.

I can describe these paths to success as three distinct modes of financial autonomy. Of course, in either mode the beneficiary is subject to outside factors which I suggest to be equally hazardous for either of these three modes.

The first: a low-skill hourly wage job. Such an occupation provides the worker with a certainty of labor, as an abound of availability of such jobs exists in any normal economy. An example of such labor could consist of anything from a cashier to a sales clerk — anything in which required skills for such a position are low.

The second, to which allows the worker to climb outside of the trenches of poor economic circumstances, allows the laborer to leverage any specialized skill or education to warrant a higher income. Though in this circumstance, the income is capped by the determination of the employer and even in any circumstance does not allow the skilled laborer to advance very far — that is, of course, other than in exceptional circumstances.

The third mode, which distincts itself from the triage of the previous two, allows the laborer to leverage his own skills to create a stream of income which can potential surpass that which is capped in the definition of the previous two modes. In the case of this third mode, however, there are two distinct categories: one which is created by a specialization of skill, and the second of which is created by an enterprising of strategy. Although the two are not mutual exclusive, I note that in my experiences in meeting professionals in these categories that those entering the third mode through a skill tend to focus to a degree of diminishing returns on building a stream of income around their expertise. Such is the case with specialized lawyers, consultants, software engineers, etc. The guarantee of income in this splice of the third mode is made possible by the specialization and experience often unique to these individuals. So much as this segmentation of labor among the third mode exists equally the other splice whereby income streams are created by enterprising. In this division, the guarantee of income is only defined by the strategy of the enterpriser, his assessment of the market needs, and his ability to service that market. If these three variable are miscalculated the guarantee of income may be low — I suggest that it may not be none, as the enterprising individual will quickly pursue a different route. If the assessment of these variables are inline with open market needs, an enterprising individual may see great and consistent recurring income in return for his services.

The final effect of the establishment of the final mode is the ability to leverage those willing to participate in an enterprise in the position of the first or second mode of my definitions. If the enterprising individual can efficiently leverage the contributions of a first or second mode worker, he can provide financial stability to that worker while potentially granting himself a return far great, of exponential multitude, to the salary cost of the worker. Furthermore, of a savvy enterprising individual, if the worker is positioned to run or manage all aspects of the enterprise’s production line — to whatever degree that may entail — the proprietor of such an enterprise can enjoy autonomous guaranteed income as long as the mode one or mode two worker put in command of the production line continuous to perform as expected without mutiny or intentional disruption to the success of the enterprise.

My final note in further discussion of enterprising, the proprietor left with a large passive income, of course only in the case where his expenditures are modest in respect to his income, the enterprising individual can then leverage his income to employ more mode one and two workers. Such a strategy can be used to expand his current enterprise or as an investment to establish a new revenue stream. In the case that the enterprising individual is successful in establishing a second revenue stream, and has fully understood the process of creating a new revenue stream through the autonomy of employing mode one or two workers, he earns a new title: an entrepreneur.