Do you feel like a Businessman?
For the most part, I don’t. Most days I just feel like I’m doing a job, tomorrow I’ll do a job, and the day after that. My clients sometimes feel more like business acquaintences, and many of them have been. And that’s not a bad thing, not in my book, because I think accomplishment is proportional to communication, and close client relationships lend to better communication.
But these days, more and more clients are not former business acquaintances. And occasionally things happen where I really do feel like a businessman. A couple of weeks ago I spent all of one day, and much of the next, working entirely on proposals. That felt very businesslike, probably because it has so little to do with my normal web projects.
Today, a fairly normal meeting led to a fairly unusual revelation. Three of us were sitting there, going over an outline for a new website. It was put together by the client, and it turned out to be one of those cases where the professional has been in their industry for so long they have forgotten what is and what isn’t obvious to an outsider — and what just plain does not make sense. Much of this outline was of the latter category. We were sitting there scratching our heads and the fellow in contact with the client finally decides he will give them a call tomorrow morning to discuss it. He says, “This has to be put in a way that’s easier to understand. I’m a business owner and I don’t understand it, David’s a business owner and he doesn’t understand it, Chris is a former business owner, and she doesn’t understand it….”
Later on I was thinking back to my inner reactions to that statement. I admit, my first thought was, “Whew, I’m glad he thinks of me as a business owner.”* This guy was one of those former business aquaintences. I’ve always wondered, does he consider me more peer or more former-employee? Now I know! But my second thought was key: “Hey, I am a business owner!”
And yeah. Heck yeah! I am a business owner! Not only that, but our company keeps doing better and better (for the most part!), so I must be doing something relatively right.
So now, although I must go back to my overflowing workpile now, I do so with a slightly different attitude. As a business owner.