Hunting in a Farmer s World John Dini

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1 Hunting in a Farmer s World John Dini Why read this book? "If you want to know what makes an entrepreneur, what entrepreneurs do, what they don't do, whether you're wasting your time and money posing as one, or if you actually possess the primordial "hunter" DNA to be one, congratulations... you've come to the right place. In classic, no nonsense fashion, John F. Dini lays all of it out so you can determine whether to take the entrepreneurial road less traveled and go against the odds, or start working on your farmer resume." -Jim Blasingame, Host of The Small Business Advocate Show Key Quotes All men (and women) are created equal, but that doesn t mean that they are all the same. Entrepreneurs are different. Small business owners make up 3% of America s population, but they create two-thirds of the new jobs in our economy. They are hunters, and hunters have provided for others for thousands of years. For thousands of years, hunters brought in the food. Other people skinned it and cooked it. You can be certain of one thing: there would not be more to eat if the hunters were busy skinning and cooking. That s why there are so few entrepreneurs, and so many folks employed by them. Big business is a mirror of the society in which it operates. Big business is farming. Small business is hunting. The problem with most business advice for small business owners is that it tells them to run their companies like big businesses. Small companies mirror the personality of their owners. Successful salespeople are employed hunters. Promotion to sales manager frequently ruins a great hunter A good manager is always a leader. A leader is not always a good manager. Most entrepreneurs prefer building new things to running the day-to-day operations. If you are a business owner, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you are your own boss. The bad news is you have a lousy boss. There is one huge downside to being an entrepreneur- you can t quit. BLUE SKY LEADERSHIP CONSULTING PETER@BLUESKYLEADERSHIP.COM Blue Sky Leadership Consulting works with organizations to leverage Strategic Thinking and Execution Planning and we encompass many of the principles in these books into our Four Decisions TM methodology and development of company s One Page Strategic Plans. Need to grow top line revenue? Improve bottom-line profits? Build accountable and trusting teams? Improve cash flow? Develop leadership team members? Contact us for a free consultation Copyright 2017 Blue Sky Leadership Consulting All rights reserved

2 Hunting in a Farmer s World This book contrasts entrepreneurship (hunting) and management (farming). Most business books are written by, for and about farming. This book is written by a hunter and is primarily for hunters. Let s begin by looking at some definitions: en tre pre neurˌ(äntrəprəˈnər) a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so. ( ; < French: literally, one who undertakes (some task), equivalent to entrepren (dre) to undertake) management, [man-ij-muh nt] the act or manner of managing; handling, direction, or control of a business, institution, etc. ( ; earlier manege < Italian maneggiare to handle, train (horses), derivative of mano < Latin manus hand) To paraphrase William Shakespeare, some people are born hunters, some achieve huntership, and other become hunters because it is thrust upon them Part I: On Being a Hunter Four types of hunters: 1. Technicians 2. Inheritors 3. Acquirers 4. Creators Technicians- the basic entrepreneur, he learned a job, then he began to think, If I know how to do this, I could do it for myself. Many professionals start businesses this way- lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, etc. Inheritors- former employees who find themselves owning a business. The inheritor may be a family member of the owner, bust just as frequently is a long-time employee who assumes ownership from a retiring founder. Acquirers- business owners who purchased their businesses. They buy an existing business from another entrepreneur. They often believe they can run the business better than the previous owner. Creators- the entrepreneur s entrepreneur. They begin their business from scratch. They hunt from the outset; for investment capital, resources, talent and markets. If you are a business owner, you most likely see yourself in one or more of these hunter profiles. If you aren t an owner, the observations in this book are also applicable to anyone who wants to be a successful hunter in business. B o o k R e v i e w : H u n t i n g i n a F a r m e r s W o r l d P a g e 2 5

3 Not all successful business owners are hunters. Some owners build or assume companies with well-developed systems and processes, and refine those incrementally for greater success. Most employees are farmers, but plenty of employee-hunters are vital contributors in organizations that can utilize them properly. Most top salespeople are hunters who choose to leave the details of anything but sales to others. Other hunters may be project, division or branch managers. Most jobs that include a material portion of compensation based on performance are attractive to hunters. Traits of hunters: Creativity- Hunters solve problems. They look at every situation as a puzzle that has an answer. Failure means they simply haven t found the right answer yet. Hunters don t defend failing solutions, they believe that a solution always exists if they had enough time and resources. Tenacity- Things don t always work on the first try, in fact, sometimes they don t work on the twenty-first try. There are many successful businesses that should have failed, but through sheer tenacity, their owners kept them alive until they learned how to make it successful. Third Eye- The ability to navigate in the fog. This is different than mere vision, its knowing how to keep moving in the right direction when you don t have a compass and there aren t any signposts. Hunters know when to listen to others and when to ignore them. Prehistoric tribes would not have grown into societies if they had solely relied on the hunters skills. Farmers added the dependability of a steady food supply that the tribe could count on season after season. Hunters aren t perfect It is possible to evince all three traits of a successful entrepreneur and still be bad at running a business. Sometimes its just bad luck, but there are times a hunter fails because he is so good at all three traits. A substantial part of what drives hunters is the thrill of accomplishment. Solving problems can be an adrenalin rush and hunters can become addicted to it. Without realizing it entrepreneurs may train employees to depend on their ability to answer all the questions. They become the bottleneck and stifle business growth. A business cannot grow and thrive to a sustainable level if it is solely dependent on its leader s role as a hunter. The farming skills: management, measurement, tracking, and review really are critical to maintain a healthy organization. They just shouldn t be done by the hunters. Business owners often never get around to writing their own job description. Their day is dictated by whatever is necessary for the business to function that day. Until the owner defines his role its impossible to define the duties of the farmers who work around them. B o o k R e v i e w : H u n t i n g i n a F a r m e r s W o r l d P a g e 3 5

4 If you are a hunter, celebrate it! Hunters are different and have always been a small minority of the population. There are over 180 million working adults in the United States and approximately 9 million small business owner. Part II: The Hunter Organization Rise of the Farmers Managing Without Farming Leading Hunters Managing Farmers Dealing with Yourself Hiring isn t Adoption Part III: The Successful Hunter Defining Success Lifestyle vs. Legacy Going the Distance Rocks in the Road Success Now What? New Hunting Grounds The Next Step Epilogue: The Oldest Wish in the World Good hunting! B o o k R e v i e w : H u n t i n g i n a F a r m e r s W o r l d P a g e 4 5

5 Our Faculty Peter Braeuler Mark Wittig Malcolm Coon Robert Schmidt Judy Zimmerman Andrew Wittig 2017 Calendar UTSA EMBA Alumni 7:30 8:45 Houston Wittigs 11:30 1:00 San Antonio Wittigs 8:00 9:30 AM Future Crimes Jan 6 Jan 26 Jan 27 Then Inevitable: 12 tech forces shape future Feb 3 Feb 23 Feb 24 Hunting in a Farmers World Mar 3 Mar 23 Mar 24 Grit: The power of passion and perseverance Apr 7 Apr 27 Apr 21 EntreLeadership May 5 May 25 May 26 Secrets of the Millionaire Mind Jun 2 Jun 22 Jun 23 Procrastinate on Purpose Jul 7 Jul 27 Jul 28 Daring Greatly Aug 4 Aug 24 Aug 25 Better than Before: What I learned about my Sep 8 Sep 21 Sep 22 bad habits Ego is the Enemy Oct 6 Oct 26 Oct 27 Leaders Eat Last Nov 3 Nov 16 Nov 17 Winning Dec 1 Dec 14 Dec 15 Copyright 2017 Blue Sky Leadership Consulting All rights reserved