The poster in this post has been going around for quite a while. What do you think of it? If you have shared this poster in your blog posts or social media accounts, does it represent what you believe in?

At first sight, it seems good. Do what others won’t do. Step out of your comfort zone. Don’t follow others, blaze a trail for others to follow. Speaking of trailblazing, if your manner of life is not to follow trails, why should someone else follow YOUR trail? Shouldn’t you then just make your way through life but leave no trail except perhaps a warm, lingering fragrance to let people know you’ve been there? Or perhaps others should follow your trail for a season, after which they ought to be blazing their own?

The whole focus of the poster has nothing at all to do with entrepreneurship, which is largely defined as undertaking a business with rather more risk than other occupations might entail. It is characterized by a spirit of daring and a can-do attitude. However, the potential gains outweigh the risks involved. This implies that entrepreneurship is meant to benefit others and not the entrepreneur per se. In other words, is the focus of the venture to enrich oneself or to enrich others all round? If the venture goes to a less developed region of the planet, do the locals benefit from the venture as well? Many of you reading this would say “Of course!”. I hope so. You need to answer the question yourself.

Focus on others. Not My Entrepreneurship. Magnanimous Enterprise instead.