|
|
|
|
"Burns' Business Builder" - Beyond the Box I have been up since 5 am so I should be really exhausted. It is now 2 am the next day and I just can't sleep. My heart is racing with anxious thoughts. Why? I have just witnessed the best documentary film that I have ever seen. Incredible work by two creative geniuses. Have you ever watched a documentary feature and wondered when it would get to the main point or whether it had a point at all? Have you sat there in amazement as Michael Moore spues out another "attack" on corporate america that seethes of one-sided, totally biased journalism? If so, you will find the documentary INDEPENDENT AMERICA - THE TWO LANE SEARCH FOR MOM & POP (www.independentamerica.net) by the award winning team of Hanson Hosein and Heather Hughes to be stunningly refreshing. No biased journalism here but rather a balanced viewpoint on a complex issue. Others have written about this film and profiled Hanson and Heather. Rather than repeating what they have said, here is my personal perspective on what the film means to me. As I sat at the World Premier of this documentary on Monday night with my oldest daughter Brittany, I was, to say the least, very emotional. Tear ran down my face throughout. Why would a grown man be crying at the release of a documentary film that challenges the Big Box store concept, whether the American Dream is still alive and how community leaders, business owners and individual consumers should respond? Before we moved here Corporate America owned me. I worked all day and all night to finish consulting projects that sacrificed my health and my family life. I was only home for 24 hours a week, deferred vacations and made all of those sacrifices to progress my career. Corporate America was sucking the life blood out of me. As Michael Gerber outlines in his book entitled "The E-Myth - Why Most Small Businesses Fail and What to Do About It", I had an entrepreneurial seizure over eight years ago. The seizure was caused by a wild and crazy idea that just wouldn't stop - why not move to Kelowna and create a new business and a new life? The film reaffirmed for me why became an entrepreneur in the first place. I don't have aspirations to make a tonne of money and then retire. Rather, I wanted to create a different life for our family, for my wife Angela and our three children Brittany (14), Brianne (12) and Joshua (8). To do this, I needed to act boldly. Moving to Kelowna, without any family ties here, with three children and a dream of creating a business out of nothing, was ambitious to say the least. While my businesses are not everything that I would like them to be and I wish that Angela's health were better and our lives more balanced, I can honestly say that my business has provided me the freedom to be independent. I can choose to support Angela in her allergy fight. I can choose to coach my son's soccer and basketball teams, support my daughters in developing their skills in basketball, soccer and hockey, encourage Brittany to write her first fiction book and encourage each of our them to be independent - to develop their own unique gifts, talents, skills and abilities to serve others. I can choose to give back to my community by being fully engaged - choices that I did not have before moving to Kelowna to start my own consulting and accounting businesses. Although it was the dean of Corporate America, Jack Welch, former CEO/Chairman of GE, that said, "Choose your own destiny or someone else will", he was right. I sincerely appreciate Hanson and Heather taking the huge risk to step out as entrepreneurs to launch this though provoking film. They are practicing what they preach and I am confident that they will be rewarded for it. The film challenged me and I, in turn, challenge you. Firstly, you absolutely need to see this film. Go to www.independentamerica.net to find out more. Secondly, you need to think hard about how you spend your money. The Okanagan Valley is fiercely entrepreneurial and we need to support our local Mom & Pop businesses. This film will challenge you to reconsider your unbridled support of the Big Box Store concept and to accept personal responsibility to spend your hard earned cash with your local independent business owner that reinvests their time, energy and dollars back into your community. From my perspective, you will be hard pressed to find a better return on your investment. Thirdly, I too encourage every local politician to see this movie prior to the November 19th election. As we continue to pave parking lots for Big Box stores and watch developments replace the ALR, this film will challenge our local politician's to rethink their approach. Fourthly, if you are not an entrepreneur now, stop to seriously consider this option. We need more entrepreneurs in this Valley that will continue to not only cast the vision for our future, but help to actually create it. Perhaps that person is you. Why not do what Hanson and Heather have done - step out and declare your independence. Start your own Mom & Pop business and never look back. Lastly, thank you Hanson and Heather for creating such an awe inspiring film and for challenging the status quo. You truly are an inspiration to every entrepreneur out there with a crazy idea, a dream of independence and a gut feel that it will work. Keep up the great work! We look forward to your next documentary. Steve Burns, CA, CMC, CFP is the President and CEO of Burns Innovation Group Inc. and Steve Burns Inc. Chartered Accountant, which provide innovative consulting and accounting services to Okanagan entrepreneurs. Steve can be reached at 763-4716, via email at steve@burnsinnovation.com or steve@steveburns.ca |
|
Copyright © 2005. Steve Burns Inc. Chartered Accountant. All rights Reserved. |
