By Jack Faris
Who is Henry Ford? Why do they call it Disneyland? What did Mary Kay do?
Virtually everyone knows that these dreamers turned their ideas into realities through good, old-fashioned entrepreneurship. We marvel at the rags-to-riches stories of those who started with only a dream and created enterprises that eventually became household names.
As Americans, we take pride in honoring our fellow citizens whose innovations make our lives fuller and easier. Take Henry Ford, for example. His motivation wasn’t fame and money. He liked repairing and creating mechanical things. He failed twice before his little car company started to roll.
For every Henry Ford, Walt Disney or Mary Kay Ash, there are millions of successful American entrepreneurs who have never been featured on “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” or profiled in Fortune magazine. What’s more, many of these busy business owners have neither the time nor the desire to be spotlighted for their achievements. They’re content in their pursuit of the American dream. Simply being an entrepreneur, seeing an idea materialize into an enterprise that provides a much-needed good or service that customers are willing to pay for is enough. The personal pride that comes with providing life-sustaining employment for others is all the satisfaction they seek.
Right now, all across America, another generation is preparing to test its entrepreneurial wings. As a new year begins, millions of high-school seniors are hard at work researching how to finance their higher education. Many of them share common ground with those who have already taken the small-business leap of faith: they have a dream to own their own business.
The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation, is determined to make this dream a reality by providing 350 students with $1,000 non-renewable Free Enterprise Scholars Awards they can use to attend the college, vocational or technical school of their choice. It’s a way to raise awareness among young people of the critical role of private enterprise and entrepreneurship in the American way of life. The scholarships will be presented next May. (Details and application at www.NFIB.com/page/EducationFoundation.)
A recent conference report entitled “Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century,” by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, noted in its research that an overwhelming majority of college students desire to be entrepreneurs at some point during their academic careers. Additionally, people with higher levels of education are more likely to choose the path of entrepreneurship and they are more likely to start a business with more employees. “Classrooms,” the report stated, “are filled with innovators. The key is to provide the necessary skills that will allow them to foster these talents and start new businesses.”
For the majority of America’s entrepreneurs, the realization of their dreams is greater motivation than wealth or fame. By making this investment in the education of tomorrow’s risk takers, the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation is helping them build on their interest in business and possibly setting them on the track to be successful, life-long entrepreneurs.
–Jack Faris is president of NFIB (the National Federation of Independent Business), the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group. A non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. More information is available on-line at www.NFIB.com.
