Chapter 9: The Lure and Illusion of Entrepreneurship

Under Capitalist paradigms, the pyramidal economic power structure ensures that, with extremely few exceptions, the only way to secure one’s access to life, liberty, resources, necessities, respect and the pursuit of happiness from imminent threat of cancellation is to invest large sums of money. It is almost, but not quite, impossible to do this through wages for one’s productivity. Just enough individuals “make it” to keep the “anybody can make it with enough hard work,” “Rags to Riches” myth alive.

Except for the modern feudal lords at the top of the pyramid, most people work for sub, barely, or just-over-living wages. Our very right to eat or occupy space is constantly in jeopardy; so naturally some of us hope to “get ahead” by starting a business, being one’s own boss. Sadly, around 95% of new small businesses survive for five years, and most end up yielding little better results than a typical low-paying job.

For all of us who aren’t in the modern feudal elite, the cost of starting a business is out of reach, the legalities and bureaucracy are tortuous and barely navigable, and our resources vastly limited. If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, the only way to start a business is to get a loan from a bank or other entity high up on the economic pyramid. To do that, you must convince them that they’ll make a lot of money off of their investment if they back you. You’re more likely to be denied than accepted, just because of your financial situation.

On top of that, most businesses take at least a few years to reach the break-even point. In the meantime, the new entrepreneur has to not only be able to cover business start-up and operating costs, but also survive as a person or family. Starting a business is a full-time job, not really compatible with working a job as well. So once again, only those very high up on the pyramid can do this. For the rest of us it’s like climbing a greased pole.

Competition is fierce. If you are competing against a giant corporation then they can easily afford to undercut your prices, impede your supply chain, out-advertise and out-maneuver you while offering a bigger selection of products or services. They will play ruthlessly and dirty, with vastly superior resources in every way. Your strong work ethic will only carry you so far in the face of this. Mega-corporations often own their supply chain and distribution resources. A small business owner has to pay market prices for raw materials and supplies.

For most small business owners, the only practical difference in their life as compared to wage earners is that they are their own boss. The living they make is rarely much better than in a typical job. The stress and exhaustion are different but no less. Your skill, expertise, and the quality of your goods or services will not get you very far unless you also have a keen talent for business itself. The world is full hardworking innovators who, like Mozart and Mary Anderson who invented the windshield wiper, end up broke.

One alternative to a traditional brick-and-mortar business in today’s world is a virtual business on the Internet. The startup costs are much less. However, the competition is even more fierce. Your only chance of success is to find a niche that isn’t already saturated. You’ll need a lot of technical know-how, business acumen, and be a top-notch marketer and advertiser. You’ll still need the funds to pay for top visibility in Web searches, which doesn’t come cheap.

Another alternative business model is the Multi-Level Marketing and Network Marketing companies, such as Avon, Mary Kay, Kirby, Prepaid Legal, Melaleuca, and Primerica to name a few. Just about everybody knows someone who’s joined one. Every time they see you, they enthusiastically invite you to an “opportunity meeting” or “business meeting,” asking you as their friend or family to come support them in their new venture and see how maybe you might be able to improve your financial situation as well.

The first thing you need to do is weed out the “legitimate” such businesses from the much more numerous scams and illegal pyramid schemes disguised as businesses.

These business vary widely in the goods and services they offer, the exact terminology and the details of exactly how you get paid, if and when you do. At such a meeting, you’ll be reminded of the fact that the mainstream Capitalist paradigm is a glorified pyramid scheme that engorges the wealthy on the backs of employees. This much is true. These MLM’s, however, don’t propose to change the paradigm. They claim to offer you a way to make unlimited income and be your own boss. And they show you testimonials by people who literally lifted themselves out of debt and poverty by working the business. It can sound very enticing.

You can sign up as an Executive, Silver, Diamond, or other similarly impressive title and work your way up to Regional Vice President, Platinum, Double Black Diamond or something similar. There are usually three or four entry levels, with greater “earning potential” coming with a higher buy-in price. You will be told that this isn’t sales, it’s really about helping people better their lives. Yet the “work” consists of recruiting people into the business and, of course, getting people to buy the goods or services.

You are not paid for your time. This is strictly commission. You make money when you sign people up, and when you sell goods or services, though you typically have to sell a certain amount of product and sign people up in a particular pattern for it to translate into income. You are also paid, up to a point, when someone in your “downline” (those you signed up and those whom they signed up etc) signs someone up or sells above the threshold of product. Meetings are primarily pep talks and testimonials.

Many of these businesses also have “charge-backs.” This happens when somebody who signed up under you or under someone under you either leaves the business or cancels their subscription, premium, or recurring order. If your MLM practices charge-backs, then the company will take back your commission. You can suddenly find a lot less in your bank account than you had yesterday.

The problem is that you have to be a very specific kind of personality type in order to make any kind of living at such businesses. Yes, some do truly achieve “financial independence.” These are the people who live, sleep, eat, and breathe to do the business with a near-religious level of devotion. If you’re as passionate about the business as a cult follower is about their religion, if you’re willing to risk alienating friends and family by being relentlessly pushy and manipulative in order to “make it,” if the business becomes your main reason for being and you’re a natural “closer,” then you will probably do very well in such a business and become one of those inspiring success stories. Otherwise, you will probably invest a lot of time and energy and never come close to making a living at it, much less a good living. Most such businesses have a handful of people who “made it big,” the star performers, and a whole lot of struggling people who end up wasting their time.

Such businesses aren’t really alternatives to the Capitalist paradigm. The paradigm is inherently unstable, unsustainable, and directly at odds with the well-being, thriving and fulfillment of the people. It creates conditions that spawn a toxic, mutually-predatory social ecosystem. Like a lead balloon, it is an unworkable design which can’t be tweaked, adjusted, or revamped. If we are to achieve a truly free and democratic society of, by and for the people in it, we have no choice but to totally scrap the Capitalist paradigm once and for all and replace it with one based on a symbiotic model of socio-economic dynamics.