I was watching a TV programme about the great Victorian industrialists who developed entire towns to meet their industrial expansion. These people had more power over the lives of their employees than governments do today. Yet, a number of them seem to develop towns which contain more open space, leisure facilities and infrastructure than we plan or even build into our towns today.
These entrepreneurs understood than creating wealth for yourself is about building a network of people around you. This means developing your network or team members, especially: employees, customers, suppliers, support organisations and even competitors.
All of these groups are important for your success and their demise can result in your own demise. So understand the eco-system you/they live and work in is very important in building your success.
Developing employees is often seen as wasteful when the average length of employment is only 18 months. However, if spending time and money on developing that person means they stay 36 months, then you have halved you staff turnover and more importantly reduced you own workload in having to recruit and train another employee.
Everyone should be thinking about how they make their job theirs, so the governments mantra “Take a Job or Make a Job” is both applicable to entrepreneur or employee. Everyone should be thinking about what they can provide to society and maybe a job is the first step.