How guerrilla entrepreneurs think and work

The guerrilla entrepreneur knows that the journey is the goal. He also realises that he is in control of his enterprise, not the other way around, and that if he is dissatisfied with his journey, he is missing the point of the journey itself. Unlike old-fashioned enterprises, which often required gigantic sacrifices for the sake of the goal, guerrilla enterprises place the goal of a pleasant journey ahead of the mere notion of sacrifices.

The guerrilla entrepreneur achieves balance from the very start. He builds free time into his work schedule so that balance is part of his enterprise. He respects his leisure time as much as his work time, never allowing too much of one to interfere with the other. Traditional entrepreneurs always placed work ahead of leisure and showed no respect for their own personal freedom. Guerrillas cherish their freedom as much as their work.

The guerrilla entrepreneur is not in a hurry. A false need for speed frequently undermines even the best-conceived strategies. Haste makes waste and sacrifices quality. The guerrilla is fully aware that patience is his ally, and he has planned intelligently to eliminate most emergencies that call for moving fast. His pace is always steady but never rushed.

The guerrilla entrepreneur uses stress as a benchmark. If he feels any stress, he knows he must be going about things in the wrong way. Guerrilla entrepreneurs do not accept stress as part of doing business and recognise any stress as a warning sign that something's the matter – in the work plan of the guerrilla or in the business itself. Adjustments are made to eliminate the cause of the stress rather than the stress itself.

The guerrilla entrepreneur looks forward to work. He has a love affair with his work and considers himself blessed to be paid for doing the work he does. He is good at his work, energising his passion in a quest to learn more and improve his understanding of it, thereby increasing his skills. The guerrilla doesn't think of work as a marriage, he thinks fling.

The guerrilla entrepreneur does not kid himself. He knows that if he overestimates his own abilities, he runs the risk of skimping on the quality he represents to his customers, employees, investors, suppliers and fusion partners. He forces himself to face reality on a daily basis and realises that all of his business practices must always be evaluated in the glaring light of what is really happening, instead of what should be happening.

The guerrilla entrepreneur lives in the present. He is well-aware of the past, very enticed by the future, but the here and now is where he resides, embracing the technologies of the present, leaving future technologies on the horizon right where they belong – on the horizon until later, when they are ripe and ready. He is alert to the new, wary of the avant-garde, and wooed from the old by improvement, not merely change.

The guerrilla entrepreneur understands the precious nature of time. He doesn't buy into the old lie that time is money and knows in his heart that time is far more important than money. He knows that instead, time is life.

The guerrilla entrepreneur always operates according to a plan. He knows who he is, where he is going, and how he will get there. He is prepared, knows that anything can and will happen, and can deal with the barriers to success because his plan has foreseen them and shown exactly how to surmount them. The guerrilla reevaluates his plan regularly and does not hesitate to make changes in it, though commitment to the plan is part of his very being.

The guerrilla aims for results more than growth. He is focused upon profitability and balance, vitality and improvement, value and quality more than size and growth. His plan calls for steadily increasing profits without a sacrifice of personal time, so his actions are oriented to hitting those targets instead of growing for the sake of growth alone. He is wary of becoming large and does not equate hugeness with excellence.

The guerrilla entrepreneur is dependent upon many people. He knows that the age of the lone wolf entrepreneur has passed. He is focused on the goal. He has an upbeat attitude. Because he knows that life is unfair, problems arise, to err is human, and the cool shall inherit the Earth, he takes obstacles in stride, keeping his perspective and his sense of humour. His ever-present optimism is grounded in an ability to perceive the positive side of things, recognising the negative, but never dwelling there. His positivity is contagious.

- The writer is the author of the Guerrilla Marketing series of books. The views expressed are his own

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