Ever hear this old fallacy?

“Businesspeople are nothing but greedy, selfish people who think of nothing but money.”

Bringing back the last point about how business and the craft you like go hand in hand, this fallacy already fails.  Are all businesspeople greedy?  Of course not!  I don’t like generalizations and labeling of one type of person because I believe it to be a form of pride and prejudice.  We’re all human and we all have the tendency to be either greedy or not greedy.  Students, workers, politicians, ninjas, everyone has the choice between good and evil.  It’s not something relegated to one group.  As I said yesterday, there are businesspeople that fall into the greedy category in that they just want to make more money for the sake of having money.  The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim 6:10), but God never said that money in and of itself was evil, just the “love” of it.  It becomes a trap when it becomes your master however.  But what about those businesspeople that don’t serve money; why do they need money if they aren’t greedy?

Well let’s first ask this: Why do you and your family need money?  To pay for food, clothing, house bills, and other expenses right?  In affect that’s what most businesspeople need money for among other things.  Without money how would we pay for our next event or product line?  If you’re an artist like me you may need money for the materials you need for your craft.  If you have people that help you, you may want to pay them for their hard work when they could be doing something else.  There’s the rising cost of travel, lodging, and shipping to think about, and much, much more.  Most important of all there are several businesses that give generous donations to charities within the church, school system, and city events.

So as a businessman, would I like to have some extra cash for all that?  Yes!  The first thing I always do is take my tithe and give it to the church no matter how much or how little I earn at events.  Someday God willing I would like to do more for my church, charities, schools that don’t have art programs, my own campus’ Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering and engineering services offices, and especially homeless folk that I come across from time to time.  I’d like to be able to help my family by being able to make enough to pay my dad for all his support over the years and of course help out around the house with other payments.  On the store side of things I’d like to get more products out there and into the hands of customers and readers.  Products like clothes, pens, stuffed dragons, and more figurines like the ones we’re making now.  I’d like to be able to attend more fairs, markets, and conventions particularly the big ones like New York and San Diego Comic Con and even Japan Expo.

I know that I’m not alone in being a businessperson that doesn’t fit the common description many like to use.  Generalizing is not a way to know someone as an individual.  Get to know someone, REALLY know someone, before rushing to the conclusion that a salesperson is all about the money.  Though these may differ from person to person as with all of us, but as for me my dedication is to God, family, and community.  Anything like money is a distant place in my book.  We may need it from time to time, but to coin a hymn, no matter my lot, God has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.

Why is it that some people have a fear of and/or hatred of businesses?  I believe that this is a question that a lot of business owners have asked themselves and something that a lot of start-up business owners need to ask themselves at some point because it does happen.  It’s something that I myself have had to deal with from time to time, particularly when I was starting out.  So why is there such a fear of businesses and the men and women who run them?  I myself believe that these people tend to associate businesses with greed or the love of money.  Too often they associate business men and women in derogatory terms like “suits” “greedy capitalists” “imperialists” “money grubbers” “cash grabbers” “robber baron” and worse.  Worse yet, they make up a lot of fallacies about businesspeople and end up feeling the way they do.  Often these opinions are backed up and exacerbated by the media and entertainment industry that paints businesspeople often in a negative light.  Now don’t misunderstand me.  Are there businesspeople that actually do fit this description?  Sadly the answer is yes, but that can be used to define anyone whether they be businesspeople or not.  That said my problem is with this negative description being used to define the rest of the businesspeople who are honest and decent people.  And that said I have no shame about being called both an artist and a businessman and I know many other small businesspeople like myself who can easily cast doubt upon the generalized view that we are labeled with.

First let’s talk about what I do: art.  I LOVE art.  I love viewing art, I love making art, I love showing art, I love teaching art, and I love it when someone (especially kids) can be inspired by my art to the point that they want to spread the wealth and try their hand in art as well.  And I can easily say the same about a lot of business people that I’ve met over the years and their crafts.  Some crochet wraps and necklaces, others paint, more blow glass, and others make wooden toys.  And if they are anything like me, they want to keep on giving back to the community in the form of the crafts that they do.  It’s our craft, but it’s also our business, and it’s something that we enjoy.  Webster defines business as a “purposeful activity” and “a commercial activity engaged in as a means of livelihood.”  I think that these are accurate definitions of the term.  Dad and I have purpose when we go out there on Saturdays and I think that it is good purpose: Be a light unto people, encourage reading and art and creativity in the next generation, and have fun doing it.  So what do you do when someone, perhaps another artist, disparagingly tells you “this is just a business trip to you” in describing your presence at a flea market, fair, or convention?  Well that depends.  If you believe all businesses and businesspeople are evil, then you will feel shame and disappointment at such a remark.  On the other hand, maybe you don’t feel your business/craft as a bad thing and that they go hand in hand.  So in that case you would take the same phrase that was meant to do you harm and turn it to good.  The latter case is what I nearly fell into years ago and it all but killed the remainder of my last anime convention experience. Thankfully I soon fell into the right group of people that don’t feel the need to demonize all businesspeople as a whole: family, friends, and like-minded small business owners and vendors.  You don’t need to feel ashamed of socializing with other vendors and businesspeople and asking for business advice or how to grow.  That’s how you grow when you lack experience or even have experience and want to get better.  And you really don’t need to feel ashamed of treating what you do as a business.  Alluding to the second definition, if you are trying to make money or a livelihood from an activity, you are a business by definition and that is nothing to be ashamed of.   Furthermore, if you enjoy what you do in your business, if you have fun drawing and writing and crafting glass and crocheting and making lemonade and baking donuts and cutting grass then what do you have to be ashamed of?  It’s your art, your talent, your skill, your business: they all go hand in hand.  Be strong and courageous and go out and share your business with the world and don’t be ashamed!  And when God is on your side as He is on ours, NOTHING can stand against you: Not shame, not naysayers, not anybody, not anything.