• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Why no screening process for entrepreneurship

By Becky McCray

Our friend Liz Strauss was kind enough to introduce us to Carol Roth. She has a straightforward style that I think you’ll appreciate.

By Carol Roth

If you want to become an NFL football player, first you need to be an outstanding college player, usually from a major school.  If you want to become a lawyer, first you need to have excellent undergraduate grades to be accepted into law school, survive school, then pass the “bar” exam.  How about a doctor?  Pre-med courses, med school, internships, etc.

Most careers with big risks and big financial, emotional or achievement-oriented rewards have a screening process, which identifies talent or predisposition for a given career path and also helps those participating in them learn about many aspects of the career before they make a commitment to it. Going through a screening process also ensures you are really, truly interested in that career path. Spending the time and putting forth the full effort that it takes to get through the entire screen helps you demonstrate to yourself that a particular path is something worth pursuing and that it is a good “fit” for you.

So, Here’s the Situation:
Being an entrepreneur is a risk. Starting a small business in a small town is more work than it might seem. Unlike other career paths, you actually have to put your own money at risk (as well as your time and effort) in order to become an entrepreneur.
Sometimes you need to ask not could I be an entrepreneur, but should I be an entrepreneur. 

Why Should You “Screen” Yourself?

The answer is in the statistics.  It is widely known that the majority of businesses fail within a few years. This amount is projected at up to a 90% failure rate within several years of inception. It is impossible to know the actual number, as some businesses go into bankruptcy or some type of receivership, while others close voluntarily when the owners realize they just can’t make the business work. Many more businesses survive, but don’t actually succeed; these businesses just limp along making a modest profit each year, but definitely not an amount commensurate with the effort required to keep that business open. Often, the rewards (financial or otherwise) simply don’t justify the risks.

Where Do You Fit In?

You will fall into one of two categories:

Category A – people perfectly matched for entrepreneurship.

OR

Category B -the majority of the population, who should run (not walk, run) in the other direction from owning their own business. 
Category A people will evaluate the pros and cons, the risks and rewards and ultimately, they will decide that the rewards outweigh the risks.  They will take an educated risk and move forward.  These people have stacked the odds in their favor, per se, by gaining relevant experience, shoring up their financial situation and pursuing opportunities that provide an outcome that is worthwhile for the sacrifices they will be making.

Category B people will react in one of two ways (hopefully!). Then they will either (i) generate a list of areas they need to improve upon in order to increase their prospects for business success and prepare for business ownership down the line; or (ii) seek out a path that is a better fit for them and go on to be incredibly successful in something that they are well suited to pursue, saving lots of money (at least tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars), time and effort. They may even gain a new appreciation for their current job or be invigorated to pursue the next steps in their career.

What Does It All Mean?

Information and knowledge are power.  An entrepreneurship screening process is something that has been so desperately lacking, so that the true entrepreneurs can take educated risks and that the 85-90% of the people who weren’t meant to be entrepreneurs could save their money, their time, their effort and their emotional well being and focus on excelling at something that is a perfect match for them.

How will you screen yourself to make sure that your small business can survive in your small town? 

Carol Roth writes Unsolicited Business Advice (TM) for aspiring entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and other small business owners, at CarolRoth.com. You can find her on Twitter as @caroljsroth.

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

  • About the Author
  • Latest by this Author
Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

www.beckymccray.com
  • Will trendy axe throwing and escape room businesses last? More experience-based retail: the Hat Bar
  • Create customer experiences online like Open the Shop With Me videos, and in person, like Silent Book Club
  • How to let customers know when changing your business hours

March 13, 2010 Filed Under: entrepreneurship

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Comments

  1. John says

    March 15, 2010 at 12:31 pm

    This is only practical if you’re operating in a thriving economy and you have an abundance of choices. Unfortunately, the current economic crisis has forced people to venture out on their own out of necessity. Screening isn’t practical when you’re unemployed/underemployed. It’s all about survival.

    Loading...

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local"Move Your Money, bank local, invest localMulticolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week"Save Your Town logotype

Best of Small Biz Survival

A few people shopping in an attractive retail store in refurbished downtown building.

TREND 2025: Retail’s Big Split: what small town retailers can do now

99% of the best things you can do for your town don’t require anyone’s permission

Three kids in a canoe

Get started as an outdoor outfitter without breaking the bank

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors

Wide view of a prairie landscape with a walk-through gate in a fence

Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2025 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in
%d