Why am I an entrepreneur?

It’s been a very busy and productive day. I started with a workout; no cardio, all weights. I simply didn’t feel like running today. Not sure why.

My wife is off work this week and next. I mean, she does not have to report to her job outside of the home. Clearly, she does most of her “work” within the home – she carries, by far, most of the day to day chores – and thus she is actually very rarely “on holidays.” She was very helpful today, and often is, handling many business-related tasks that I simply don’t find the time to tackle. This contributed to our overall productivity today.

Outside of that, I simply got a lot done. And I’m quite certain I worked on the right things also.

I continue to improve my ability to “fly a desk.”

Some people have asked why we’re doing this. Why are we launching Parmasters? Why did we purchase the rights to southern Ontario?

The answer really has two parts. First, tonight, I will answer the question, why am I an entrepreneur? In the next few days I will answer the second question, why Parmasters?

Why am I an entrepreneur?

I was fairly entrepreneurial in throughout my adolescence and undergrad years. But after we married, and settled into a certain lifestyle, my drive to create businesses seemed to disappear.

In 1994 we celebrated the arrival of our first son, and my first mid-life crisis. Thus, we became parents, and after considering many other programs and schools, including the Ivy League south of the border, I enrolled in the MBA (Masters in Business Administration) program at Wilfrid Laurier University.

To make a long story shorter, in late 1996 – I took the part-time, 3+-year MBA – I was struggling to find a course that interested me. I eventually chose a course on Entrepreneurship. The professor was Dr. Laurence Hewick. I found Dr. Hewick’s anecdotes to be quite inspiring. By the time that the second lecture had ended, the entrepreneur in me had been reignited!

So, why am I an entrepreneur? In some ways I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I love creating things. I love creating companies. I do not enjoy repetitive tasks. However, in many ways, the path leads back to a course in Entrepreneurship at WLU.