This holiday season I watched one of my favorite movies Miracle (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/miracle), the story of the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team’s amazing accomplishment bringing home the gold medal at the Lake Placid games against a Soviet Union team that had won Olympic gold at the previous four games.  One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Coach Brooks is bringing the young, talented group of individuals together as a group and a breakthrough moment occurs when future team captain, Mike Eruzione, identifies he is not a player for himself, or his college team, but for the United States of America (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEXS8TBd6ug).

It is my opinion, that unfortunately in 2022 many members of our society no longer appreciate the freedom and opportunity offered to all equally in our nation.   This was a subject of discussion recently at a holiday dinner at our home that included people with family heritages from Russia, Cuba, Poland, the former East Germany, Hungary, and England.  The observation was made that it is not the first and second generation immigrants to the United States that fail to recognize and appreciate all that is available to every American citizen, it is often the individuals in families that have been here for numerous generations who forget the considerable risk their ancestors took when they packed up their bags and came to this country because of all the attributes it offered, as Neil Diamond once poetically sung (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ttDUGM-1mU).

Business is the ultimate competitive sport.  Success is achieved through vision, execution, collaboration, and hard work.  IBA, as the oldest & largest business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, has through the facilitation of over 4200 successful transaction heard numerous stories of the creation of products, progressive gains in market share, and significant financial rewards received by entrepreneurs.  We have also witnessed the maiden voyages of an equal number of buyers setting sail to continue the positive legacies of privately held companies and family businesses with a roadmap being created to journey to brighter and bigger horizons.

What we do not hear enough is appreciation for the ability to play on the team of the United States as an entrepreneur.  Few countries in the world offer the opportunities economically to its citizens as are available America.  The following information is provided to support this premise:

1. Average Household Income – The United States ranks sixth in the world in terms of the average household income for its residents with a 2021 value of $43,585 (https://besttoppers.com/average-income-by-country/).  If median income is used as the metric for comparison, according to the United States Census Bureau the number exceeds $65,000 per year (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/median-household-income-by-state) with both Washington & Oregon, IBA’s service area, securing positions in the top twenty in a ranking of states by median household income.  This top tier status in terms of take home income for all people in the country occurs despite the United States being the third largest nation in the world in terms of population (https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/).
2. Small Businesses are the Backbone of Our Economy – Large Fortune 100 corporations get the headlines, but small businesses do the heavy lifting in terms of creating jobs and wealth. Over 99% of businesses in the United States are small businesses creating over thirty million jobs (https://www.fundera.com/blog/small-business-employment-and-growth-statistics).  It makes more sense for government to support these entities than the ones who have lobbyists on retainer in Washington DC.
3. Entrepreneurs Earn More than the General Population – It is estimated that the average national salary of an entrepreneur is $68,000 – $72,000, a range above what was conveyed for the general population of the United States earlier (https://valiantceo.com/average-entrepreneur-salary/). Establishing that people who are willing to enter the ultimate competitive sport, business, as a player are consistently rewarded for their effort with higher income.
4. Entrepreneurs are Happier – Studies have shown that entrepreneurs are happier because they have more control of their lives and the ability to do what they enjoy vocationally. As an example the following study, https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/096317909X472067, concluded, Entrepreneurs showed significantly lower overall somatic and mental morbidity, lower blood pressure, lower prevalence rates of hypertension, and somatoform disorders, as well as higher well-being and more favourable behavioural health indicators.

If you are an entrepreneur or want to be an entrepreneur, it is my recommendation that the next time someone asks you who you play for, you think bigger than the yourself or your business, and proudly state, “The United States of America.”.

IBA is a strong advocate for the small business community in the Pacific Northwest and the United States.  We fight for protection of the limitless opportunity for achievement that has historically existed in this country.  If you are interested in learning about potential changes by the federal government to the entrepreneurial opportunity, The Job Creators Network is a good source for information, https://www.jobcreatorsnetwork.com/.  If you want to read a good book related to what is possible, I strongly recommend the story of the man, Phil Knight, who introduced “Just Do It” into our vocabulary.  https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Phil-Knight/dp/1508211809

IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, mergers & acquisitions, and real estate communities on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family-owned businesses.  IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation based on its long track record of successfully negotiating “win-win” business sale transactions in environments of full disclosure employing “best practices”.