Business and TV

Just a thouight, but it does appear that TV and media have managed to grab hold of the world of business, put some kind of formula on it and essentially destroy the notion of small business.

For many decades people were entirely happy with the term 'small business man' - it denoted a job or career as credible as any other and perhaps even gave you  a certain cachet in the community - especially if you employed a few people. Now, of course, 'small business man (apart from being sexist) smacks of lack of ambition; to be taken seriously you have to be an 'entrepreneur'. (Quote Alan Sugar 'surely entrepreneur is a title bestowed on you, not one you give yourself'). Whilst there are a few useful small business book, by far the majority are those by TV personalities, with titles like 'The first billion is the hardest' or 'how I conquered the world from my Grandma's fridge' (OK, I made those up, but you get my drift).

The truth is that most people who start a small business want just that - a small business. A decent living and then something to sell or pass on as an inheritance; whilst we will all daydream about Lear Jets, Bentleys and castles in Scotland we fundamentally just want to get up in the morning, do an honest job and sleep at night. Of course, this wouldn't make good TV!

Before I go, 2 more things: First, have you ever encountered a single person (yet alone a group of 20) as sociopathic as those on The Apprentice?  Second, if anyone spoke to you like the Dragons speak to their contestants, wouldn't you just slap them?