Power

What does "power" have to do with a small business owner? When one thinks of power, one thinks of multinational corporations and the men who head them. One thinks of political leaders, Terrorist leaders, International banking professionals and maybe even the Pope. But one does not necessarily think of a small business owner.

It is true that the average small business owner does not have the kind of clout that would get him a front seat at Davos next to, say, the chairman of the IMF, Bill Clinton, or even Angelina Jolie.

But I am willing to bet that within his own community, a small business owner does wield some power, perhaps a bit more than he or she even suspects.

What is power? Power is the ability to affect what happens to somebody else. If that is the simple definition, then I would argue that all small business owners have some degree of power.

But if you don't own it, what good is it to you? My advice is that all small business owners should think about what is the source of the power they wield. They should tap into it, use it when necessary. But never abuse it as, unlike greater institutions than yourselves, small businesses have such a high degree of replaceability and turnover.