Thrift

In his book, SuperClass, The Global Power Elite and the world they are making, David Rothkopf describes Nelson D. Rockefeller thus: "More than anyone else, Rockefeller incarnated the capitalist revolution that followed the Civil War and transformed American life. He embodied all its virtues of thrift, self-reliance, hard work, and unflagging enterprise."

Rockefeller was also the richest American business man who ever lived. He begain in business around age 24 and through a series of inspired moves, transformed himself into a force for the federal government to be reckoned with with his creation of Standard Oil - a monster corporation that so monopolized the oil business, the Supreme Court had to step in and break the company into parts: Exxon, Mobile, Sun, Chevron and a few others.

What has this to do with small business owners? Well, it's just to remind ourselves that one of the ways Rockefeller rose so high and furiously, is through thrift. As Mao did in China, he "lived close to the land." He also believed in business - creating them and growing them into successes, in hard work and in self-reliance. What is a small business if not the enterprise of a self-reliant person who works hard? But maybe, in these days in particular, more small business owners ought to think more about their overall thriftiness.

Sure, cash is king these days. But I think Rockefeller would probably say, only spend when you absolutely have to. The economist will not agree with this approach, obviously. Because in order to get the economy going, consumers have to start spending and stop hoarding all their cash. And believe me, I am not an economist, so I am not delving too much into that. I am just talking about the idea of thrift and drawing on Rockefeller as a reference. Because, look where it got him?