What we can learn from the greatest entrepreneur of all.

I recently read 1776 by award winning author David McCullough. It was of course the story of the first year of the revolution. During this year Washington was appointed the  commanding officer of the revolutionary army. This in and of itself was a huge leap of faith as Washington had extremely limited battle experience  and thus had absolutely no idea as to how to strategize and win a large scale war, or even small scale skirmishes.

Worse yet, he had few experienced leaders capable of handling the men in the field. His men were completely untrained, had few arms and less ammunition. The men came and went as they pleased depending upon weather, and family needs at home. Sickness often disabled as many as one third of his men at any given time.

Even worse was the fact that they were confronting the greatest Army and Navy in the world at that time, extremely well trained, very well armed and with a Navy of over 400 ships armed with hundreds of guns. The revolutionary forces had no Navy, few guns and  was badly out  numbered by about 10-1.

In the winter, the revolutionary forces had no tents, uniforms or even clothing or shoes to keep them dry and warm. It was in a word, pathetic to consider this rag tag band of farmers and hunters, and a few aristocrats an army. It was an undisciplined, untrained, unarmed, unequipped, band of passionate men who fought amongst themselves and had no idea as to how to conduct warfare.

Washington’s strategies were most often wrong. His lack of experience led him into one defeat after another, yet he persevered.

That is the quality that an entrepreneur truly owns and utilizes most effectively in reaching the desired goals, not experience, not intelligence, not skill, but perseverance, refusing to lose, rejecting defeat, insisting on reaching the goal no matter what the odds, not matter how slim the likelihood of victory.

The revolutionary  leaders had bet everything they owned including their lives, and their families, having given up power, wealth and comfort to battle against the most formidable force in the world knowing that should they lose the war they would surely all hang, if the lived long enough to be captured, yet against the most impossible odds imaginable they persevered.

This is the true hallmark of an entrepreneur, perseverance, and George Washington in 1776 demonstrated this trait to the greatest degree imaginable.

When the going gets tough, as it is today for most small business owners, we can all take a lesson from Washington, as HE WAS THE ULTIMATE ENTREPRENEUR. He gave birth to the most amazing business the world has ever seen against the most severe odds any entrepreneur ever bet against and he won, giving life to…America.

When your situation seems grim, and the challenge is seemingly impossible, too difficult to go another day, remember George Washington and the perseverance he exhibited against odds we have never personally experienced. Then do it. Persevere. He won so we could enjoy the freedom to fight our own battles safely and securely. We can never give up or we will be dishonoring his brilliant entrepreneurial victory.