THE TECHNICAL SIDE
Most business success courses start with the technical
aspect - how to write a business plan, use Excel
spreadsheets to monitor budgets, calculate your monthly
income and expenses and so on. Most business courses are of
no help at all to reservation-based companies. One reason
we know this is that only 1% of businesses in North Dakota
are minority-owned, despite the fact that there are many
funded initiatives for Native American enterprises.
As Native people, we have always known the importance of
learning new skills, as long ago as when the first white
men came to this region with horses (called 'magic dogs',
in this story, by the Comanches, who had never before seen
anything like a horse).
When
everybody had eaten, including the Comanches, the first man
[one of the Spaniards] laid his face on the palm of his
hand and closed his eyes, to show he was sleepy. The
Comanches gave [the Spaniards] hides to lie on, and pretty
soon all the newcomers were asleep.
“What shall we do?” asked one of the war
chiefs.
“We could kill them, and take their magic dogs.
That’s what I’d like, to own a magic
dog.”
“No,” said a very old man, who was wise in
counseling. “Don’t kill them. You
wouldn’t know what to do with a magic dog if you had
one. Follow them when they leave here, and watch how they
take care of the dogs. Then you will know
better.”
The Magic Dogs”, from Comanche oral history, retold
in the book
Plains Indian Mythology.
We need to learn similar lessons about business. Rather
than just starting a business, its is crucial to learn how
to take care of one first. Congratulations on completing
the first part of this course. Without communication, work
habits and ethics, all of the tools in the world are not
going to enable you to be a long-term success in business.
It's kind of like having a great fishing pole and being in
the middle of the woods, you aren't going to catch too many
fish. Getting those work habits, learning to communicate in
the business environment and acting ethically are the
absolute first step. You've made it to the lake. Now you
need some tools and that is what this final section of the
course is about.
Click here for the first tool you need, the
right numbers.