In the article about the “entrepreneurial myth,” we noted Michael E. Gerber’s assertion that the e-myth is the “myth that most people who start small business are entrepreneurs” or “the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work.”

After a summary of the article was posted at the other site, somebody, known by the username “warrior,” made this comment:

"A lot of people are turning entrepreneurs these days. What could be sad is that an increasing number of promising ventures ended as flops. I came to know of a couple of sad stories about people who ventured into some business but had to close for one reason or another. I am referring to people who opted to retire early and used their retirement money to get into business.

Maybe, Pinoys are not prepared to become entrepreneurs. Our school system primed us to become employees. To begin with, children are trained at home to eventually become employees when they grow up. The average mindset is to find a job after college, preferably abroad. Turning to business is just relegated as an option or fall back position in case there is no job opportunity available yet.

Education has something to do with this. Our educational system needs to introduce the concept of entrepreneurship early on. Maybe, a topic on entrepreneurship can be included in the typical social studies curriculum in the elementary and high school.

What happens is that a budding entrepreneur gets a chance to know what business is all about when he is already in the business. There is little time for immersion. He may not be fully aware that he may lack something that makes up the business. For sure, what he has is 100% enthusiasm and idealism. But then, that makes up a good beginning."

This comment raises a number of important points, which points will be discussed in separate posts. These points include:

* Our school and home primed us to be employees, not entrepreneurs.

* Going to business is often seen as a fallback.

* Retirees, with no business experience and with cash to spare, are in high risk of failing.

* Maybe Filipinos are not prepared to become entrepreneurs.

The last topic would be the most controversial, and, for this reason, should be the first to be opened for discussion. I disregarded the initial plan to have a poll on whether Filipinos are indeed prepared to become entrepreneurs, primarily because a poll doesn’t show the reason behind the vote. So, please use the comments section below (comments transferred to Blog.Pinoy-Business.com).