The Entrepreneurial Pledge

I am an entrepreneur. All of my income is derived from my ability to provide value to my clients. As I enter the new year it is my intention to follow the following four principles as laid out by Melvin Gravely in his book, 'Making It Your Business: The Personal Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur'.



With the following four principles as my guide, which hold me and only me accountable for the outcomes, I commit myself. Any and everything I want will take my personal commitment to make happen. If I do nothing different from what I do today, I should expect nothing different from what I have right now. With all that the world has to offer in front of me, I pledge:

1. I will start with what I have today. It is all I have! I know I will never have all I think I need. But, my ideas and dreams cannot wait another day. I must do what I can with what I have right now.
2. I will commit to the habit of continuous learning. Knowing the importance of learning practical information about myself and about my craft is my weapon against the dangers of a rapidly changing world.
3. I will choose to do something over doing nothing. Anyone can do nothing and most people do. It takes my action to make things better. Anything worth having is worth my doing something to get.
4. I will fight against the constant urge to give up. Understanding that the difference between those who have tried to do and those who have done often rests in the ability to keep trying.

This is my pledge to myself and to my aspirations. I take this pledge today, and I will live it every day because I can have what I want if I am willing to make the decision, set the direction and have the disciplined determination to see it through.

Our Focus is Out of Balance: And the Result is Weighing Us Down

by Melvin J. Gravely, Ph.D.
The Diverse Business Dialogue

On the scale of what we have and what we don't have, what we don't have seems to weigh more heavily. Whether it's money or time to go to college or number of bedrooms in the house or opportunities to do business or financing to get a business going, the list of those things lacking just seems longer.

OK, I realize it's human nature but it is so unproductive and I'm hearing it more as it relates to minortity business development. There are not enough educational opportunities, access to decision makers, nor enough "qualified" minority firms.


My new favorite questions are how many should there be and how many do you need? No one can answer the questions with anything other than, more! These two questions expose the reality, there is likely enough for you to succeed. There are enough qualified minority firms for you to increase your spending. There are enough entrepreneurial training programs for you to develop your skills. There is enough access to decision makers for you to grow your business. Shouldn't we lean more toward how we can and less on why we can't?

Read the rest of Dr. Gravely's article.

Maybe Supplier Diversity Isn't Worth It

Dr. Mel Gravely is the author of seven books including, Getting to the Next Level: Business, Race adn Our Common Goal to Be Competitive. He is also the managing director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Thinking.

In this month's Diverse Business Dialogue, Dr. Gravely wonders if supplier diversity is worth enough to really commit to it.

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I am still hearing comments I used to hear 20 years ago. "We can't find them", "What is the ROI", "We are not willing to sacrifice quality". On the surface it sounds like organizations are saying they don't know how-to. In most cases (of course not all) what organizations are really saying is they don't know how-to with the level of investment they are willing to make. It's like saying you don't know how-to eat healthy or you can't figure out how to lose weight. Are you kidding; with all of the health information available today? My problem with eating more healthy and losing a few pounds is not that I don't know how, I just keep looking for a way that requires less commitment. The reality is the route of less effort doesn't exist. To lose weight and be healthier I have to understand the basic "best practices", be intentional with my efforts to change my behavior and stay at it until I get the results I want.

Read the rest of the article here.

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What are your views on supplier diversity? Is it worth it?

Related articles

• Supplier Diversity From a Diverse Perspective

Can Mentoring Programs Really Grow Minority Businesses?

I have operated as a full-time entrepreneur since July 5, 2002. As a result, I stay attuned to information that impacts on Black business growth.

The Institute for Entrepreneurial Thinking is the leading authority on issues related to minority business development and supplier diversity. The Institute's mission is to help its clients improve the outcomes of their investments in these areas. Dr. Mel Gravely is a colleague here in Cincinnati. He owns The Institute and uses it to provide an objective, balanced and practical resource committed to providing leading edge insight about the evolving opportunities and challenges related to race and business.
I encourage all Villagers to check out the featured article in the November 2007 issue of The Entrepreneurial Thinker entitled, 'Can Mentoring Programs Really Grow Minority Businesses?'.

Are there any other entrepreneurs floating through our village?

Supplier Diversity

The Institute for Entrepreneurial Thinking is the leading authority on issues related to minority business development and supplier diversity. Their mission is to help their clients improve the outcomes of their investments in these areas. They are an objective, balanced and practical resource committed to providing leading edge insight to their clients about the evolving opportunities and challenges related to race and business.

The brother that runs The Institute is Dr. Melvin J. Gravely. Mel lives in the greater Cincinnati area. I've known him since I came to Cincinnati OH in the mid-1990s. He is truly a remarkable brother with strong beliefs about all issues related to entrepreneurship and business ownership. In fact, he recently accepted a position as the director of the Minority Business Accelerator working with the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Anyhow, Mel publishes a newsletter each month. The title of the current newsletter is Getting to the Next Level: The Real Challenges of Supplier Diversity.