Taking Credit for Success -- 2

Think about this: ten people decide to open clothing stores in the New York City area. Each of them picks a location. Each of them designs and sets up the store. Each of them picks a price point for their merchandise. Each of them picks the clothing that will be sold. Each of them advertises their new business in one way or another. Then each of them actually open. Five of the business fail in the first year. Three more fail in the second year. Of the two that remain, one grows quickly to the point where in five years, it has seven locations. The other does enough business to stay open and prosper; it does not, however, grow beyond the one location.

What is the reason for the success of the two stores and the failure of eight? Why of the two successful ones is one of them so much more successful? We know it cannot be as a result of those roads and bridges that president Obama now says he was talking about when he gave government the credit for individual successes. After all, each of the ten businesses got to use the same roads and bridges and eight of them failed. Was it something else that Obama's favorite, the government, did? Unless the successful business was owned by a big Obama contributor who got a "grant" from the government, the answer is no. Each of these businesses were subject to the same government rules and taxes as the others. It is true that those regulations and taxes may have been harsh enough that one of the businesses may have failed which would otherwise have succeeded but for the government, but that still does not explain why some succeeded and some failed.

The answer is talent, the talent of the owners to make the right choices for their business. It may be choosing the right location. It may be choosing the right merchandise. It may be choosing to publicize the new business in a way that potential customers notice. It may be training the sales help to make shopping in the store a more pleasant experience. It may be deciding to price the clothing at the right level for the needs of the location. It may also be hard work. It takes time to make all these choices correctly. It takes time to see to it that all of the plans for the business are carried out correctly. Indeed, it is a never-ending battle for success.

There are tens of millions of Americans who understand what I just set forth. These are people who run their own businesses. Maybe that business is as small as selling Tupperware to neighbors or as large as running a major corporation. All of these folks, however, understand that it is people who cause businesses to succeed, not Obama's government. That government is just one more hurdle for any new or old business to jump over in order to survive.

It is truly strange that so many Americans understand this, but our president seems not to have a clue about the actual reality of business. No wonder he also has no clue as to how to get the economy growing again and how to promote the creation of new jobs.