The Ethan Awards

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Official Ethan Award Interview

Nominated Author: Roger McManus
ISBN 10: 0974945218
ISBN 13: 9780974945217
Publisher: Ensanity Press
Publishing Date: Apr 28 2010

The Entrepreneurial Idea: In 25 words or so, please highlight why readers should care about this Ethan Award nominee.

Roger makes the difference between owning a small business and being an entrepreneur — and the insanity of not knowing that difference — exceedingly clear.

Please describe the creative and entrepreneurial achievements of the Ethan Award nominee:

For over 30 years, Roger has coached, funded, counseled and published for entrepreneurs.  As a serial entrepreneur himself, he has garnered the wisdom of dozens of advisers and gathered years of experiences in his effort to develop a clear picture of the entrepreneurial mindset.

When the photo industry powers rejected and tried to quash the growth of the new Japanese machines that processed pictures in one hour, Roger created a trade association and magazine (“Photo Imaging Entrepreneur”) that grew with the industry until the advent of digital photography.

The obvious time benefits of digital photography lead Roger to create a business that allowed the delivery of newborn photos in hospitals to be reduced from three weeks to three hours.

When the State of North Carolina was making a valiant effort to eschew its relationship with tobacco and enhance its position as a leading technology center, Roger created “NC Entrepreneur” magazine.  This lead to his appointment to the Advisory Board of the NC Small Business and Technology Development Center, his election to the White House Conference on Small Business and his selection by the SBA as Media Advocate of the Year.

As a magazine publisher, speaker, author and consultant, Roger has had the rare opportunity to see inside businesses resulting in the conclusion that many call themselves entrepreneurs, but few truly achieve the levels of freedom that the title should imply.  In his latest book, “Entrepreneurial Insanity”, Roger goes into step-by-step detail about the dangers of a business owner being too vital to the daily operation of his or her business.  He then details the steps necessary to strategically extricate the owner so he or she may use that energy to grow the business — or, maybe, even relax a bit.

What skills has the nominee used to obtain these results? Please focus your entry around particularly novel or unique approaches, spectacular innovations, and creative insights:

The skill-set Roger employs in all of his (ad)ventures can be summed up as Observation, Innovation and Incorporation.

When he observed an overwhelming demand for one-hour photo in Australia, he knew that even the most powerful companies in the overnight photo business could not withstand consumer demand — and the entrepreneur wanting to cash in on that demand.  He innovated new communications channels and trade shows to give substance to the new business segment and he incorporated the ideas of industry suppliers and owners to establish a whole new entity — and retail industry.

When he observed the Sigmoid Curve turning against traditional film photography, he seized the opportunity to innovate a new application where speed of delivery is particularly appreciated — and profitable.  The project involved the incorporation of new technology with old standards of behavior in a hospital environment — particularly with the advent of new HIPAA regulations and the necessary digital transfer of data about newborn babies — even though excited parents and grandparents did not really care.

When he observed the State of North Carolina embracing technology and entrepreneurial growth, he quickly innovated a magazine that spoke that language, “NC Entrepreneur”.  He incorporated the insights of the most influential members of the State’s power base to posture the publication just right.

And, when at the White House Conference on Small Business, then-vice-president Al Gore declared that OSHA was easing up on small business owners and the NC Secretary of Labor didn’t go along, Roger challenged Harry Payne to a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate in front of an audience of 200 at the Marriott Hotel.   Publicity innovation.

What does the nominee have in store for the next 5 years? How will it shape the nominee’s industry, the world of business or our culture at large? Please focus this answer around the nominee’s vision for the future and his/her specific plans for achieving these goals:

The publication of “Entrepreneurial Insanity” was the cornerstone.  Acknowledging that there are hundreds of small business-help books on the market, but being committed to the importance of the message, Roger will work with co-authors (I am one of them) to craft the message to specific business subsets.  Roger’s thinking is that generalized advice is fine, but advice about MY business is particularly useful.

Roger’s goal over the next five years is to publish as many as 100 books on various entrepreneurial subjects such as the one he and I are developing together, “Entrepreneurial Insanity for the Real Estate Professional”.

In launching the cornerstone title, Roger will be conducting a book tour including a one-day seminar in each city titled, “End the Ensanity” (a contraction, not a typo).   A portion of the proceeds of both book sales and seminar registrations will be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  (Roger explains that his father was taken by Lou Gehrig’s Disease and the MDA was generous in their help to him.)

The impact of these efforts will significantly raise the awareness of small business owners who work so diligently in their businesses they forfeit the time necessary to GROW their business.  Growth is the key element to entrepreneurism.  Freedom, more than money, is the goal of the entrepreneur.  Few small business owners enjoy any true freedom.  Roger’s vision is to change that through greater awareness by those who come into contact with the Entrepreneurial Insanity message.

Comments that readers have made about this submission:

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