Your Company Is What You Do, Not Who You Are

An entrepreneur friend of mine surprisingly took his life last week, leaving behind a wife and children. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.

While I'm not sure of the exact reasons for his actions, I do know his business and industry were suffering through a major decline. He went from having a soaring business with many employees to just a few. I'm sure this business downfall weighed heavily on him the past few years.

As and entrepreneur, it's easy to forget that our companies and our work "are what we do, they are not who we are."

That's certainly easy to sit back and say. We work long hours and are driven by bottom line results. Our employees become like children. We end up worrying about their progress and futures just like our own kids.

Even though it's tough, we've got to make this distinction. Even during troubling times like the past few years, our lives go on despite what happens with our companies. From my friend, I'm going to remember this lesson.

--Ron Ameln, SBM