I didn't plan to be an entrepreneur. I came by it accidentally. When I read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins in 2000 or so, I didn't imagine myself driving a bus...ever. I saw myself sitting in the seat behind the driver suggesting great places to go and great routes to get there.

I was to go into business with a partner who had started and run several companies before. I would corral all of his great ideas and turn them into marketing and sales strategies that would deliver profitable revenue. But in an ironic twist of fate, he dropped out and because I am biologically programmed not to quit anything I start, I became an entrepreneur. 

The hardest part, as most entrepreneurs find out, was putting together a team that could execute all my great ideas. This part took nearly five years as I struggled to find my identity as an owner and lock on to a company culture that could provide sustainable value to our clients, cultivate great professionals and drive business results at the same time.

Something happened recently, and I hope that it will help other entrepreneurs like me who are busy managing zillions of details all day long and may occasionally err on the path of least resistance.

On a client call recently, with approximately 12 people covering all disciplines - customer service, marketing, IT, compliance, etc., - one participant treated us with disrespect. My company is my baby, almost as important to me as the three traditional ones I brought into this world. I immediately had my feathers ruffled, and I ended the meeting with a comment so that all would know that his disrespect wasn't lost on me. My little zinger wasn't the best way to handle this, but it's over now and is proverbial water under the bridge. Here's what this incident reinforced in me: The personality of your company is critical to its success. In the world today, we refer to this as company culture but it boils down to a basic tenant that we all should have learned from our parents: "Treat others as you want to be treated." I don't know how this was addressed at their company. I would not have expected them to call the person on his behavior in the meeting as this, too, would have been disrespectful to the employee, who quite possibly was just having a bad day. Now here's something interesting though: someone on my staff interacted with another employee of their company last week and that person, normally nice, was rude, too. Coincidence or is something going on there that is undermining their culture?

During this unsettled time, entrepreneurs need to take special care that what makes their company special to begin with is not undermined by downsizing, cut backs, fear of the unknown or browbeating by management. If customers and vendors decide they don't like you, the damage may be irreparable.

Kate Dunn
Digital Innovations Group