I Like ‘Enterprise’; How ‘Bout You?

Photo by Rev Stan courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Often when I’m talking about and almost always when I’m thinking about small, niche-y business — my small, niche-y business, your small, nice-y business — I’m thinking of them as enterprises. It’s a word that doesn’t get thrown around a whole lot in our culture, unless you’re renting a car or preparing to attend a Star Trek convention.

But around here, it’s one of the most powerful and elemental words that I can use to describe what I’m talking about when I’m talking about business.

Enterprise means {and yes, I Dictionary.com’d it} a project undertaken or to be undertaken, especially one that is important or difficult and requires boldness or energy.

Yes! Everything in me says ‘yes’ to that definition. It’s a pitch-perfect description of the way I want to do my work in the world, and I believe it’s right on for my right people, too.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with the word ‘business.’ But, to me, it feels too work-y, too paperwork-y, too dry, and too motivated-by-striving to fit well with me and Abby Kerr Ink. {Don’t get me wrong: I — and you — still have to do the paperwork and the dry stuff. It’s kind of unavoidable if you want to have a solvent business. Or, you could hire Dawn’s people.}

Words are loaded. They have layers. They have mystical etymologies and cultural underpinnings. Words are power and meaning and revelation and inspiration.

Every enterprise deserves its own cache of words that it uses to describe itself, its creator {that’s you!}, its right people, its goods and service, its history, and its future.

I’ve chosen ‘enterprise’ for my cache. It’s in my tagline. So is vision, love, and phraseologie. {See my site header.} These words are important to me. They are the cornerstones of the very cool house that is Abby Kerr Ink. {Wanna come hang out?} I chose them intentionally, with thought and care.

What words do you want in your entrepreneurial cache? Is ‘enterprise’ one of them? Tell me about it.