Interview with an Entrepreneur

If you’ve ever wanted to move on from your nine to five job, and chase the dream of starting your own business, there’s some great motivation in an article from senior writer Catherine Clifford at Entrepreneur.com. She recently interviewed John Schnatter, the founder and CEO of global pizza giant Papa John’s about how he got started, the best ways to motivate employees, and what it takes to create a culture of entrepreneurship.

Some of the highlights of the interview include Schnatter’s thoughts on:

How to grow a business…”You have to have three things. You have to have a passion for what you are doing, you have to be the best in your class, and you have to have a business model that works…And that starts with passion. It’s all about attitude. If you think you can, you are right. If you think you can’t, you are right. And so we are very keen on having people around us that have a great attitude, that have a can-do spirit. That starts with passion.”

Motivating employees…”I don’t think you can control people. I don’t think you manage people. I think you give people a direction, you give them the resources, you lead by example. They get it right, you say, ‘atta girl.’ And they get it wrong, you say, ‘not good.’ I think you give yourself that culture and you have that culture of entrepreneurship, that culture of tinkering, making mistakes, honest mistakes, and you support your people with rewarding them when they do things right.”

How to stay competitive…”You have to constantly innovate. The market dynamics force you to get better. The marketplace is not going to let us slip on quality, or slip on taking care of our people. Yeah, we get better every day. We wake up every day and try to get better. And have fun.”

As the premier organization for the development of young professionals, the Jaycees can help you network with the resources you need to plan for success, and evolve your creative ideas into an organization that reflects your individual passion and goals. Take advantage of the experts in your local chapter to assist where you lack specific knowledge and motivate yourself by learning about entrepreneurs like John Schnatter – you can achieve your dreams.