California is the only state in worse financial shape than Illinois – our home base. So we find it interesting that the current debate in the race to elect the next Governor of California is about an employee and a trip.

We can’t think of a better example of how much our political process has strayed from what it should be. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

Signaling unprofessionalism

The election’s less than a month away. So, as we watched our local news last night, just about every ad was for someone running for office – including our race for Governor.

In every case, the entire ad barely mentioned the candidate running. It focused on the candidate they were running against!

As we said to a friend of ours who’s in office: Is it any wonder the public looks down on politicians? Look how they treat each other!

In business, we’re taught that it’s not professional to run down your competition. You don’t build yourself up in the eyes of the customer by tearing your competition down. Instead get better because they’re good.

How can we think we’re voting for a great leader if they act unprofessionally to try to win their race?

Rethinking some sage advice

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When I bought my first franchise, I received some sage advice from one of the franchisor’s executives. He said, “As long as you own a business, don’t get involved in politics. And whatever you do, don’t run for the school board!”

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As entrepreneurs, who has the time anyway? We’re busy running our businesses. But now we have to ask: How’s that working out for us?

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We’ve witnessed the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of the country in recent years. It went from Main Street to Wall Street via Washington.

This isn’t about Republicans or Democrats – both parties are culpable.

So the advice about not getting involved with politics as long as you own a business may need to be reconsidered. We entrepreneurs can’t afford to not be politically active.

It doesn’t mean you have to be a partisan. It doesn’t mean you have to be unprofessional. It does mean you need to be informed.

An excellent resource

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) does an excellent job representing small business owners in Washington and the State Capitols around the country. They survey their members and then lobby based on the response.

NFIB scores elected officials. You have to be a member to get the score of your elected officials in Washington. However, you can go to their site to see how often your state representatives voted with small business owners. Once you click on your state, look for “Voting Record [PDF]”. You’ll quickly see how aligned your representatives are with small business owners.

Great entrepreneurs are excellent risk managers. The future of your business is at risk. Do your research. Then vote!

(Image in today's post by bredmaker)