This weekend is Labor Day. Many start the count down on Monday, seven days before the official day, as the long weekend nears. It’s a day off, the banks are closed and your dinner menu will likely include beer and barbeque.
Most don’t have a clue to the significance of the original Federal Celebration, which stemmed from President Cleveland’s reconciliation with labor unions after the deadly Pullman Strike of 1894, where a number of workers lost their lives. A lot of folks view Labor Day as the final travel weekend before school begins, football season starts, and others think of it as the last weekend to wear white without risking getting a major citation from the fashion police.
And then there are many entrepreneurs that see that first Monday in September as just another great day to work or play, because you’re the boss and every day is a holiday and celebration. I share the last sediment.
I do have friends that can’t really relate to my opinion that Hallmark or Federal holidays are overrated. Not the significance of the day, but that they are more special than other days. Especially when I tell them I may work on Monday, their instant reply is “you work too much, you need to enjoy life”, which I really hate when people say that. Because my amount of joy, relaxation and celebration likely exceeds theirs twenty fold, it may just not fall on a holiday.
Sure being an entrepreneur can be scary and complicated. I was reminded of this today when I watched 10 episodes of Leap-Year, an on-line comedy series about the highs and lows of small business with 5 budding entrepreneurs. If you have not seen this, you’ve got to check it out. The storyline is creative and inspiring. And what I found really cool was that it was produced by PR and digital shop CJPcom.com for Hiscox, a small business insurance expert . Hiscox provides online business insurance to companies with less than 10 employees. And beyond the great reality small biz flicks, that you can watch anytime, there are business resources and a series of awesome interviews with very notable entrepreneurs like Mashable’s Editor in Chief Adam Ostrow, Guy Kawasaki (Alltop.com, Enchanted) and Gary Vaynerchuk (Daily Grape, The Thank You Economy). It’s brilliant marketing! They leveraged social media and streaming video, produced something relevant and entertaining and then associated their brand with it, and offered a great product. BINGO everyone wins!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAZeUzFsSkg
So my Labor day holiday weekend may not be conventional. I will write a lot. I will do some planning and think about many things that are important to me. I may eat barbeque. I don’t drink beer, but do drink wine and may hang with some friends. I will play tennis and get a massage. But most of all, when I hear people chatting about dreading going back to work on Tues., to that job—I will rejoice and celebrate that I’m an independent entrepreneur who loves the labor of my business.
