The Wardrobe of Hats Worn by Entrepreneurs

It’s no surprise that entrepreneurs wear a lot of hats.

It’s an analogy, not a literal expression. Though, if you think of it literally, it’s equally true.

Think of the owner of a hot dog stand who sets up shop outside a baseball stadium.

They first wore a thinking cap and walked by the stadium one fine day, thinking thoughtful thoughts. Then, while wearing their thinking cap, it magically transformed itself into a good idea hat. You can just imagine it, right? Beams of light leak through the seams of their thinking cap, and the future hot dog stand owner is inspired.

“Hey, I could create a hot dog stand, right here, outside the stadium. People love my hot dogs.”

So they do all the things. They go through the process – check the boxes, get the permits, licenses, training – wearing more and more hats of all sorts. The first fine day they open for business outside the baseball stadium, they probably wear an actual baseball cap, proclaiming loyalty to the home team.

Now that their business is open, they wear even more hats — all at the same time. They probably have a health department card, a figurative “hat” to show the inspector who tests to ensure they are producing food that’s safe to eat. They wear many hats and need to be comfortable in them, and in fact, wear them all, well.

That’s no small feat.

Along with the food safety hat, there’s an accountancy or bookkeeping cap, a marketing hat (which probably is bright purple with a neon strip lighting up the brim), and several others. Whew! After swapping out all these hats, then the whole wardrobe comes full circle and the good idea hat needs to donned again. It can happen for any number of reasons. Maybe other hot dog stands sprang up? Or, baseball season is over and they need something else to sell.

MyStartUp – the ultimate personal shopper and wardrobe artist.

The Washington State Department of Commerce, Office of Economic Development and competitiveness (OEDC) exists to help you start and grow your business. What will you do to learn about these many different hats you’ll need to wear? How do you begin? StartUp Washington helps you to learn any time, day or night. As you grow and evolve in your business we also help you learn more and broaden your skills – to wear more hats — whenever needed.

Where do you start?

First, ensure you have your hands on the basics. We understand you’re probably multi-tasking and so we developed many of our resources, programs and services as a library of online, on demand training modules and guides. From the Small Business Playbook to the Entrepreneur Academy or the Food Academy, you will learn from those who have worn these hats, before. You’re building something from virtually nothing while making your idea a reality and these modules help get you started.

Your work (and ours) strengthens communities.

Along with our many partners, we help you unleash your ideas to start and scale your business. Later on, if you need us, we’ll help you innovate, evolve, or restart your business. StartUp Washington serves as a clearinghouse for all the information and resources entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses need to achieve success, including funding sources, training and technical assistance, mentorship, education and information.

The Department of Commerce is committed to growing local economies. By doing so, we celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit that is inherent in Washington. Get to know our services, or familiarize yourself again. You might just find the necessary infrastructure to support your business growth and expansion. Ultimately, we know we’ve helped you succeed if you find just the right mix of services and programs to support intelligent business growth that offers a safe place to live, work and play.

Now, that’s alotta hats to wear … and our job is to help you wear them well!