“There’s always something inside of you that keeps pushing you”
A panel of business owners Monday shared insights into the characteristics of what makes a good entrepreneur.
The panel, Entrepreneurs on Leadership, assembled by Leadership Prince William, featured leaders from businesses like manufacturing, auto repair, communications, medicine, and retail.
The majority of those who spoke said they never intended to become a successful business owner. However, they decided it was a goal worth pursuing.
“I didn’t want another business,” said Sarah Pitkin, owner of Pitkin’s Hardware in Dale City.
She bought the store from her father, and she said owning your own business is a mix of trial and error.
“There’s always something inside of you that keeps pushing you to keep moving for and having ideas and seeing what works,” said Pitkin.
Many entrepreneurs search for their niche and some niches may not always be the most popular ideas.
“I listen for things like ‘you shouldn’t do that,’ or I listen for ‘I wouldn’t do that’ when talking to others. That is a trigger point for me to look into something,” said ST Billingsley, owner of Steve’s Auto Repair and Tire in Woodbridge.
Teamwork was also a much-discussed topic at Monday’s session.
“Entrepreneurism is taking advantage, taking risk, and saying ‘it’s going to work’ and ‘I can figure it out with other people helping me,’” said Patty Baisden, owner of QMT Wind Chimes.
The discussion later morphed into a conversation about how to better promote Prince William County, its amenities, and the quality business community it has to offer. Many said only negative news is reported about the county and few “good news” stories are told about Prince William.
Mark Shaaber, of SCS Integrated Support Solutions, hosted the event. He chose to retire from his job at the Pentagon in Arlington and live in Prince William County.
“I heard the community options were good and the price of housing was lower. What got me to stay here in prince William County is when I looked at a map of Prince William and saw I can take a ride on a country road, and saw it was a place that had a tree or two left we could be proud of,” he said.
While there were many comparisons between Prince William’s larger neighbors Fairfax and Loudoun counties.
“We’re a really great community, but were not [Fairfax], and that’s OK because we have enough. It’s just a sense that we’re good, and that’s enough,” said Baisden.
The Prince William Association of Realtors building in Woodbridge hosted the event.
