Tightrope: Twin towers survivor offers lessons for entrepreneurs

— -- I suppose it's natural for people to wonder if the entrepreneurial spirit can make it to the other side of the current recession. My inbox is loaded with e-mails from entrepreneurs wanting to know: Will my small operation survive this recession? Is it safe to start a business now? Can we as entrepreneurs ever recover from this economic problem? Given these uncertain times, is there a place for entrepreneurs? The questions are endless.

Owning a business is what we do for our survival. Entrepreneurship has been around since the beginning of time, it's nothing new, it's how we pay the bills, buy groceries, and send our kids to school. As long as human life exists there will be entrepreneurs.

This is not the first crisis that we have experienced, and it will not be the last.

Sept. 11, 2001, was a most devastating time for our country. Within minutes, we lost thousands of lives and subsequently slipped into an economic crisis. I am reminded of a story that I wrote about during that time about a man who made it to safety from one of the upper floors in the World Trade Center. I think his story is a good metaphor for entrepreneurs now:

After hearing and feeling an explosion that literally rocked the building, he started running down the steps. The sprinklers had gone off, and water poured down the stairwell. As hundreds if not thousands of others crowded in to the stairwell, he slipped on the wet steps. It was pitch black, and he was getting trampled. Then he saw a small glimmer of light -- a flashlight, getting closer. His rescuer grabbed his arm, pulled him to his feet and led him at a breakneck speed down the stairs.

He was just outside the building when he slipped and fell again. He was surrounded by darkness, again, this time from the smoke and soot all around. He could hear people screaming that the building was falling, but he felt he couldn't move as debris fell on and around him. Suddenly a voice said, "Quick, get on your feet." At the same time he felt hands grabbing him on each side and pulling and dragging him rapidly down the street as the one of the towers crumbled to the ground.