This is the final of four posts by Jonathan Terrell, President of KCIC, drawn from his essay “Entrepreneurship As The Privilege of Creating Community.”

“Entrepreneurship is the privilege of being able to create community as a place to live your beliefs.”

There, in a nutshell, are my views about entrepreneurship.

What are these beliefs that are so important to me to live by? In the terminology of the NPR special series “This I Believe”:

1. I believe in the United States of America. This is still the best country in the world to be an entrepreneur – and it has made me welcome as both an immigrant and a businessman.

2. I believe in family. The fundamental skills and confidence needed for entrepreneurship are most often developed in families. And I believe the stability of family life, and the support of a spouse, is essential to the risk taking at the heart of entrepreneurship.

3. I believe in making the world a better place for the living of my life and the creation of this business – in small ways or in great.

4. I believe in creating something of value that will outlive me.

5. I believe I was put on the earth to serve – my community, my family, my church, my clients, and my employees.

6. I believe in doing things better for their own sake: to be better today than yesterday, and better still tomorrow.

7. I believe in striving – life without striving is an empty existence.

8. I believe in diversity in all things: ideas especially, but also culture, religious beliefs and ethnicity. Differences are interesting and should unite us not divide us. Diversity makes us strong.

9. I believe in teamwork, but teamwork is more than a word. It requires a conscious decision to place individual success secondary to the goal. That takes guts.

10. I believe in personal loyalty. This is more than friendship, more than liking. It’s about connecting with someone’s spirit and standing with him or her, come what may.

11. I believe in risk taking. Make a careful plan, and then go with your gut. Have a go. Strikeout. It takes courage, but anything worth having is worth fighting for.

12. I believe that money is the lifeblood of every business and that without good financial hygiene a business will fail. However, a business run simply to make money really has nothing to sustain it. Great products, great solutions, great communities equal business success. Money is a by-product of these things – welcome, but not the main event.

13., 14., 15. I have three more core beliefs …

What are they? To find out, please read my complete essay here.

Click here to read the previous post in this series.