In all the conversations I have had with successful entrepreneurs and business owners, I am yet to find one that claims his ride to the top was a smooth sail. I really want to know one, just one person who has built a successful venture and hasn’t fallen flat on his face a few times. Whether you like it or not, there will always be times when it seems your whole world is crashing down, where you think you are about to lose your entire life savings to the ’stupid project’, where everything and everyone around you only ask of you to give up…this period(s) is inevitable. It is a rite of passage!
The true test of an entrepreneur is NOT how fast he/she can turn an idea into a working ‘piece’ or how quickly the first million will be reported in the profit section of the company’s working plan. It is really in how well he rises from his downfalls. It’s in how inspired he is the second time around.
One of my favorite inspirational quotes of all time is “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. I don’t know who first said it but it’s been accredited to Joseph Kennedy, father of John F. Kennedy. It captures completely the attitude a true startup-er, a real entrepreneur should have. You must be tough, you must be able to rise up to the challenge, you must show character when everyone around you is shattered. This is what separates you from a failure, this is the sort of attitude that will drive your business to the top.
Most startups built by new entrepreneurs face the same challenges and troubles, this isn’t surprising. It all boils down to lack of experience and many times – lack of mental toughness. In an interview I had an interview recently with Martin Zwilling, his one advice for new entrepreneurs is to look to partner up with experienced entrepreneurs. His reasons are obvious…these people know what to expect, they’ve been through the rough times and have grown tough skin to bare it. These people can guide you and tell you it’s all going to get better, just soldier on. I completely agree with him. Build your tolerance now, expect a lot of rejections, expect a lot of new innovations to grow your startup failing, expect to little or no customer for a long time…these are parts and parcel of running a start-up.
Another challenge many gen y entrepreneurs face is the issue of funding. I never encourage starting out by chasing VCs for capital because it often never works and when it does I really think it’s more trouble than it is relieve. It’s not signing your soul to the devil but it’s certainly not a key to heaven either. As far as funding goes, I always advice bootstrapping as a first option. This is never easy however, you will have to live on the edge alot, go without meals so you could use the money for a marketing campaign, choose to make posters rather than gas up your car e.t.c. i have done them all…it’s never easy. At this point you need to step your game up, rather than give up…see it as a call to greatness, an opportunity to do something special.
When things start to look bleak, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect. Think about everyone who has succeeded and started from nothing. Think about how hard it must have been and how dejected they were too. Edison failed over and over again but never gave up…get over it, you are in the big leagues now!
