Remember the time you grabbed all the bravery you had, and jumped off the high dive for the first time? For many of you that was the first real due diligence that you undertook. You probably stood around the ladder for a couple of days just to see if anyone fell off while climbing. You checked out the jumpers and compared them to yourself, in terms of age, weight, athletic ability and the types of bathing suits they were wearing. (I once saw a poor kid lose his suit in the crystal clear water under the board. The next time he was at the pool he was wearing cut off jean shorts and belt! )
Then one day when there were very few people at the pool, you took to the ladder and began to climb. All the while you were hoping that a line would not form at the bottom, because if that happened, you were done. Nobody ever, and I do mean ever, climbs down to endure the abuse and torment of the crowd below. There really is no turning back.
Buying your first job feels just about the same doesn’t it? You really want to be an owner of a business and have worked hard to get to this point. You have studied all the papers and the industry to the nth degree. Now you are on the ladder and have that nauseous feeling in your stomach and look back to see a line forming and a small amount of panic creeps in.
Let me remind you why you will beat the odds and succeed.
There are no absolutes in anything. You too, have your own reasons that cause you to take the chance of going into business for yourself. You have many qualities that will enable your success, but you don’t need them all, and you don’t need them all the time. You do however need some, and you need to use the some, all of the time.
I bought my first store when I was eighteen. I was not especially smart. I was not especially driven. I was not especially passionate or pressured from family. I did have two things that for me, were necessary in order to take the leap of faith in myself to strike out in business. They were, and still are:
1. Pride
2. Nothing to lose
Now I realize that at eighteen, I without question had nothing to lose; our situations may be slightly different with you having tons of worldly possessions to your name and probably a family to support. But it is more of an attitude that I am going for here. Ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen?
If the worst thing is that you may lose money, big deal. Everybody loses money sometime in their life, you can get that back! What you can’t get back is the time spent in a dead end job that is stealing your opportunity to soar with the eagles!
This brings us to the second item; Pride. What the heck is wrong with you? You can simply will this business idea of yours to succeed if you want it badly enough. You can’t let the Nay-Sayers have their way. A strong business will adapt and overcome to any circumstance. The beauty of a small business is that you can change your mind and switch business plans on a dime. You keep your nose to the winds of change and go with it. You don’t fail, it is that simple. Your pride won’t let it happen.
You see, you are already in business for yourself now. You are just adapting to the now situations in your life and creating another income source. There is no turning back; you are at the end of the diving board looking down upon the crystal clear waters of success.
Now what are you waiting for…Jump!