Sacrifice - How to Start a Business
"What am I willing to sacrifice for what I want to become?" - Anon
Not exactly the top question that you may be asking yourself as you embark on starting a new business--but it should be. Starting a new business can seem very sexy and exciting from the outside looking in, and it is indeed all of those things. However, there are some potentially pointed downsides to starting your own business as well. One of these downsides centers around the fact that you will more than likely have to sacrifice more than you ever have in order to be successful at your business.
There is a more popular, similar saying to the one above that goes "everybody wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die." The answer to the first quote, "What am I willing to sacrifice" is one that few people ever bother to answer up front. This is a mistake because in every entrepreneur's journey, there will come a moment of truth that will test just how bad you really want this. And you don't want to surprise yourself with your answer while under that kind of pressure.
I encourage you to take some time to really think about what's at stake in your life and what you are willing to do...and not do in order to make it happen. Of course, a greater sacrifice yields a greater reward, but you must also know your own individual limits on both risk AND sacrifice so that you don't blow yourself out of the water. Everybody does not have the cast-iron will (or stomach) to be a Richard Branson, all-caution-to-the-wind kind of business person, and that's OK.
Of course Richard has been able to experience HUGE rewards for what he has been willing to put on the line, but that doesn't mean that you MUST play at THAT level in order to attain the paradigm of happiness that YOU have created for yourself (its by YOUR design, remember?)
So get in touch with where you fit in this whole entrepreneurial drama. Yes, challenge yourself to stretch beyond your comfort zone, but most of all, KNOW THY SELF. Put your stake in the ground and don't let anybody deter you from building your dream just the way you see fit to build it.
Not exactly the top question that you may be asking yourself as you embark on starting a new business--but it should be. Starting a new business can seem very sexy and exciting from the outside looking in, and it is indeed all of those things. However, there are some potentially pointed downsides to starting your own business as well. One of these downsides centers around the fact that you will more than likely have to sacrifice more than you ever have in order to be successful at your business.
There is a more popular, similar saying to the one above that goes "everybody wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die." The answer to the first quote, "What am I willing to sacrifice" is one that few people ever bother to answer up front. This is a mistake because in every entrepreneur's journey, there will come a moment of truth that will test just how bad you really want this. And you don't want to surprise yourself with your answer while under that kind of pressure.
I encourage you to take some time to really think about what's at stake in your life and what you are willing to do...and not do in order to make it happen. Of course, a greater sacrifice yields a greater reward, but you must also know your own individual limits on both risk AND sacrifice so that you don't blow yourself out of the water. Everybody does not have the cast-iron will (or stomach) to be a Richard Branson, all-caution-to-the-wind kind of business person, and that's OK.
Of course Richard has been able to experience HUGE rewards for what he has been willing to put on the line, but that doesn't mean that you MUST play at THAT level in order to attain the paradigm of happiness that YOU have created for yourself (its by YOUR design, remember?)
So get in touch with where you fit in this whole entrepreneurial drama. Yes, challenge yourself to stretch beyond your comfort zone, but most of all, KNOW THY SELF. Put your stake in the ground and don't let anybody deter you from building your dream just the way you see fit to build it.