Owning your own business is second only to homeownership in its domination of the American Dream landscape(reference?). How many times have you dreamt of owning your own business? If you already own your own business you probably dream of launching another type of business. Creating your own business is akin to creating your own life in the open canvas of what could be.
Pleasure and more of it
Sam prides himself on his weekend creations. He masterfully creates mouthwatering BBQ in his back yard. He hosts parties that feature his craft. He soaks in the o and ah’s as the meat soaks in the savory sauces. Sam the Weekend Chef surveys the remains of the party after the last guest departs. He feels an intense feeling of satisfaction. The preceding hours have filled him with pleasure that is still filling his emotional storehouse. He has experienced pleasure and he wants more of it.
As he prepares to go to bed he says to his wife, “Everyone seemed to enjoy the BBQ, maybe we should open a restaurant to allow more people to enjoy my unique recipes?” Shelly his wife responds, “Honey, you are an amazing chef, but owning your own business is risky. Do we really want to take on that much risk right now?” He agrees and turns out the lights.
It is not unusual to take a hobby or passion for something and to develop a product or service in the area. Many have developed these products and worked hard to develop them into a business. We see examples of these people on the popular television show Shark Tank every week. Sam represents a common story of a person who enjoys cooking and hosting weekend dinner parties. He or she provides for their guests and they naturally desire more of this pleasure. Their product or service becomes an extension of the experience they had in pursuit of a hobby, hence the term “A labor of love.” A labor of love is no doubt a powerful force. Romantic feelings and ideas around what you do to make money is wrought with fuel for opportunity, but also potentially some bad decision making.
Lose the Romance
The question becomes how do we keep the power of passion and love on our side without inviting in the fuel for bad decision making? The first step is to acknowledge you are creating your new business to make money, which is a shift from pleasure on your weekends. There will be traces of the hobby in the business, but expect it to feel different. If your hobby is really important to you, to the point that the potential of losing the pleasure from that experience is problematic, rethink going into the business. Yes, it is important to build a business around what you love and believe in, but be prepared to hate some of these activities along the way. As you traverse the path of business development, the ugly warts will emerge. If you are not prepared for the unveiling, the results could be disastrous.
When you begin to plan to launch a new venture, go into it with your eyes open. Expose your business plan and idea to criticism. Do not let the critics kill your desire to grow and create a business, but be open to changing your plans or pivoting to a higher path. It is always critical that you take criticism and information in context. Context is extremely important. If you run your idea by your friend that has no business experience and he tells you that it will never be the next big idea, it is okay to disregard the majority of his opinion, but listen carefully for any nuggets of insight that may be valuable. When you discuss your business plan with a successful experienced entrepreneur, listen in a different way. He may have some great insight into things you need to adjust or approach in a different way, but do not let even the most experienced person cause you to give up. Even if you have to pivot to an entirely different path keep moving forward. Learn everything you can, but keep what you learn in context. You are the only one that truly knows what you are capable of and what you are willing to do to keep your dream alive. That is what I love most about business. As you walk the daily walk of an entrepreneur or business owner you will have the opportunity to learn at an intense pace. You will be challenged and your capacity expanded in ways you never imagined.
Do not approach creating a business as a romantic endeavor, but approach it instead as a wise and demanding child. This child will stretch and push you, but you will feel joy and pride as you explore and bring to life the potential of this creation.
Plan to succeed
We hear all of the time that starting a business is risky and that the majority of new businesses fail. It is of course true that many businesses fail, but many businesses begin in ways that are incredibly ignorant and careless, very rarely succeeding in spite of their messy and humble beginnings. Starting a business is not entirely a leap into the unknown. The first step in fleshing out your ideas or writing a business plan is to research and think through the details. Recently, there is a push to forget writing a business plan. There is an argument that the future is unknown, so why bother guessing and putting a lot of work and time into a business plan that is all guessing and imagined success to put it on the shelf and disregard it. I agree that writing a formal business plan to complete an item on a check list and to satisfy the banker or other outside party is not in itself extremely valuable. I do know that thinking through and writing down the financial and other aspects of a business is invaluable. The process must be engaged in for self-discovery and to expose incorrect assumptions and flaws in the business model. The habit of planning and being strategic about planning is a huge competitive advantage. If you can, do the exercise on your own first with numbers and structures that make sense to you and your way of thinking about the business, then bring in experts to review it with you. This process will prevent costly mistakes. It is important to decide at the very beginning how much you are willing to risk launching the business. It does not have to be all or nothing; bankruptcy is not the only downside. You have control over what you are willing to lose if your business does not succeed, but you must have the discipline to set a limit and to stick with it.
No guarantees
I encourage and believe whole heartedly in detailed plans and budgets. I believe using these tools and updating them and reviewing them often will exponentially increase the likelihood of success. If I could give you only one piece of advice, it would be this: Do not get analysis paralyses. While you will never completely eliminate risk, learning through analysis is the most important step toward minimizing it. If you’re willing to go through all of these sometimes tedious and scary steps to prepare yourself for your business venture, if you feel like you have created a solid plan (and you have exposed the plan to experts such as your accountant and attorney), start your plan of action. Labor is the only path to the miracle of creation.
