I just recently started out on my own, building a network though which I would like to assist all companies (big, small, tiny, enormous) to look at their communications infrastructure, re-evaluate its effectiveness and strategise the their company’s communications future, in the same manner as one would strategise the company’s financial future.
Before I started, I stumbled upon my friend Beverly’s note on 5 Things to consider before starting a business.
This post made me think about the journey that I just undertook and so re-evaluate whether I am ready fro this hike up a this proverbial mount Kilimanjaro.
Let us check my backpack before we go:
Dream?
Before you can start any business, you need to have a dream. How you get to your dream is your own prerogative. I believe however that every person on the face of this earth was born to fulfil a specific function; we all have an inherent drive to find our purpose, our dream for our life.
Once you have found this dream, you have bought the back pack for your journey. Everything you pack in for your journey, needs to fit into your backpack, in other words, everything you do to build your business should stay true to your original dream. Remember not to buy a back-pack that will not be big enough, so dream big, you are only limited by your own imagination and ambition.
Passion?
Once you have bought a back-pack, you are going to need proper hiking boots. These support your whole body when you want to faal down, when your body aches and you have that last mile to go, a good set of hiking boots are essential.
And so is passion. If you are not passionate about what you do, you will never make a success out of it. Passion will keep you from giving up when you are one more proposal away from success, but you are so tired that you can not see through your burning eyes and you can hardly take a breath between yawns.
Passion will be your Vitamin B injection when you are suffering from the flu on the night before your opening and deal clenching presentation. Passion is the cushion that will keep you from stumbling and faling off the cliff on your journey to the top.
Guts?
Here I am not talking about the ability to leap over gaping crevasse and taking risks, here I am talking about your willingness to accept the possibility of injury on your journey. On a hiking trip you may get stung by a bee, or you may trip and sprain your ankle or you might even just suffer from fatigue. These injuries might even cause you to have to temporarily delay your journey to the top.
Just as you prepare yourself mentally for these possibilities every time you do a physical activity, you need to prepare yourself for the possibility that the venture you are starting may not be successful. Don’t get me wrong, I am not telling you to expect failure, I am only asking you to anticipate your reaction should you fail.
If your mind has been adequately trained to deal with failure, then it is less likely that eminent or a looming possibility of failure will prevent you from reaching the top of your mountain. The fitter your body the less the possibility of a severe injury. Your mental fitness in the hike of entrepreneurship is GUTS: Genuine Understanding That Success is relative, i.e. success is not guarantee!
Determination?
You will need food on your hiking trip. You will need to feed your body in order to deal with the challenge that you will face on the challenges that it will have to overcome. The food for you soul on this hiking trip will be your determination. You will need to decide beforehand whether you want to succeed, will you be willing to deal with uncertainty and delight with in a single hour. Are you willing to endure fatigue and stress for weeks on end. Sometimes that spell of exhaustion will be met with a disappointment and sometimes it will be met with success.
Are you will to eat no matter how tired you are? Are you willing to try again and again, no matter what your last project’s outcome was?
Humility?
When attempting to climb a mountain such as Kilimanjaro, you will need a guide. You don’t know where to hide during a rain storm, or where to find fresh water or which road to follow to avoid running into a dead end.
In the same way you need to remember that you don’t know everything, you don’t have all the answers, you are going to need advice, you are going to need to ask for help. Let humility be your guide.
Just also always remember to check the credentials of the people whom you are asking for assistance. Don’t take advice from any Tom, Dick or Harry. Make sure you employ a guide as recommended by a reputable agency.
Self Tolerance?
When starting a business, you will be lonely. You will be working weekends, you will be working nights. Your social life will suffer, your private life will suffer. You will get tired.
And just as important as what rest and therefore a good sleeping bag are to a hiker, you will need a good dose of Self Tolerance. This will allow you to be comfortable and regroup in your own company. IF you can tolerate your own company, you will be able to work whenever you can. Since you will not have this inherent need to be with other, you will not feel rushed to finish that with witch you are busy, just so that you don’t have to keep yourself company.
A small dose of Stupidity?
Lastly each and every hiking trip will be easier if you have little something to remind you that you will need a good sense of humour in order to survive this great yet rewarding challenge. So put on your pink polka dot bandanna and giggle at yourself, because each and every successful entrepreneur does not feel the need to drink a pill in order to cure the small dose of stupidity and insanity that they were blessed with.