How big do you want to be?
I talk to entrepreneurs virtually every day, in all stages of development and across a wide varieties of sectors. While they are all different, there are many common themes. There are the questions they ask, and there are the challenges they don’t ask about that we see them all face eventually.
Today I thought I’d touch on one of those challenges, which is Growth.
Most of the entrepreneurs I work with and talk to are in either the technology space or the consumer goods space. Since the majority of them are seeking outside investment, their projected financials almost always look like the proverbial “hockey stick”. One aspect of my job is to help them get there.
While multi-million dollar companies look good on paper, many an entrepreneur has come up against some hard choices on the road there. Are you willing to give up a significant share of your company to get the investment you want? Are you willing to tip the work/life balance squarely over to work for an uncertain number of years as you focus on building your company? What will that mean to your family? Can you maintain your values and integrity on the ride up, because they will be challenged? Do you really have the skills, personality and perseverance to grow your company as big as you think you can? Are you willing to step aside to get to where you want to go?
Hard questions that many an entrepreneur has bumped up against and struggled to answer. Similarly, we see struggles on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Not every great idea is a great business. Another aspect of my job is helping entrepreneurs understand this concept. While we sincerely want every entrepreneur we meet with to be a huge success, many simply have ideas that are more in the “lifestyle business” category versus high-growth potential. It is also interesting to watch entrepreneur’s response to this challenge. How do they respond when faced with holes in their business model? What do you really want - a small business you are passionate about or a big business you’re not? Does a setback or two on the road to riches inspire you or cause you to throw in the towel?
I think we can take these lessons easily into a discussion of Personal Excellence and Personal Growth.
How big do “you” want to be? We’ve talked about personal branding a bit on this blog, and implied that your personal brand is, in a sense, your personal business. So how big do you want to be and how prepared are you to face the journey?
If you are trying to grow your brand, have aspirations to be a CEO, published author, famous artist, or start a successful company, how prepared are you to fail? Or at least fall short of your goals? Will you be challenged or will you give up. What if you are successful? Are you prepared for the seductions of power, money and fame? Are your personal values and ethics strong enough that you can stay true to yourself even as your brand takes off?
You’ll have challenges too even if you want to stay small. Even lifestyle business and entrepreneurs grow, and it’s all relative. So what happens when your brand becomes popular enough that you’re working 60 hour weeks and it’s impacting your family life? Can you maintain the quality of your brand in that situation? Do you bring in a partner, potentially growing even more, or do you scale back potentially sending the message you don’t want to be successful?
How big do you want to be?
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