Oct
4

Patience Is A Virtue – And A Killer – For Some Entrepreneurs

The other day I had lunch with a few entrepreneurs that I know.   They are really sharp guys.  Well spoken, smart, driven and likable (I know what you are thinking – why are they at lunch with YOU? LOL).  Anyhow, we meet periodically to talk about what we are all working on.  One thing that I have noticed is that each time we meet, one of these two guys has a new batch of businesses that he is working on (the other has created a current business that is exciting, doing great and I am sure I will write about it later).  Several of the other entrepreneurs ideas and opportunities have had promise – like I said, he is sharp and driven – but some of them have turned out to be less impressive.  This is what I admire about him and other entrepreneurs that have the discipline to do what he does.  If an idea or a deal has serious problems (not I quit, wimp out kind of problems mind you), he drops it and moves on.  Time and again he is wading through new opportunities until he finds the right fit again.  Notice the word ‘again’.  He has had great success in a previous venture.  Nevertheless, he is somewhat independently wealthy, so the fact that he keeps digging until he hits paydirt is impressive to me.  The vast majority of woodbe entrepreneurs rush to start or do something too quickly. It takes a lot of personal discipline, hard work without reward, and a keen sense of self-worth to be able to work and work and work with no “results” to speak of.  He has always been this way – it’s not the money from his last sale that created his willingness to be patient and go without.  Trust me, it’s the other way around.

As I reflected on the bad deals that I have done it is clear to me now that I was doing them because I wanted to make a deal with that person, or in that area, or with that type of business – and I let that override the core principles of the opportunity (or lack thereof). It is hard to say no to an opportunity that you can actually run with.  I know now of some times I have said yes when I should have said no. I learned a lot from these mistakes, so I can’t say that I regret them, but I just assume the rest of you out there not have that learning curve.  I realize in advance I have oversimplified this issue, and that I could go on and on about various agonizing details, but that’s not my style.  I am a pretty simple guy (I don’t re-read blog posts for example, I hit spell check and publish – bingo!).  So, with that, here are some of my suggestions to finding the right business, deal or opportunity for an aspiring entrepreneur:

1 – Be thoughtful.   If you are in a hurry to find a business to buy or start then you might not be ready to find the right opportunity.  I am not saying go slow.  Remember one of my favorite quotes noted in another post “Good things come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle!”

2 – Look for something that accentuates your strengths and interests you. If you can partner with a fantastic real estate developer and potentially make a lot of money – but you are a programmer and internet geek to the bone – don’t do it. Keep in mind that I am assuming you haven’t really ventured to far out on the entrepreneurial limb before. If you have had success and want to broaden your portfolio and/or interests, perhaps the real estate developer partnership is worthy of consideration.  If not, try to do something more in your wheelhouse first.

3 – Does the business have “legs”.  This is an over used term.  Either way, what I am getting at is does the business have long term viability?  Don’t have your first company or deal be based around a “get in, get out” strategy.  Later on you can build businesses quicker, and sell them quicker (if you want to) because you will know more and things will go faster.  However, I think you are in for a bit of a rude awakening if you think your first real entrepreneurial venture will be as simple as in-n-out.  There are a select few that strike gold in their first venture but they are the exception, not the rule.  Don’t let articles and books that romanticize about millionaires who are created quickly make you think it is common. There is no such thing as a “quick” millionaire in the real world (and let me clue you in – you and I, we live in the real world).

4 – Are the numbers truly conservative? Seriously, how low can you go? I can’t tell you how many people I have talked to that show $10M in sales their second year of performa financials and tell me it is conservative.  Be so conservative it hurts!  Be so low on your numbers that there is no possible way that you can go beneath them. If you can build the business from these horribly low depths, then you stand a better chance at making it (assuming 1 – 3 above have been accomplished).

I hope I am not a “do as I say, not as I do” blogger, but for now I am going to make a note to re-read this once a year (recurring calendar event) and see how I am doing.  How are you doing???

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