Have you ever tried to turn a snowflake into a snowball? It’s nearly impossible. When you get the first snowflake, it dissipates into nothingness before you wrangle a second one. Yet, somehow snowflakes turn into snow, which turns into a snowball and can turn into an avalanche.
Starting a business is like turning a snowflake into an avalanche. It’s rare and takes a lot of luck.
Like the first fallen snowflake, organizations start with a party of one: one chief, cook and bottle-washer. The starter has to have the momentum to stick around long enough to go from one to many without losing all of their substance, energy, determination and hope, like many before them.
I have been desperate many times, staring at the bottom of the barrel, desperate to get to one more day, always on the verge of that, “Oh Crap” moment.
Below you will find my Top 3 not to do and to do items when you find yourself at the brink of melting into nothingness:
Top 3 Things Not to Do
- Do not give up: You have a dream. If it is germane to who you are, it is worth the fight. If your day is driven by the pursuit of its reality, it is worth the tears. If you know in your heart of hearts that if you don’t do it, someone will, then it is worth every moment of life you dedicate to it. Do not give up. God is with you and regardless of where it lands, He is already there.
- Do not sell your future to the wrong people: Most entrepreneurial efforts require the starter to recruit. We simply cannot do everything on our own. So, often, we’ll give stock/ownership/partnership to the first person that comes along with a glisten in their eye and a commitment to help. If you do not put performance standards around your partnership, you are a fool – I have been that fool. Don’t be a fool. I have overpaid, overcommitted stock and tied myself to the wrong people too many times to count. I have been burned every time. Do not be so desperate to have a friend, so desperate to see your vision made real that you make horrible mistakes in the process of starting the journey.
- Do not live in your hope: It is really easy to live in the dream and not the reality. The dream is successful. The dream is perfect. The dream is full of lots of benefits. BUT, THE DREAM DOES NOT EXIST. It is not real. The dream only becomes real after lots of hard work. You must have the discipline to be motivated by what could be while living in what is.
Top 3 things to do
- Pray: Your greatest strength is your relationship with God. He will calm your nerves, keep you centered and provide. I cannot tell you how many times God provided at the last minute. It is truly unbelievable. If you are equipped to do what you are doing and your intention is Kingdom building, trust your Creator with the outcome.
- Run: Do not slow down. You are the drive behind the vision. No one will get you to it. You have to drive it. So many will question you on the front end. They will all be experts telling you why it’s a bad idea and why they’re not excited about it. Only you will run the full race. Their opinions simply do not matter and, I assure you, they will be the first people to say, “I always knew you had a good idea.” Run and keep running from anyone that does not really understand what you are doing but has a million opinions about it.
- Win: Winning a race is done one step at a time. It does not happen all at once. You must keep putting one step in front of the other. Similarly, getting your startup from idea to reality requires a long series of steps. It requires many small wins, one after another, to ultimately get you to the finish line. Take the time to line your wins up and then KNOCK THEM DOWN!
Every small win adds one more layer of momentum to the race.
