When our kids were younger and we had 4 under age 12, one with special needs, people would look at James and I and say “I don’t know how you do it.” It wasn’t only that we were raising our young family, but we also had tackled going into business for ourselves in one of the toughest industries to succeed at. We were well aware of the common belief that there is a 90% failure rate in the restaurant business, but we were committed to doing whatever it took to make it work. Our ambition and motivation stemmed in part from…if not eagerness, then single minded focus.
If I had to answer that query, how do we do it, we just do it. It may seem overly simple, but it really is just that. How do you do anything really? The facts were that we had no money, we actually were pretty deeply in debt and living week to week. We had 5 kids between us. But we were healthy, and we had love, and we had a strong desire to improve our life situation.
We approach our lives with the belief in doing whatever it takes. I know that this is the only way to truly succeed at anything. You cannot make a relationship work if you are thinking “Well, I will love him as long as…or until…” Being in business, or attaining success in anything is the same way. There are always going to be sacrifices, trade-offs. You have to sacrifice eating ice cream every night if you want to be fit. You have to trade off going out every night if you have kids. You have to forfeit guaranteed vacations if go into business for yourself. And you have to give up your time to grow your impact or your career.
This fact, that of sacrifice, holds some people back. They would rather stay in a static world of their own creation, where the sacrifices are convenient, and this is okay. Not everyone strives for greater things. But so many yearn for more, as evidenced by the huge industry that is called franchising. It’s a dream for so many to go into business for themselves. There are literally over 750,000 franchises in the US alone. Is this a guarantee of success? I would say no, the only guarantee is in the mindset of the owner.
So what kind of person does it take to be an entrepreneur? The same kind of person it takes to be a leader. You don’t have to be the owner, you can bring great value and attain great rewards, personal and financial, if you tackle anything you do with the same psychology. What does it take?
-It takes courage to take responsibility while others make excuses.
-It takes being dissatisfied with your current reality.
-It means being open to new ideas.
-It takes a willingness to put yourself at risk and to fail.
-It means seeing possibilities, not limitations
-It takes an all or nothing mentality when thinking of what you will do to make things better.
-It takes sacrifice.