Last week, I joined a friend of mine to visit his cousin who became a professional athlete at age 18. Twenty five years later, the cousin has aspirations of owning his own business and bringing the “cool” factor back to the sport. He says that the sport has gone corporate, and he has some great ideas of how he can generate a lot of revenue while bringing an old school vibe back. This included customized equipment, cool apparel, and school & training programs. Everything sounded solid, and I later found out that he has been discussing this same plan for the past five years.
When I had asked why he hadn’t started his own business, he replied in one word “FEAR”. He’s now a father of 3 and a husband. He works for a corporation, and generates a salary. My friend believes in his cousin, and has offered to fund the start up, but yet he hasn’t pulled the trigger.
When I’ve spoken to others who want to start their own business, I hear similar verbiage. They don’t know if they will fail, and they are comfortable with their steady income and benefits.
My feedback is simple: What is the worst thing that is going to happen if you start this business, and it doesn’t work out? Typically, the new business venture is something that they are talented in or they are experts at in their current job. I believe the worst thing that can happen is that they would have to go back to their job or get another job. Sure, there may be loss of time and money, but if you don’t even give it a shot, how will you know?
I do believe writing down a business plan is important. It should be deliberate, but doesn’t need to be a huge endeavor to create. This will provide a guideline as you work your way through the process, and regular reviews can keep you on track. This includes how much you’d like to invest into the business, what kind of clients/markets you will be involved, and why you are doing this. Check out this guideline: http://theeverygirl.com/what-to-include-in-your-business-plan
Call to action: What’s holding you back from living the best life you envision? First, let’s write it down, do a little due diligence and pull the pieces together. Go slow or go fast, but do something to live a life that you are passionate about.