People ask me all the time.
How do I become an entrepreneur?
How do I start my own business?
How can I transform my art, my hobby, my passion into a successful venture?
People ask me, and they then…
Frown at the reply.
It’s because their expectations aren’t met.
It’s because they’re asking—so they think—a business question.
And they expect—of course—a business answer.
But believe it or not, the secret to success,
Isn’t found in business textbooks.
There is, in business, no textbook definition—no textbook strategy—for success.
How do I know this?
Well, for what it’s worth, I studied management and accounting, and I worked as an accountant and business adviser for more than 20 years.
I know business (that’s why people keep asking me that question in the first place).
And I know when textbook business advice is useful,
And when it’s of no help at all.
That’s why I say success isn’t ensured via a business strategy.
If it were, Yvon Chouinard’s business would have failed—a long time ago.
If it were, Scrivener wouldn’t be a Mac-only app.
I can go on, but,
I’ll get to the point.
You want to make that leap—cross that divide—from employee to entrepreneur?
You want to be a successful business owner?
Then do this:
Stand before a mirror,
Do you see a successful entrepreneur?
Gaze into your eyes, and ask yourself this,
What are the odds of me being successful?
Now ask yourself,
Do I believe I can be successful at business?
Measure mightily the answer.
Because it all starts with belief.
At the end of the day there’s more value in that tired, old expression, “You gotta believe!”
Than there is in a hundred business textbooks.
And, at the end of the day, understand that science is beginning to prove,
What Henry Ford said a hundred years ago,
Whether you believe you will succeed, or believe you will fail.
You’re right.
Ideas? Suggestions? Questions? Please leave a comment.
