Summary: A small business startup expert
reveals the lessons learned, and how they apply to small business owners, when she went
skydiving and had to rely on faith instead of opting for fear.
Several years ago, I went skydiving. Obviously falling out of a plane 10,000+ feet above
ground isn't the safest thing you can do. To limit their liability and make sure everyone
understood the waiver we were required to sign, skydiving companies have participants sit
through an hour long presentation that details the things that can go wrong with your
parachute and possible (but not probable) ways to fix those while plummeting to the ground
at warp speed.
A few people decided to opt out of the jump after the
presentation. They allowed fear to drive their decision. I was scared, but decided to jump
having faith that my parachute was packed correctly and I would make it to the ground
safely.
The experience was exhilarating and those who stayed on the
ground wanted to know how it was. I found it difficult to describe the rollercoaster of
emotion that wound through me on the plane ride up, while standing at the end of the plane
with my toes over the edge, the jumping, the free falling, the yank back up when the air
caught the parachute and then the peaceful and relaxed floating.
But even harder to describe was the leap I made inside
myself about being able to do anything. By making a faith-based decision, I allowed myself
to grow from experience.
Those who made the fear-based decision felt nothing but
fear.
Being a new business owner is a lot like skydiving in the
sense that you are taking calculated risks daily that run you through a flurry of emotions
before landing on the ground or getting to the outcome. Resilience is needed to weather
these frequent storms. Unfortunately, I am currently seeing a lot more fear-based decision
making with some of my clients and other small business owners.
It seems that economic conditions and money worries have
prompted some business owners to forget their vision, release their commitment to success
and make decisions to cut resources, scale back on assistance and abandon marketing
campaigns.
In their minds, they are making these decisions to help the
business. In reality, these fear-based decisions will keep their businesses and them from
growing. This happens when a business owner makes decisions based on fear: they isolate
themselves, close themselves off to opportunities and energetically "give-up"
doing what is necessary to succeed. Many of them justify firing their support staff
including assistants, bookkeepers and coaches-the very resources that are supporting the
business growth and making it possible for them to focus on their core brilliance.
When a small business owner removes their support systems
they put themselves in a backwards position which is exactly the opposite of where you
need to be to make progress.
The biggest reason small business owners sabotage
themselves this way is because it's uncomfortable to operate in faith. It's scary to trust
in yourself. It feels hard to have to make it happen yourself. However, if you really want
to be a small business owner for the long haul, you must be able to feel the fear and act
anyway. Those who aren't resilient and make faith-based decisions fade away within the
first year or two of business by tucking in their head and sending out resumes to get back
into corporate.
In contrast, I have witnessed several of my clients, some
who also had money concerns make faith-based decisions, choosing to invest in themselves
and their businesses trusting the outcome will serve them and it's not always the way they
thought it would be, but in every case good resulted.
Faith is an essential characteristic for success when you
own your own business. You can't always see around the corner or know how sales will go
the next month or the next, but having faith will put you in a place of being willing to
receive, open to opportunities and on a path of commitment to doing everything you can and
must do to make your business a success.
Growth comes from having faith. Do you have it?
© 2009, Leah Grant Enterprises LLC. |
