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“I NEVER want to be involved in a small business.”
Those were my words two years ago, written in my journal. I’m now four months into starting my handmade designer fashion company -- a small business. So what changed?
For most of my life, thinking was my favorite thing to do. I loved to play with ideas. I could see nothing better in the world than the enjoyment of having thoughts dance around in my mind. Well, I was wrong.
I thought that my value as a person was inherent and that it had no connection with what I did. I had it in my head that the value of my ideas was based solely on their merit and not on their real-world manifestations. I was wrong.
Quite simply, I have come to value action. I have realized the supreme importance of getting things done. Not thinking idealistically and not dreaming all day; thinking quickly, dreaming far, and then doing everything humanly possible to actually get there.
My lack of understanding of the value of action caused much of the first 20 years of my life to be lived short of its potential. Whenever I had an idea, I’d think about it on the grandest scale possible – and in doing so, I’d avoid the ugly necessity of finding realistic solutions to real problems. I was hiding from risk, and afraid of certainty. I preferred to live my life in an ambiguous cloud of ideas and values that I could not quite define rather than allow my whole life to be examined under scrutiny. I didn’t have the confidence to take my ideas and dreams and put them out in the world and make them stand up on their own.
I thought that I was justified in doing so, because I was living for “higher ideals” – I didn’t realize that the only purpose of having ideals is to put them into practice in present life. It was a disillusioned disconnection from reality.
Now, I focus my efforts on putting my ideals into practice every day. And every time I do something, I learn from it and decide what to do next. The funny thing is that as soon as I committed to living a life of action, my dreams began growing larger and my ideas came faster than ever. I started to see how real life works and realized that my previous dreams – which I thought were amazing – were nothing compared to what is actually possible.
I mentioned that I’m starting a business. These realizations have done more for my business than any great business plan ever could. Because I value action, I am now getting more work done every day, and I am not afraid to measure my results. The financial side of my business, which I used to avoid, has become my greatest asset. I am not afraid to ask tough questions about how I am going to turn a profit.
I am no longer interested in hoping my way to success by living in a dream-world of idealism – my path to success is defined by specific products, specific suppliers, specific shipping dates, and specific prices. I used to fear that engulfing myself in specifics would cause me to lose sight of the big picture; I couldn’t have been more wrong. Learning the power of specifics has actually caused my dreams to grow larger than ever before – and these dreams are viable; they are built on strategies that work in the real world.
And so, the one piece of advice I would offer to someone interested in business is, start one. That’s it. I was volunteering in Guatemala when I became interested in starting an importing business in Canada. Did I have a detailed business plan? No. Did I know my market? No. But I decided to take the next four months of my life and go for it. I’m now in my fourth month. I’ve learned everything I need to begin selling. I’ve got a stellar product lineup, a great website, and what I believe to be a profitable business model. And I’ve learned absolutely everything along the way. Did I risk a lot? Depends how you look at it. I’m twenty years old and have no dependants, so my risk factor is about as low as it can get. My worst-case scenario involves folding the business and getting job. I’ll still have learned more in the past four months than my last two years of high school combined, and my chances of success in the next business will be that much greater. It will still be a loss, and I’ll do everything I can to avoid it, but it is a small price to pay for knowing that I did what I was passionate about and made decisions based on the long-term results.
I was not born an entrepreneur, and I doubt that anyone would have ever predicted that I’d become one. I was much more likely to end up a scientist. My parents are teachers; I was never exposed to the world of business until after I graduated from high school. The reason why I can call myself an entrepreneur today is not because I’ve read a lot of books or thought about clever business ideas. It is because I have started a business. Not because I had the idea for this business, but because today, this business actually exists. And I’ve never felt better in my life.
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Comments
christopher bernardo | Oct 29th, 2003
Great article! Hope your business grows to its full potential. Im Christopher, also a TIG COntributor, if you have other articles, please do email me at cmli_jc@yahoo.com. More Power!
lenguro karetti | Oct 18th, 2004
You're now living a reality of your actions.your business hopefulyl will grow in leap and bounds.please email me more of your articles at lengurok@yahoo.com.Action!ACTION!
Nothing Starts a Business but Action DELROY NESTER WILLIAMS | Nov 19th, 2004
loved the article, i am an aspiring entrepreneur myself, that article just showed me that i need to put things in place, time waits for no man, let me get on with my actions.
Good Article! Zorica Vukovic | Jan 12th, 2005
Matt, you should write more articles like this one! Also, I have visited your page and found out that you don't lack marketing skills either! Congratulations! Good work!
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