Say Goodbye to the Boss (eBook)

Chapter 2
Step One: Clearly Define Your Vision of Success

Beat the odds by following the correct path.

Anyone who’s seriously researched starting their own business knows that according to the U.S. Department of Labor, approximately 50 percent of business start-ups will fail by year five, and approximately 66 percent will fail by year ten. But, I can show you that it does not have to be that way for you.

This book is for people who, for numerous reasons, want or need to operate their own business venture. Perhaps you are looking to pursue a lifelong dream of being your own boss, or want to take up a socially responsible endeavor and need to make some money to help support it. Or maybe you believe you have a product or service that is far above all others and feel it could be the next great thing.

Most purported experts, when talking about starting a business, do not specifically address how or where to actually begin. Oftentimes, this is because they have not experienced running a business for themselves, hands on, and/or have not analyzed it carefully. The most frequent question I get is, “Hey, I’m thinking about starting a business; should I form an S Corporation or an LLC?” That is a strong indication to me that the person has not delved into what I call “The Four W’s of Success.”

WHY, WHAT, WHEN, & WHERE

The four W’s are Why, What, When, and Where. Successful entrepreneurs take the time to think through these questions to the point of finding their true, deep, and personal answers. The answers to these questions will literally form the foundation of your business, and they can ultimately determine the heights of your success.

REALLY, WHY?

Quite simply, why are you doing this?

The 4 W’s seem pretty easy. Why? What? When? Where?

Why? - ???. . . hmmm, come to think of it, that’s not as easy to answer as it may first seem.

What? You have your idea or product/service.

When? Your timeframe is usually based on products, market, inventory, staffing, etc. These will set a timeframe as you’re building your business. And of course, setting an opening day is always a huge step!

Where? Usually the geographic area you’ve already planted yourself into or are in the process of making that move.

But, the “Why.” The “why” is tricky.

We’re going to need to spend some time on the “Why.”

The “Why” of their business can be hard for a lot of new entrepreneurs to find. Especially if you’re not great at talking through your own emotions and feelings. Most people aren’t able to talk about their warm and fuzzy feelings with others, much less discuss the things that genuinely drive them or stop them in their tracks. The truly successful people can tell you their “why” and make you a believer in their product or service, just by telling you their story of why. It’s that powerful!

The answer may seem simple. Standard answers initially are “for my kids” or “for my family” or “immigration family history.” While, yes, these are all good reasons and they are a part of your why, they alone are not enough to drive you to success. Those are not truly your entire why. It’s about answering your why, and then digging deeper with the additional, why.

Some will say, “My kids are my why.” - Why?

Some will say, “My parents both immigrated here with nothing, they’re my why.” - Why?

The hard part of exploring the why is taking the time to ask the tough questions.

Why has this one thing impacted my life?

Why is it so important for me to do this?

Why am I really feeling like I owe this to x, y or z?

Why are my personal values leading me to need to do this?

There is a great article from small business advisor, Marla Tabaka, where she speaks at length about “The Most Important Question for Achieving Success.” In her article, she goes through a series of questions that may be helpful to you. I’ve found myself using similar questions as I’ve started my own businesses through the years. She speaks about how these questions, well the answers actually, usually lead people to tears. “Deep, meaningful tears that rock their world.” This one little question should be given due respect and plenty of time. Your entire business purpose, principle and model are buried in your why.

Begin with the following questions and, after each one, ask “Why?” Why is this true? Why is it important to me? Why do I feel so strongly about this? Why, why, why? When you believe you have the answer, ask again—“Why?” Use your feelings as the gauge; they will tell you when you finally arrive at the real answer.

• What is the most important thing in the world to me?
• When I lose all track of time, I am usually doing [what].
• I get most excited and passionate when I talk about [what].
• If money were not an issue, I would volunteer my time and money to do [what].
• If there was one thing in the world that I could change, what would it be?
• What world issue matters most to me?
• If I did a TED talk, what would my core message be?
• What are my personal values? (This, too, goes deeper than you may believe and is another process that you may need help going through.)

Remember, to find the freedom that is so important to you, this is the single most important piece of information to wrap your heart and mind around. Devote the time, energy, and money, if necessary, to find your real “why”!

(https://www.inc.com/marla-tabaka/finding-your-why-you-may-be-missing-the-most-important-step.html)

However you get there, it is imperative that you find your true “Why.” Being able to dig into the true reasons behind your why, is a humbling act. Humble yourself to the point of earth shaking tears to find your true “Why.” It will be worth it and your convictions and drive will be that much stronger when going through this process and sustaining a successful business.

We’re talking about people who typically want to leave a controlled and structured environment, such as corporate America or a union job, to invest in an opportunity to take control for themselves. These are people with discipline and emotional intelligence who will fully appreciate the exercise of going through the four W’s. And they are expecting to succeed. They have no “Plan B” in their back pocket.

While you may think that everyone who starts a business is expecting to succeed, frequently people go into a business with an attitude that failure is an option and trying is enough. As Yoda says, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

The business model for this book is not something you can do at your kitchen table; we’re not talking about a consulting practice. My experience is in running businesses with offices, retail outlets, restaurants, manufacturing, and service providers with employees, and all that goes with it. If you are happy as a consultant, great, this book is not for you. If you have a bigger idea then we can work together to get your “Plan A” in order.

Speaking of food and beverage service, a restaurant deserves special mention because it is probably the only business model where everything is done under one roof. You get raw product in—figuratively speaking—at one end of production, where that raw product is ultimately transformed into a final product on the other end. That final product is then sold under that same roof, with customer service performed under that same roof as well.

Think about that in contrast to building an automobile, in which the raw product often goes to a subcontractor or a vendor who will manipulate that raw product into a door or a latch or a body part of some sort. Those products are then shipped to an assembly factory where they are turned into an automobile. The automobile is then shipped to a distributor, who in turn ships it out to the dealerships, which produce sales. Post-sale service, of course, is handled either at a facility within or near the dealership, or by the customer’s local mechanic. So, apologies for going off on a tangent, but I felt the example of a business that requires a wide swath of skills all under one roof, typically performed by a small group of people, was worth pointing out when discussing the tremendous responsibility of ownership.

WHY?

Why do you want to start a business? This goes to the psychology of who you are as a person. Is it because you are looking into the future and absolutely know...