Successful entrepreneurs tend to progress through four phases of the business lifecycle: survival, growth, maturation and the day after. Each phase has its own set of challenges, both financial and emotional. And while no journey is the same, there are many commonalities, and awareness of these commonalities will allow you to prepare your business and yourself to deal with them. One common challenge in the survival phase is the need for a steadfast belief in the service or product that you are bringing to market.  
 
In the very beginning of an enterprise, think of a home brewer who has produced a perfect case of oatmeal stout, there are a lot of emotions. Excitement and confidence that this product is not only better than the competition, but something that you know people want. Maybe the initial proving ground was only friends or colleagues, but you feel it in your gut – this is going to work. Worry and concern are likely there too, that you will have to lay out a significant amount of money or take on significant debt to produce and market your product. Then there’s anxiety about timing and logistics – have you registered your business, do you have the necessary licenses, are you in compliance with all the relevant ordinances? There are a lot of planning and financial issues to work through, not to mention the related taxation and legal considerations. And whether you have saved up sufficient capital to hire professionals to identify these issues and help you develop a strategy to work through them, or whether you are flying by the seat of your pants and financing and managing everything on your own – there will likely be expenses and challenges you didn’t anticipate anyway, which will only amplify the emotions you are already dealing with.

But if you truly believe and are able to press on and launch your business, you give yourself a chance to succeed. The key is to be aware that along with a great product and an intelligently composed business plan, you need emotional balance as well. It will be a wild ride, especially in the survival stage, with the pendulum swinging from fear because of debt you’ve taken on to exuberance and perhaps overconfidence from a key initial sale. Not letting the highs get too high and or the the lows get too low will allow you to see more clearly and make objective, sound decisions. But to get to the point where your business begins bringing in revenue, you have to be willing to take that leap of faith and maintain confidence in the face of uncertainty.

For more information about The Entrepreneurial Journey or to read an excerpt from the book, click here

Three years ago, I asked a key member of my leadership team to head up a data collection project. The goal was to interview a wide range of our successful business owner clients to identify common attributes, experiences and insights from their journeys through each stage of the business lifecycle. It’s worth noting that throughout the history of our firm, we have helped hundreds of business owning families to simplify the financial complexities they face, from succession planning, to pre and post-transaction planning, to tax planning to next generation wealth planning and education, and that each client faces unique challenges and has unique goals they wish to achieve. So in many ways, each journey is entirely different. The intent of the research was to understand the emotional and technical aspects of their challenges, unearth the root causes and identify best practices which other entrepreneurs could use to guide them on their own journeys.

What I learned from our clients, and the insights I gained reflecting on my experience starting and growing Waldron Private Wealth, was the inspiration to write The Entrepreneurial Journey.

The starting point for any entrepreneur is an idea. Seeing something that doesn’t exist that should, a better way of delivering a service or a more efficient way to deliver a product. An opportunity that hasn’t been discovered yet. This is where most journeys begin, and also where many end, because two other essential components are needed to get an idea off the ground: The belief that your idea is valuable and the drive to take the idea from concept to deliverable. Doubt. Fear. Even comfort can work against you at this stage. Counteracting these emotions can be the biggest challenge to your venture, bigger than competition in the marketplace or prevailing economic factors because without a clear belief in your idea and the drive to realize your vision, no idea, no matter how great, has a chance.

This is the first in a series of posts introducing topics and takeaways from The Entrepreneurial Journey. This series will explore the lessons learned from entrepreneurs who clearly understood what it takes to be successful.

For more information about The Entrepreneurial Journey or to read an excerpt from the book, click here