All In

Over the years I have been involved with a number of aspiring entrepreneurs. Often aspiring to leave a role as a cog in a corporate machine, with fanciful notions of what being their own boss might mean. And with dreams of more money and a more “balanced lifestyle”, whatever that might mean. There have been a variety of business plans and ideas. Some totally impractical, some wildly improbable, but many with real promise. Some have been ahead of their time. Some have made the grade – others have fallen flat. Whatever their goal, one of the concepts I have always emphasised to these aspiring entrepreneurs is that they need to be “all in”. They cannot expect to keep their corporate job (and of course the income) and start a new business, and then “see how it goes”. They need to make sacrifices. That is not just giving up the comforts of a regular salary and benefits, but also sacrificing the lifestyle and the comfort that goes with having a regular paycheck. And putting their own house on the line, rather than depending on other people’s money. Because making the sacrifice of abandoning the safety net not only signals the dedication to taking risk in order to build a new enterprise, it forces an attitude change. And that attitude change , combined with drive , determination and discipline, very often makes the difference between pushing through the tough times, and giving up. And all businesses encounter rough times. 

Building and running a successful business requires all-in, not part time attention and dedication. It’s not just the budding entrepreneur who needs to be all-in. It is anyone who wants to really conquer their career. Sometimes it is taking a step backward to acquire skills that are lacking. Sometimes it is taking on extra roles to gain more experience.

Having the commitment to ask the right questions and learn from those who are successful, is essential. Simply dreaming of the end goal doesn’t get you there. But putting the requisite energy into making it happen, takes the commitment of sacrifice and dedication that equates to all-in.

Getting to be great at anything requires sacrifice. And too often we see people going to work to eat their lunch. And then they don’t understand why others are successful – and they are not.

I would rather work with those who are prepared to make the sacrifices, and expend the energy, to be the best at what they do.