my case, I remember thinking my business was special…that I was creating something that had never been done before. It was easy to take that belief and assume it would be enough to fuel the momentum to succeed. Destiny, here I come!
But it wasn’t so easy, despite my business truly being one of a kind and with a modus operandi that was even more unique. Very few companies around the world were creating interactive media the way we were, and the creators of the software we used said they’d never seen a more advanced Rich Internet Application (RIA). So, with a new patent and industry awards under our belt, it makes sense that it would all have fallen together perfectly. Only it didn’t, and I wasn’t prepared for the price I had to pay to make it all happen.
Later, as I reflected on this experience and the experiences I was seeing as a consultant, I could see a pattern at work: my start-up clients were experiencing the same pains I had pushed through years before. For example, they would typically hit an invisible ceiling within the first couple of years. They were experiencing the same personnel issues within the first few years. My clients were trying to find the path to rapid growth in the same way I had experienced it. They found similar challenges at each financial milestone (such as five, ten, and twenty million in revenue), as well as other inflection points that I had experienced—and often in the same order.
If you feel that pull toward starting your own business and are ready to jump into the start-up waters (or, having already jumped in, you’re feeling you may be in over your head), I’ve written this book for you as a:
•Visionary looking to take your idea, product, or service and turn it into a viable business
•Business owner looking for rapid growth and revenue
•Founder of a start-up looking not only to survive but thrive in the days to come
“No is the amplifier of Yes.”
—Crawford Cragun
“Entrepreneur’s Paradox: You have to give up being the best in the world at building your product to be the best in the world at building your business.”
At the core of this book is a paradox: what got you into business is the very thing that will actively prevent you from succeeding in business.
That’s right—you, the entrepreneur, are typically one of the most proficient people in the world at a particular skill, craft, product, or idea. You’ve thought of or created something that has never been done before, especially in the way you’ve conceived it. When others find out about how great your idea is, they ask for, even demand, your product or service. In fact, they often love the product or service so much they compel you to start a business repeating that expertise over and over again. It can be thrilling knowing you can contribute to the world and seeing how many people appreciate what you do and the way you do it. But such a passion can create its own kind of trap. In the beginning, everything feels exciting and the business appears to be thriving (if it weren’t for this honeymoon phase, I’m not sure anyone would start a business). But that newfound freedom can quickly shackle you with grueling hours and endless to-do lists. And where you thought you would find personal and financial independence, there’s stress, erratic cash flow, and bills instead.
This book will show you how that initial spark of brilliance and entrepreneurial spirit can be the very thing that inhibits entrepreneurs from achieving their goals—regardless of industry or business type. But by recognizing and working through the chapters in this book, you can learn to work through the Entrepreneur’s Paradox and experience growth equal to the passion that gave it life.
Who This Book Is For (And Not For)
This is not a management technique book. I have not aimed it at large corporations or start-up founders who have already had multiple equity events or an IPO. Although many in the corporate world will find this book helpful, I’ve written it for those in the entrepreneurial trenches. I wrote this book for start-up entrepreneurs looking for a way to create rapid growth and break through to the next level. It is for founders of companies typically in the first two to ten years of business. And it is for first-time entrepreneurs needing a tool to avoid many of the missteps that doom new ventures. As a result, after reading this book, you will walk away with:
•Proven ideas for your company to achieve rapid growth
•Life-changing directions to follow as a new entrepreneur
•Awareness of how you can either inhibit or energize your business goals
•A clear path to navigate past the pitfalls standing between you and success
You’ll also find this book includes links to many online resources, calculators, infographics, and tools for the “Overcoming the Pitfalls” sections at the end of each chapter to help you self-assess and move your business forward. Some principles relate to the business, and many relate directly to you as the entrepreneur. And by the way, if you’re reading this well above your mid-twenties and think it may be too late to start your entrepreneurial journey, take heart. According to the Wharton Knowledge Group, you’ll enjoy some advantages that come with age and experience.1 It’s both never too early and never too late to answer the call and take this journey.
So, get ready to dig in and go deep as an entrepreneur—not unlike digging in and going deep with that Chicago pizza. Because it’s one thing to have a world-class offering, and quite another to build the world-class business around it. Pull up a chair, take a seat at the table, grab a slice, and let’s get to it.
“Man conquers the world by conquering himself.”
—Zeno of Citium
I awoke at four thirty with the grid pattern of my keyboard imprinted on the side of my face. Sleep-deprived and groggy, I was the only one left in the office. The keyboard had become my unintentional pillow repeatedly for nearly three days, and I found myself in a kind of bleary-eyed delirium. I wanted to sleep, but there was too much work to do.
I’d started my new company to find freedom, wealth, and excitement, but instead I found myself in a prison of my own making. My entrepreneurial dream had been marked by insane work hours, sleepless nights, no after-hours teammates, grueling deadlines, and difficult clients. I often wished I had more time for my family, church callings, writing and playing music, and pushing harder on triathlons.
I’d traded a really great boss at Ancestry.com for a crack-the-whip, ruthless tyrant: me! I’d also exchanged normal work hours, stable cash flow, and time with my family for marathon work sessions away from home, crazy amounts of stress, and erratic cash flow. This prison of my own making—my personal gilded cage—held a single sign over the barred door which read, “Entrepreneurship.”
I pushed through that morning to finish the project on time, staying focused on the usual high quality it demanded.
From the outside, my business looked like it was succeeding. I’d received the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from the Chamber of Commerce and was listed as one of the “40 under 40” taking advantage of the fast-growing economy in the Silicon Slopes (a technology hub at the base of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah). I had been written up in magazines like Utah Business and Business Q and was recognized as one of the leading interactive
