Holy snappin’ arseholes is my new favorite expression … read on and you’ll understand.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Being an entrepreneur is a heck of a job.
There are many ways to make a living, but getting a job and working for a boss is the one chosen by the majority of society.
Choosing to become an entrepreneur, putting everything on the line, working crazy hours for near zero dollars (at least for the first few years), all on the chance that your idea will hit the profit jackpot—that’s something that very few people are conditioned to do.
Notice I said “conditioned.”
Do you have the predatory skill to wait for the kill?
Many people decide to enter the entrepreneurial jungle figuring that it looks easy, only to realize how difficult it actually can be once you’re in the jungle.
I had an employee who resigned many years ago. The fact that he resigned wasn’t a problem on its own. He was an excellent employee and someone I enjoyed working with. What bothered me is the conversation that ensued after I asked what he was planning on doing afterwards. His response obviously bothered me enough that I still remember it almost 14 years later. He suggested that he was going to open his own, competing business, starting as a contractor, and that he would look for his own clients. He then went on to say how easy it was, and how much money you can make as a business owner. He said that the real hard work is done by the employees; the owner sits around and directs people all day, so how hard could that be?
He was out of business, calling me for his old job back two years later.
My point is, many people decide to become a business owner because they believe the mantra “if you build it, they will come.”
Reality check: It isn’t that easy.
There are solo entrepreneurs who run small home-based business with one or two staff, do extremely well, and are perfectly content to leave it as such. Then there are those who want to expand, but don’t understand what it involves. They believe that starting, growing, and maintaining a profitable business with a team of 10, 20, 50, or more staff is easy, but the reality is, many of those people will buckle when the going gets tough. They buckle when they realize that you need to work 80 hours a week, take home less pay than most of your staff for a few years, and bring a high level of patience and skill to every decision.
This is what I mean when I say that few people in society are conditioned to be an entrepreneur.
I’m the biggest champion of the small business owner, but we need to be realistic about what it involves.
What do you need to do to place yourself at the top of the jungle’s food chain?
Sometimes the best opportunities present themselves when the market is tanking or the economy is in recession. That’s when you take the big bets and pounce. If you have to liquidate your portfolio to take advantage of the opportunity, then you’re probably in a worse position.
In order to become successful as an entrepreneur, you often have to sit patiently, stealth-like, waiting to pounce, and when do you do pounce, be nimble and aggressive. Over the years running your business, opportunities will present themselves. Whether it’s a competitor for sale, or a new business idea you want to pursue. And when they do, you need to have the cash
Many entrepreneurs don’t understand why it’s important not to be fully vested in the stock market with their business’s profits, and that’s why I came up with an investment allocation strategy for the business owner (you can read and download my book free from here).
Your cash is your weapon. You can’t have your cash tied up in venture capital and the stock market, down 40%. It’s not a question of “if” the market will turn, it’s a question of when. And when it does, you MUST be ready.
Your cash is your best defense. And with your cash, you will be ready to pounce when the opportunity is right.
There’s an animal that’s found in North and South America that’s placed itself at the top of the food chain by being not only powerful but incredibly stealth like in how it attacks its prey.
The Cougar, sometimes known as the Mountain Lion, is one of the few ambush predator mammals. Watch this video and you’ll understand what I mean:
There are two parts I want you to pay attention to:
- Minute 0:30 when the man says “holy snappin’ arseholes.” I love it. I think I might use that expression.
- Minute 1:40: Did you notice how the cougar was just waiting patiently, observing the kill, and getting ready to pounce?
That’s you—or at least it should be. Your cash is your weapon, and you wait patiently for the opportunity to arise, and when it does, you attack. You buy your competitor, or, the new piece of real estate with your cash after the market has crashed. No cash, you’re not in the game.
