Have you found your special place to think strategically without interruption? I found mine on a rock in Ensenada, Mexico years ago…
But I am ahead of myself…
Every entrepreneur has that moment of truth – the one that marks the decision to take the
path to entrepreneurship or the path to job security with a larger employer. And down the road a bit, most of us face another when deciding whether or not to go for growth, requiring new investment and increased risks.
My self-confrontation
My moment of self-confrontation came many years ago when deciding whether to leave behind the relative comfort of a good income from my one-person operation or hire my first employee which would allow me to spend my time in sales and in growing the business. It was perhaps the most difficult decision of my young life. Just out of college, managing a business that had paid my way through college and several years beyond, the cost of expansion would cut my take-home income enough to impact my life style and perhaps, if not quickly successful, cause me to put off my pending marriage.
Not a small decision.
So, I got in my car with a small overnight bag, pointed toward Mexico, and headed to Ensenada, a place I had been to a number of times before, to find solitude for a short weekend just to think about the future.
[Email readers, continue here…] Checking into an inn I had visited before, which was located right on the beach, I walked out to the shore and found a large, smooth rock, perfect for a long, hopefully productive sit. And I sat. I sat for five hours that night, thinking about the alternatives and what I really wanted for myself over time.
The momentous decision
After that evening of isolated, quiet thought, it was clear to me that I wanted to take the risks, to go for it, to attempt to build a big business, to leave my comfort zone.
Executing the plan
The next morning, I returned to the rock and sat. Planning ‘how,’ now that I was comfortable with the ‘what and when.’ And after a few more hours, I had devised my personal plan. I would hire one full time employee and one independent contractor for a start. I’d take no bank loans or ask for any outside investment. This would be entirely my risk to take unaided. Satisfied, I left that rock, checked out of the seaside inn, and drove home excited and ready to execute my plan.
The result
The story is true. The outcome was excellent. I grew that company to over fifty employees, even taking it public after a number of years, and later selling my interest in that first company to get into the computer software business, just at the right time to take advantage of its amazingly rapid growth.
But it all started with the decision on that rock. If you have a life-changing decision to make, where do you retreat to think?
Images created with DALL-e, Microsoft Designer, using prompt: “A realistic 3D image of a smooth rock large enough for a person to sit upon, located at the shoreline of a beach cove, in the afternoon sun. A young, casually dressed man is sitting on the rock, contemplating his future.”
