Every entrepreneur has that moment of truth \u2013 the one that marks the decision to take the path to entrepreneurship or the path to job security with a larger employer.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
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 to allow me to spend my time in sales and in growing the business.\u00a0 It was perhaps the most difficult decision of my young life.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Not a small decision.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
[Email readers continue here…]<\/em><\/span> Checking into an inn I had visited before located right on the beach, I walked out to the shore and found a large, smooth rock, perfect for a long,\u00a0 hopefully productive sit.\u00a0 And I sat.\u00a0 I sat for five hours that night, thinking about the alternatives and what I really wanted for myself over time.<\/p>\n 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 The next morning, I returned to the rock and sat.\u00a0 Planning ‘how’, now that I was comfortable with the \u2018what and when.\u2019\u00a0 And after a few more hours, I had devised my personal plan.\u00a0 I would hire one full time employee and one independent contractor for a start.\u00a0 I\u2019d take no bank loans or ask for any outside investment.\u00a0 This would be entirely my risk to take unaided.\u00a0 Satisfied, I left that rock, checked out of the seaside inn, and drove home excited and ready to execute my plan.<\/p>\n The story is true. The outcome was excellent.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n But it all started with the decision on that rock.\u00a0 If you have a life-changing decision to make \u2013 including whether to start your entrepreneurial journey \u2013 have you identified your<\/em> rock in Ensenada?\u00a0 Do you have a quiet place where cell phone, text and other distractions can\u2019t reach you while you dig deeply into a problem or opportunity?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every entrepreneur has that moment of truth \u2013 the one that marks the decision to take the path to entrepreneurship or the path to job security with a larger employer.\u00a0 And down the road a bit, most of us face … Continue reading
\ncomfort zone.<\/p>\n