What does it mean to start a business? You need to look at what problem you are solving and where you want to be in 1 year, 5 years or 10 years. But the first thing you need to figure out is if you want to have a “lifestyle” business or do you want to be the next Tesla/Alphabet/Facebook?
What you decide upfront will have an immeasurable impact on the future of your company.
Now, what do I mean by a “lifestyle” business? It can be anything from a pizzeria, a law office, a tutoring company, a freelance creative agency business and so much more. What it means is a company that is local and not designed to scale or grow beyond a very small, core group of employees. Look around you and you will find millions of other examples, there is nothing wrong with launching and managing such a business. Those are the backbone of our society.
But today I want to talk about launching a business that can scale, grow and impact much more. But doing such a thing requires discipline, passion, drive and a support group.
Let’s talk about Discipline. I for one am dealing with my brain sending me in 100 different directions at 100mph. That means I need to bring people on the team that complement my strengths and offset my weaknesses – here comes the discipline part. If you are not disciplined in plugging those gaps, you will fail. And if you hire the wrong people, you need to let them go. Now. Hire slow and fire fast.
So here is the part about passion, perhaps it should be first in my list. Let’s face it, you are going to spend hours upon hours working at this and if you are not passionate and I mean PASSIONATE about your company, you will fail. Fast. You need to love it and love talking to others about it. If you don’t care enough, neither will they and especially not your customers. So, if you are not in love with your idea/company, move on. This is not the right fit.
So where does drive fit into this equation? Well, it is closely related to the above. One without the other is like peanut butter without the jelly. But your drive will impact everything you do and everyone around you. If you don’t have it, neither will they and if that happens, you will fail.
Last but not least, we get to the Support Group. You need one. Trust me. If you don’t have people around you who believe in you and support you, you cannot make it through the highs and lows, and I mean super lows, that comes of running a company. Who are they? Your spouse or love interest to begin with. If they want to or not, they are part of this crazy ride and if they can’t handle it, it will impact you. And of course, your mentors/advisors/friends. You need them to pull you up or push you out. Not having them will also make it hard for you to make it through. Very hard.
So, why all the gloom and doom of starting a company? Because it is reality. All we are shown on TV/Magazines/Interviews are the rose-colored versions of the above. We hear about the amazing success of Amazon but forget how many times Jeff Bezos was told it will never work. We are shown all the wins but rarely their losses. Will following the above guarantee a win? Of course not. But will it help speed the process? Yes. It will.
Biography: Ron Ben-Zeev is the Founder and President/CEO of World Housing Solution Inc., a company based in Orlando, FL that focuses on building sustainable structures for the U.S. military. The expeditionary structures are insulated, therefore requiring less energy for cooling and heating than other technologies.
