Some people are just born to be entrepreneurs.
I am one of those. As with any challenge in life, most people are afraid to fail. They worry constantly about not meeting expectations, making a mistake, or trying something new. Because of this, many never get started on the path toward reaching their goals, and thus assure themselves of the very thing they are afraid of… failure.
“In order to succeed, you will likely have to pay your dues, fail a few times and learn from your lessons.”
If you have eaten at The Doves Nest, and read the back of our menus, you probably know part of my life story. The chapter most people may not know is that I started out in the fashion business, opening my own clothing store right out of college. Unfortunately, failure came quickly for me. The 1980’s boom went bust soon after I opened. When my country club clientele stopped shopping for European sportswear, I found myself bankrupt at the age of 26. Although my first hard knock was painful, the more mistakes a person makes, the more they will have learned and the greater chance they will have of succeeding on their next try. Theodore Roosevelt said it best in 1910:
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
True entrepreneurs are resourceful, passionate and driven to succeed and improve. The great ones are not distracted by criticism because they can see their path ahead and are too busy working towards their dream. Thomas Edison would have never invented the light bulb if he did not take this principle to heart. Edison failed thousands of times before he found the filament that would create light for a sustained period of time. He did not view these as failures, how- ever. On the 6635th try to find a proper filament for the light bulb, Edison did not see himself as having failed 6634 times. He viewed the situation as successfully eliminating 6643 possibilities that would ultimately draw him closer to his goal.
Entrepreneurship is about more than just starting a business. It is about having attitude and the drive to succeed in business. The key however is to have faith in what you are doing, learn from your mistakes and never give up on your dream.
