Random Walk to Entrepreneurship

A friend reminded me the other day of the image I keep in mind for the journey to and through small business / entrepreneurship. If you are at point A and want to get to point B, you can either sit at point A and meticulously lay out the plan to get to point B, or you can identify the first step that will at least get you closer to B and take that step. From that new point, the path continues by keeping an eye on the general direction of point B and insuring that you are taking advantage of opportunities to move closer. Analytical types will cry that this is sub-optimal and inefficient, but I'd say that it's a heck of a lot more effective than sitting at point A so long that you can't move or until point B gets lost over the horizon.

Many of the people that you know who talk about "someday" making the move into small business are waiting for that perfect path to evidence itself. Fool's gold. That is why you will find yourself having the same conversation with that person in five years time.

Again, it is important to know your stomach for this journey before you begin. It requires faith and commitment to appreciate the progress through the peaks and valleys of the sub-optimal path, but the confidence comes from knowing that you are making progress. For those of you in the midst of the journey, I will remind you of Teddy Roosevelt's famous quote for entrepreneurs ("The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena..."). That can serve as your shot-in-the-arm for the day.