Day 30: Things I Learned Working For A Start-up

All the members of the BusinessMakers team have been very fortunate to work with and for start-ups at some point during their careers. We have learned a lot of lessons that we though would make great lessons for the 30 day challenge. While you may not plan on taking the risk of starting a company, or gambling on a really neat idea you have, you can still benefit from the entrepreneurial spirit and energy that makes so many people in our country the 'BusinessMakers'.

Look for opportunities where others see none

I once heard a story about a young girl that got out of bed on her birthday and rushed out to the barn with her sister to see if her father bought the horse she wanted for her birthday. When they arrived at the barn they looked around and didn't see any horses. Her younger sister said "I'm going back to bed, there's no horse here." The birthday girl responded "What do you mean? Look, with all this manure there has to be a horse in here somewhere!"

Start-up life teaches you to look for opportunities where others see none. Ask why and what if to find these hidden gems.

See gain where others see a loss

I learned early on that adversity is possibly the best teacher, that is if you view it as an opportunity. A lot of people view failure and adversity purely as negatives. Any change or shift offers you the opportunity to learn how to get better results. Entrepreneurs learn to see failure and adversity as educationally opportunities.

Don't let mistakes hold you back

In order to learn from your failure and adversity you have to learn how to let them slip into the past. Entrepreneur's understand that a bad decision, poor judgement or poorly handled situation is something to learn from - not suffer from. Don't spend a lot of time worrying about yesterday because the mistake can only hurt you if you view it as a statement about you and not your performance.

Learn to take a risk

Once when I was a kid I tried to jump into the pool from the second story of the apartment complex we were swimming at. Needless to say that was the day I learned the difference between a good risk and being just plain dumb. Entrepreneurs are risk takers. One thing you learn in the entrepreneurial world is that you have to increase your tolerance for risk. You may not have to mortgage your home but you will definitely have to learn to to be comfortable with risking things others might not.

Be A dreamer

Spend time regularly thinking about possibilities. It's OK to have wild & crazy dreams sometime.

Learn to communicate your vision

Lot's of people can give orders, or manage people, but the ability to communicate your vision clearly and passionately will drive your results to a new level. Watch this great TED talk by Simon Sinek on how great leaders inspire action.

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