One Entrepreneurs Story...

During this past week I had the opportunity to talk to a women who has been involved in a variety of entrepreneurial projects over the past few years including:

-Starting an online ecommerce venture.
-Buying a closed hotel/restaurant and putting it back into operation.
-Sitting on a loan fund that helps entrepreneurs get funding.

And now she has just closed a deal to buy $1.5 million dollars worth of property near an interstate exit in the hope of developing the property into a variety of retail storefronts.

You might be thinking, "Sure, another one of those people that has the courage to do they want and whatever they touch turns to gold".

Well it's not quite that simple. I had to meet with her in order to get her help to put on a 7-week entrepreneurial course I teach.

Over the course of the conversation we talked about her different projects and her dreams for the future. She confided in me that while things were good--problems are always creeping up like employees that don't show up for work or customers that defraud them. Not too mention the dealings with the many government agencies she's forced to work with. The headaches are always there and she just deals with them. Headaches are part of the entrepreneurial landscape.

I asked her how she manages to keep going forward regardless of the obstacles and the risks involved. She answered honestly, "I'm usually scared to death, I quake in my shoes but once I get started it gets easy, the start is always scary for me. That hasn't changed from doing small deals to million dollar deals. The fear is always there but I just start doing it."

How often have you heard or read or talked to someone that won't get started because of the fear? They're waiting for that one last piece of information to give them the self confidence they need to get a project going--unfortunately there just isn't any information out there that will remove the fear. I think fear and the entrepreneurial spirit go hand in hand.

Take care,

Mike Winicki

Hi Mike,

> How often have you heard or read or talked
> to someone that won't get started because of
> the fear? They're waiting for that one last
> piece of information to give them the self
> confidence they need to get a project
> going--unfortunately there just isn't any
> information out there that will remove the
> fear. I think fear and the entrepreneurial
> spirit go hand in hand.

That's an important point. I've found - when doing anything new - there tends to be a degree of "fear".... There's the fear it will all go horribly wrong, beyond your control. It can be enough to "paralyze" you, so instead of moving forward, you're "stuck in the headlights" - frozen on the spot!

How to you gather the courage to move forward? Here's a technique I've found helps me....

It's the power of visualization. But it's not visualizing your goals, as many books talk about. Instead, it's visualizing the PROCESS you need to go through....

For example, let's say you need to write an article - but you're not sure how you're going to write it. You still don't quite know how to start. I sit down or lie down, close my eyes, and visualize....

I visualize doing everything I would need to do to start and write the article. So I might see an image of myself searching through the internet and through the library for source material I need for my article. I'd visualize myself reading the books or articles I'm using as my source material. I'd visualize myself making an outline of the article. I'd visualize myself sitting down at my computer, and typing out the article. I'd go through the whole process in my head, every step I need to take.

After I've done this process (which usually takes no more than a few minutes), I feel a lot more "empowered". I think the reason why is because it's always easier to do something the "second time" than it is to do it the "first time". When you go through the visualization process, it is like the "first time" you're doing it. So when you get around to doing it "for real", you feel as if you've already done it before. And you have - since you already went through the process in your mind. The fear disappears, because you've "done it before" - and now you feel like you know exactly what to do.

This is like the process a champion basketballer might go through, to visualize his success on the court. Or like the visualization process a champion golfer might go through, to visualize a more accurate swing. It's a powerful technique - and it's proven.

Sometimes, the visualization process is difficult - again, because of fear. You fear the process so much, it is even difficult to visualize. BUT - it's still MUCH easier to visualize the whole process first, than it is to actually do it. So visualize the process first, then, once you've gone through it in your mind once, you feel more confident to get up and do it "for real".

Well, that's a technique I've been using recently, and for me, it works. I hope this helps a few of you, whether you're just starting in entrepreneurship, or if you're already a seasoned veteran.... :)

- Dien Rice