Inspirational Awakening

It is natural to despise small beginnings. It is hard to see how a few cents here and a few dollars there could ever amount to a million dollars. In a microwave generation, we want it, and we want it now. When you are in a hurry, it is hard to see how small beginnings on the road to financial freedom can ever take you to El Dorado.

You have a big dream. If you are in the high-income bracket, it is very tempting to attempt to start big. A lot of folks are caught in this trap. They want to start their journey to financial freedom, they want to start a business, but they are frozen at ground zero. You ask them why they have not started, the answer; they need capital to start. You ask why they haven’t hit the road with what they have. It is not enough. That is a very soothing excuse to hide under.

You can raise the cash you need to start, if you are willing to stoop low to conquer, and start small. It might be painfully slow at the start, far away from your grandiose dreams. You have to remember that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step, consistent steps: one step at a time, one day at a time. In the accounting and banking world, compound interest is regarded as one of the wonders of the modern world. It is mind blowing what a few dollars saved each day and invested will amount to in a couple of decades. We are talking millions here. Doing the same thing over and over, consistently.

In starting a business, you gather momentum and speed as you go along the way. Your rise to the top is faster. You need to start small.

There are many advantages of starting small. By starting small, the start up cost is much reduced, and it is easier to raise the money yourself through your savings, or liquidating some of your investments. You get to learn gradually without making very expensive mistakes, which may be harder to recover from. Since your operation is small, you get to learn the different aspects of the business, from administration, personnel and operations etc which puts you in a good position to have a proper overview of you whole business when you start taking on employees to man the different facets of the business.

When you are venturing into a terrain you have never been before, it is best to proceed slow and steady. Most companies do not move their employees around. You get to specialize or become knowledgeable about a few aspects of the business. An admin person is virtually clueless as to what goes on in operations or production. He can only function in admin. An accountant may not have any idea how the human resources department is run. Everyone holds on dearly unto his turf, knowing so much about so little. At the end of the day, if they venture out into starting a business, they lack the basic skills in so many areas. In this scenario, starting big is a disaster waiting to happen, unless you team up with people with strengths in your areas of weakness. A good entrepreneur needs to know a bit about everything.

It’s sad to see a lot of folks starting a business upon retirement, with their gratuity. They have no experience in the business terrain, and with their reward for many years of hard labor, they venture into a business they are ill prepared for. Sad stories abound. Some never recover.

If you ever have plans of starting a business, waiting until retirement is a bit too late. Everybody cannot be Colonel Sanders who made it at 66. It is easier to absorb shocks when you are younger. It is much better to start small, and when the golden handshake from your employer comes, having learned the turf, and graduated from the school of hard knocks, you know where and how and when to apply your funds.

Quit procrastinating. If you plan to start a business sometime, it might be a good idea to scale down your plans, and start now. Most of today’s success stories started small, right where you are now. You have no excuse for further delay. Your ego may take some bashing for stooping so low. If you are ready to pay the price, you may have to step out of your comfort zone. Few will remember how you started, after you have made it. Despise not the days of small beginnings.

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