As if I thought that a few overdue invoices were a problem yesterday, I received an email today from one of my entrepreneurial friends. Seems as though that when she sold her business, her attorney was about as sloppy as they come. And he didn’t make sure that she wouldn’t be held liable for the new owner’s mistakes.
So what “mistakes” did the new owner make?! They haven’t paid rent for over a year. The shop is closed down and my friend is likely facing a $60K bill for back rent, which will force her out of her own home or into bankruptcy (or both).
So Where is the Inspirational Entrepreneurial Lesson in All of This?
Indeed, it’s not inspiring to hear about the financial mishaps that business owners make. But I hope this is one of those things that can inspire via a little “warning”. Hindsight being 20-20, here’s what I can say about what has happened with both my friend and I:
- For the client who didn’t pay, I didn’t listen to that little intuitive voice that said “Don’t do the work until he has some cash”. I thought that by giving him some free coaching, he would be able to get himself back on his feet and turn around and pay me in a reasonable amount of time. Logically, it was a good move. But intuitively, something said that the situation didn’t feel right.
Lesson Learned ::
LISTEN to your intuition, even when it is only a whisper and barely heard. It doesn’t mean that you have to do everything your intuition says, but it is criteria that is just as important as logic.
- For my friend who is about to lose her home, I have to say that EVERY professional advisor she had when she first started her business told her NOT to do it. Her first lawyer said no, her accountant screamed no, and even her friends (myself included) expressed reservations about the deal. By the time it came for her to sell the business, she had lost a ton of money already. But at least we thought she was done with it.
I know my friend would say that it was a wonderful spiritual journey that led her to her current career, and I would have to agree with her. But I do wonder if she could have found a different path to her current career without the financial devastation she has experienced along the way.
Lesson Learned :: DON’T make business decisions solely on what feels good at the time. And if you are going to hire advisers to guide your business, for God’s sake listen to the people you are paying to help you.
- One thing I know for sure, both my friend and I are not the first nor last entrepreneurs who are facing big obstacles on the way to success. When I think of what Donald Trump has overcome in the last few decades, these problems are tiny specks.
The only way these experiences can actually hurt us is with our permission.
And it’s times like these that I find great strength in little sentences:
- For every mountain there is a miracle. ~ Robert H. Schuller
- There is no failure, only feedback. ~ Author Unknown
- If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere. ~ Frank Clark
- It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities. ~ Eric Hoffer
And my favorite of all, reminding us to live and be the person we were born to be, no matter what happens around us:
- Obstacles will look large or small to you according to whether you are large or small. ~ Orison Swett Marden
Here’s to being bigger than we thought we could be, to living our dreams instead of living in fear, and to transforming our challenges into capital of the entrepreneurial spirit!
This entry was posted on Friday, June 1st, 2007 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Inspiration, Entrepreneurship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.10 Responses to “Building Capital of the Entrepreneurial Spirit”
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June 1st, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Or we could call them small encounters of the first kind. The longer I live, the more I pay attention to that little voice inside. I used to call it intuition; now I call it wisdom. The reason: we tend to rationalize things that should make us uncomfortable and behave fearlessly in making decisions we may later regret. There is no need to act (in our own eyes) brave. Sometimes the hardest decision we will ever make is saying “no” to something that appears to be an opportunity. Our gut may let us know that it’s only in disguise, if we let it.
June 1st, 2007 at 2:58 pm
I wholeheartedly agree Valeria! I’ve written about head vs. heart decisions a lot, and following the gut as well. I’ve found that in the past, my intuition used to be a very loud voice when I didn’t listen.
In the last few years, the voice has gotten quieter. I think it’s because I listen more often, and we ‘trust’ each other so much more. So I think my intuition doesn’t feel the need to shout anymore, but sometimes, the whisper is so quiet I miss it.
Have you experienced this at all?
June 1st, 2007 at 8:00 pm
You probably know Chris Barrow, the coach from the UK who turned his experience of bankruptcy (as he said at a conference I attended, a very bad mark against you where he came from) into a valuable asset and grew a million dollar practice - when he sees his client’s business at risk of tanking he can speak with authority and conviction about why they need to get real (my paraphrase - I do have the transcript).
June 2nd, 2007 at 6:16 am
That was an absolutely fantastic post Wendy. I feel very bad for your friend. I tend to be a little too trusting now and then, wow, this article really made me stop and think.
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:03 am
Excellent lessons Wendy. One I would add: Don’t take it personally. Really, it’s not your fault.
Take responsibility for your actions, but don’t take it personally.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Smashing post - thank you Wendy. It’s important for us all to remember we are not alone in facing our small business challenges. Sharing our obstacles and seeking help from others that have more experience is something I have learnt to be very valuable. Sorry to hear about your friend, send her all our best wishes.
June 2nd, 2007 at 6:05 pm
This makes me think of all the little things I have been doing for free in order to just get my name out there. I don’t even know what to determine what it is exactly that I do because I know alot but not enough to make me an expert. I was advised by my advisor at college that I can’t give any real advice on nutrition,fitness and wellness since I am not licensed. So well I have always been one to go against the system when and where I can. So I feel bad for this friend of yours. It is hard to want to go with your gut when people are trying to give you well intentioned advice.
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:53 am
I feel for your friend. I went into a business investment that by all outward appearances looked very sound. We were investing in a long-standing flower shop in a great town. I even arranged to work there on holidays so I could keep an eye on my investment. However, after handing over the check along with several other investors, I had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. Sure enough, two years later, the business owners defaulted and we investors lost everything. Turns out they had an accountant that wasn’t covering the bases. I learned a couple of lessons from this, but it sure was painful to lose our hard-earned money.
June 4th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Wendy - thanks for your insights. I loved the part of about listening to the professionals you hire!I find that too many newbies ( and a fair amount of seasoned business owners too) make the mistake of seeking out help and then deciding they (or their friends) know best. I found out the hard way myself by making quite a few mistakes in my first entrepreneurial leap - I did not do enough homework to really know what I was getting myself into!
Unfortunately I encounter too many entrepreneurs in my mentoring business that are struggling unnecessarily because they have bitten off more than they can chew. Too many of them think about the POSSIBILITY of financial rewards as a given; they IMAGINE the free time they’ll have when they are their own boss; they ASSUME so many things will go right, without having a clue how to structure their business so that they give themselves a fighting chance! I wish your friend the best of luck in her dealings, and hope you’ve saved a few people for making the same error. Little steps are best, and seeking out wisdom from the right resources can certainly help people avoid making huge (& costly) mistakes.
June 5th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Wendy - thanks for your insights. I loved the part of about listening to the professionals you hire!I find that too many newbies ( and a fair amount of seasoned business owners too) make the mistake of seeking out help and then deciding they (or their friends) know best. I found out the hard way myself by making quite a few mistakes in my first entrepreneurial leap - I did not do enough homework to really know what I was getting myself into!
Unfortunately I encounter too many entrepreneurs in my mentoring business that are struggling unnecessarily because they have bitten off more than they can chew. Too many of them think about the POSSIBILITY of financial rewards as a given; they IMAGINE the free time they’ll have when they are their own boss; they ASSUME so many things will go right, without having a clue how to structure their business so that they give themselves a fighting chance! I wish your friend the best of luck in her dealings, and hope you’ve saved a few people from making the same error. Little steps are best, and seeking out wisdom from the right resources can certainly help people avoid making huge (& costly) mistakes.