This is a guest post by James Wong, co-founder and CEO of Avidian Technologies, the makers of Prophet, the easy CRM software for Outlook. James is a seasoned entrepreneur and founder of three successful companies, an active investor and supporter of entrepreneurship.
I personally believe that if you want to succeed in life, you have to take some chances. I don’t know of any successful person who did not take risks in their life. However, I do know many unsuccessful people who haven’t taken much risk and played it safe. If you are waiting for that perfect business opportunity that is riskless and returns tremendous gains, you may be waiting for a long long time.
As a father with an entrepreneurial spirit, I try to build confidence and courage to my two sons. Sometimes, it’s as simple as allowing them to jump off a small ledge to the ground. At other times it’s watching them ride their bike down a hill wondering if they will stop in time. Other times is watching them skiing down the mountain faster than they should. Whenever I see these things occurring my heart aches with the fear of a loving parent who don’t want to see their child get hurt.
However, I know that for my sons to grow up feeling confident in themselves and just to be kids and have fun, I must let them take chances. There will be times when they might get a booboo or worse yet, break a bone. However, if I protect them 100% of the time, how will they grow up? If I wait for the 100% sure time they will not fall of the bike when I let go of their back seat, they made still be riding in their training wheels at age 10.
My own experience and learning from other successful people is that the perfect time will never come. When I started Avidian Technologies, my current software business, I had every reason not to start it yet: I was too young, not smart enough, didn’t have enough money in the bank, had a mortgage, my wife didn’t work and/or I haven’t had enough business experience yet. Besides there were too many competitors in the crowded CRM industry already. After about 6 months of learning, analyzing the space and talking to other successful entrepreneurs, I decided to take the plunge. Here I am 7 years later, we’ve built a successful business with happy employees, millions of dollars in revenue and making a positive difference to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
Avidian may never have started if we waited for the perfect time to come. Whatever your situation is, don’t wait too long. Carpe Diem - Seize the day. Like Nike says sometimes you have to “Just Do It!” Take the plunge.
I completely agree. If you wait until the time is just right you will miss out more times than not.
If you take the chance and fail you are just one step closer to succeeding. Quit making excuses and make it happen.
Great Guest Post.
I think Wayne Gretzky said it best. “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”
Wow, that was very inspiring. I am that person that is waiting for the low risk/high reward situation to come along. I fear for my family and our financial well-being since we are struggling as it is. That is the biggest thing holding me back.
What do you suggest when it comes to family and children? I mean, at a certain point it becomes irresponsible to take a big plunge and try to start a business, doesn’t it? What are your thoughts on this?
Deciding to take the plunge involves commitment from everyone in your family. Your spouse must support you in what you are doing. The wrong thing to do is to come home one day and say “honey, I quit my job and decided to start a business”. If market forces don’t become too big of an obstacle, tension in your personal relationship will break you down.
Prior to starting Avidian, I had a long discussion with my wife about being prepared for anything. She gave me her blessings. After her blessing I told her “you do know what is going to happen in two years after we start this business. we’re either going to move into a bigger house or we’re moving in with mom. There is no in between. :)”
Again, there is always plenty of reasons not to start a business, in your case you want to be “responsible” and more “financially stable”. Don’t be irresponsible by insanely just plunging in. However, know that the perfect time will never come.
Wow, thanks James. That was a very good answer. I guess I am still stuck in a bit of a dilema as I would still need to make sure I can keep our rent and bills paid. But I still need to not be afraid of getting it going, which is the point of this discussion.
Thanks again!
I agree with your overall premise, and like that you added “After about 6 months of learning, analyzing the space and talking to other successful entrepreneurs, I decided to take the plunge.” You didn’t just jump w/o knowing anything about what you were getting into.
Equateable to jumping into a pool - you can go off the diving board before knowing anything else (high reward / high risk), or you can find out if you can swim, how deep the water is, etc. before going to the board, thus reducing risk w/ low cost research.
Yes, very inspiring. I took on black-diamond trail on the 3rd day of snowboarding, because I knew the worst thing would have been to walk down.
I guess the “nothing to loose” mentality also helps.
Agreed. One of the best ways see “nothing to loose” mentality is to visit a nursing home for the elderly. Many of the old people lying in their beds post pictures of their family on the walls, all their assets, titles (i.e. CEO, CIO, CxO) and money in the bank don’t mean much to them anymore. They just enjoy talking to people and the memories of how they lived. Go for it, ride more triple diamonds.
Great post and and a big fan of your blog! I’m 24 and would love to take the plunge, but I wonder How many people out there willing to finance a start up from a young women living in the west indies. It’s not like I have anything to lose. Maybe I’m in the wrong country and should move.
Hey James, your post is right on. I have never been able to figure out how to start a business without risk. But, it seems that the mindset required to overcome that risk has always been this self confident realization that I will figure out a solution, whatever the problem that may come up. That mindset has always worked for me.
I also love your no-middle statement “you do know what is going to happen in two years after we start this business. we’re either going to move into a bigger house or we’re moving in with mom. There is no in between. :)” Now, that is the truth!
Bob
http://beta.syncacross.com
Blue sheets are used when transiting though countries. ,
Instead, I will refer SB readers to the quick, 10-question survey I created, and look forward to sharing and discussing results. ,