Post by oldman on Oct 14, 2014 20:30:47 GMT 7
2002: Be An Entrepreneur!
Section: The Spirit of an Entrepreneur
During the chilling days of the dotcom crash, the doomsayers were all around me. They told me that my company would not survive. Those were dark hours for me. Those were hours that lasted days, weeks and months. But the never-say-die attitude of an entrepreneur will prove all the doomsayers wrong. He will turn ashes into gold.
I hold fast to my belief that one has to 'make' his own luck and there is no other way of doing so but by working hard until that lucky day comes. An entrepreneur has a steadfast belief in himself and his company regardless of what everyone else thinks. This attitude is often mistaken for misplaced optimism. It is not. It is a never-say-die attitude in the belief that hard work can produce miracles, even in the darkest hour.
Entrepreneurs do not just hope for miracles. Rather, they work extra hard when times are tough. If you try hard enough, one day Lady Luck may smile at you. The harder you work, the luckier you will be. However, there is no guarantee of this, and entrepreneurs have to continue to toil into the early hours of the morning, believing in themselves and believing that one has to work hard to 'make' his own luck.
Every other entrepreneur that I have come across tells me of the time when things were so bad that they thought they would lose their entire businesses. Some even sold their homes to last those additional months. Others worked part-time in unrelated businesses to ensure that their businesses had that last dose of oxygen. Amid all these crises, the entrepreneurs survived and within a few years got their companies listed on the stock exchange and never looked back.
Is it just pure luck that saved these entrepreneurs from the brink of bankruptcy? I do not think so, based on the many tales I have heard. In all of us, there is the ability to do more when the chips are down. Somehow, in making this extra effort, we gain super-human strength and concentration, which makes opportunities that were missed previously become obvious. All that is needed then is to grab the opportunities and change the fortunes of the company.
Many entrepreneurs will also admit that when luck comes, it comes in bucket-loads. One month, you may be near bankruptcy and the next month, you may have millions in your bank account. Such is luck.
Such is also the nature of business. An entrepreneur recognises this and does not fight luck. He knows that it is there but he needs to work hard and have patience because no one can time luck.
Sometimes, one is not so fortunate and no matter how hard one tries, the business does not succeed. An entrepreneur realises that some things are not within his control. It may be that the industry is in the doldrums. No matter how hard he tries, he is not able to turn the company around. He knows he cannot fight luck and will either transform his business or move to another industry.
'Making' luck is therefore not about sitting down and wishfully hoping that luck will fall into one's lap. To an entrepreneur, 'making' luck means working even harder than he has ever worked before.
Section: The Spirit of an Entrepreneur
During the chilling days of the dotcom crash, the doomsayers were all around me. They told me that my company would not survive. Those were dark hours for me. Those were hours that lasted days, weeks and months. But the never-say-die attitude of an entrepreneur will prove all the doomsayers wrong. He will turn ashes into gold.
I hold fast to my belief that one has to 'make' his own luck and there is no other way of doing so but by working hard until that lucky day comes. An entrepreneur has a steadfast belief in himself and his company regardless of what everyone else thinks. This attitude is often mistaken for misplaced optimism. It is not. It is a never-say-die attitude in the belief that hard work can produce miracles, even in the darkest hour.
Entrepreneurs do not just hope for miracles. Rather, they work extra hard when times are tough. If you try hard enough, one day Lady Luck may smile at you. The harder you work, the luckier you will be. However, there is no guarantee of this, and entrepreneurs have to continue to toil into the early hours of the morning, believing in themselves and believing that one has to work hard to 'make' his own luck.
Every other entrepreneur that I have come across tells me of the time when things were so bad that they thought they would lose their entire businesses. Some even sold their homes to last those additional months. Others worked part-time in unrelated businesses to ensure that their businesses had that last dose of oxygen. Amid all these crises, the entrepreneurs survived and within a few years got their companies listed on the stock exchange and never looked back.
Is it just pure luck that saved these entrepreneurs from the brink of bankruptcy? I do not think so, based on the many tales I have heard. In all of us, there is the ability to do more when the chips are down. Somehow, in making this extra effort, we gain super-human strength and concentration, which makes opportunities that were missed previously become obvious. All that is needed then is to grab the opportunities and change the fortunes of the company.
Many entrepreneurs will also admit that when luck comes, it comes in bucket-loads. One month, you may be near bankruptcy and the next month, you may have millions in your bank account. Such is luck.
Such is also the nature of business. An entrepreneur recognises this and does not fight luck. He knows that it is there but he needs to work hard and have patience because no one can time luck.
Sometimes, one is not so fortunate and no matter how hard one tries, the business does not succeed. An entrepreneur realises that some things are not within his control. It may be that the industry is in the doldrums. No matter how hard he tries, he is not able to turn the company around. He knows he cannot fight luck and will either transform his business or move to another industry.
'Making' luck is therefore not about sitting down and wishfully hoping that luck will fall into one's lap. To an entrepreneur, 'making' luck means working even harder than he has ever worked before.
