Counting the Cost

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? – Luke 14:28

Building a business has been likened to taking a journey. Many principles apply to the journey of an entrepreneur. This week I would like to share my thoughts on four: defining a vision, setting ethical boundaries and limits, starting the journey, and finishing the course.

Before starting any journey it is vital to understand where you want to end up when the trip is finished. Defining a vision involves crafting each part of the journey mentally before doing so physically. Dr. Stephen R. Covey calls this “beginning with the end in mind”. The key elements of a vision are: understanding what you want to accomplish, knowing why you want to build this business, and identifying resources necessary to succeed. A vision should also include an honest assessment of one’s strengths and weaknesses.

Another prerequisite involves setting ethical boundaries. Dr. Clay Christensen of Harvard Business School encourages his students to ask themselves the question “How can I be sure I will stay out of jail?” It is important to define what you will and will not do in order to achieve success. Set these limits before the tasks of building a business begin. It is helpful to write a letter to your future self, to be read only when one of the boundaries you have set has been, or is about to be, crossed.

Finally, the time has come to start. Moving forward is an act of faith based on prior planning. Fear of failure can be paralyzing, even after all of the planning that has been done. Overcoming this fear requires changing the way that failure is perceived. Successful entrepreneurs view failure as an opportunity to learn. Michael Jordan expressed this idea when he said “I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” One little known fact about Babe Ruth is that he struck out more often than any other batter of his time. Viewing failures as a learning opportunity allows the journey to progress.

Persistence is a vital element in the entrepreneur’s journey. The ability to finish the journey that has been started marks the true definition of success in business endeavors. The temptation to quit when the going is rough can be strong, but the successful entrepreneur sees her journey through to the very end. Even a failed business venture can be considered successful when lessons are learned and built upon to avoid future mistakes. Randy Pausch, in his famous “Last Lecture”, makes the following observation: “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” Playing the hand that has been dealt is one true mark of a finisher.

The entrepreneurial path is not an easy one. These four principles will not guarantee success in every business venture. But when they are faithfully followed the chances for success increase exponentially.

Where Do I Go From Here?

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose." -- Dr. Suess, from Oh! the Places You'll Go!

The purpose of all the studying done over the past 13 weeks is to help us choose a direction for our business and for our life. This is easier said than done because opportunities are almost limitless. How do I choose an opportunity that matches my goals and abilities, will provide a good life for my family, and allow me to build on my relationships with others?

Our readings this week provided many insights and examples from successful real world entrepreneurs. Although the details of successful businesses can vary greatly, all great businesses begin with a few general similarities. I want to mention three of them.

First, a successful business builds on the education, experience and relationships of the entrepreneur. What real world skills have I learned in school and through work? How can those skills help me identify a good idea to build on? How can my friends and family help me consider various strengths and weaknesses that I have?

Second, successful entrepreneurs recognize the need to create a feasible opportunity by discussing their ideas with mentors, potential customers and other experts in the field of business. Researching the idea further will also help identify a real need and create a unique solution for that need. Is there an existing market for this need? How much competition would my business face? Is the idea strong enough to create a market when one does not exist?

Third, success depends on the ability to narrow the focus of an idea. Is there an underserved niche in an otherwise large market? How should the market be entered in order to grow the business? Many businesses fail by trying to do too much. It is better to focus on one or two needs rather than trying to “solve all the problems of the world”.

In the beginning of this course I worried about how I would find a good idea and develop it into a successful business. I have learned that the process is not as complicated as I thought it was. It comes down to following a few simple disciplines, day after day, and making choices based on good information and instincts. But more on those thoughts next week…

On the Importance of Money and Rest

“It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy.” –George Lorimer

Keeping a proper perspective on the value of money may be one of the most difficult tasks in life. We all need a certain amount of money in order to live. But it is often difficult to judge how much money we truly need – to differentiate between our needs and our wants. This week I learned how the gospel helps us with our perspective on money. I can’t quote all of the things I learned, but want to share these six “rules”:

Rule 1. Seek the Lord and have hope in him

Rule 2. Keep the commandments, that includes the temporal ones, tithing and fast offerings.

Rule 3. Think about money and plan how you can become self-reliant.

Rule 4. Take advantage of chances for learning so you will not be ignorant of these matters. Education, as President Hinckley has taught us, is the Key to Opportunity.

Rule 5. Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated.

Rule 6. Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive.

I could devote an entire post to each “rule”, but need to ponder these monetary principles more fully.

We also learned about the importance of rest this week. Wait, what? If we are resting we can’t earn money, right?

As it turns out, rest is as important to having a vision and working passionately to realize that vision as all of the other principles that we are studying. Stephen R. Covey made rest his seventh “habit” – Sharpening the Saw. Without rest, or taking time out, it is difficult to keep a clear head. It is also difficult to maintain a perspective on our failures, which are necessary in order to succeed.

I learned that rest is different than simply doing nothing. When we rest in the way the Lord intended – the commandment regarding Sabbath rest is an excellent example – we make time for the important things in life like family, friends and the Lord. Rest also helps us separate the important but not urgent things from the urgent but not important things. We rejuvenate our talents and our thinking becomes clearer. Afterwards, we are better able to focus on the vision of where we are headed.

So money and rest are not mutually exclusive. The key is maintaining a proper balance with both – not too much rest, and not too much striving after money.

Leadership with Love

“We love Him, because He first loved us.”  -- 1 John 4:19

Among our readings this week, my favorite is “Leadership with a Small “L”. This is a graduation speech given by BYU Idaho President Kim B. Clark on December 14, 2007. It outlines 3 principles of true leadership exemplified by the Savior. Principle #3 discusses leading with love. Such leadership is not often found in the business world, but a good example occurred this past week.

The day after the nightclub shooting in Orlando Florida, some of the employees of a Chick Fil A store in Orlando went to work. The company is well known for its policy of remaining closed on Sunday in order to honor the Sabbath day. These employees were not seeking to change corporate policy, nor were they seeking public acclaim. They prepared chicken sandwiches and sweet tea then delivered them to a local blood bank where people were waiting in line to donate blood for the victims of the shooting. Food was also prepared for the law enforcement officers tasked with ensuring the safety of those donating blood. 

A bishop of mine while I was growing up taught “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care”.  By serving their fellow community members, these employees were following the Savior's example of leading with love. They personified love in action. They quietly comforted those in need of comfort and shared a powerful testimony of God’s love (Book of Mormon, Mosiah 18:9).

I want to always remember this event. I want to lead with love in my business.

Excellence Along the Way

"It is simply a truism that nothing very valuable can come without significant sacrifice and effort and patience on our part." -- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

This week I have learned to understand Excellence. Yes, that capital “E” is intentional. Excellence is one of those qualities that can be difficult to define, because what is excellent for me may not be excellent for somebody else. To re-work an old adage, “one man’s mediocrity is another man’s excellence”.

The themes of mastery and excellence come together to form a more complete picture of our entrepreneurial journey. These concepts intertwine with each other and combine to make a wonderful life. I now understand more fully that my journey requires two things (at least): commitment and a vision.

Commitment is best expressed as a combination of the quote from Elder Holland and this quote from Tom Peters, who is quoting the founder of IBM: "A while back, I came across a line attributed to IBM founder Thomas Watson. If you want to achieve excellence, he said, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work." At first this idea seems to conflict with the insight from Elder Holland. Only when we understand excellence as a journey, and not a destination, do we begin to understand how daily commitment to excellence (or any other virtue) gives us a life of meaning.

A vision provides the daily fuel necessary to sustain our journey through darkness, difficulty and despair. But not just any vision will do. It must be clear in our minds and grand enough to keep us rising each time we fall.

This journey will be long. Rome was not built in a day, as the saying goes. But with a vision to inspire us, and commitment to the journey, success is only one more step away.

Building Upon a Sure Foundation

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation. . ."  Helamen 5:12 - The Book of Mormon

It was March of 1990. The company where I worked was sponsoring a conference for our customers which included a seminar by Stephen R. Covey. After listening to Dr. Covey’s presentation I purchased two copies of his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I stood in line for him to sign my purchase, and he added the scripture quote above from the Book of Mormon. Thus began my journey with “The Seven Habits”.

All of the Habits are important because they share principles which, when developed into habits, will maximize the possibility of success. Just now, the principle that I am developing is Habit #3 – put first things first. By choosing to focus my time and energy on things that are most important, I can minimize interruptions caused when important things go wrong. Habit #3 allows me to exercise the most freedom in my work, as well as the ability to choose when I will work on specific projects. Habit #3 embodies the spirit of this quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson: “Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today”.

Mastery of this habit of successful people will allow me to align my work with the values that are most important to me. Learning to proactively and effectively manage my time will give me more time to serve the people around me. I am not a perfect practitioner of the Seven Habits, but as I focus on them day after day I know I will be successful.

Tilting at Windmills

"Fortune is arranging matters for us better than we could have shaped our desires ourselves. . ."  - Don Quixote 

At the start of this semester, the process of becoming an entrepreneur seemed much like the story of Don Quixote jousting with windmills he thought to be giants. My lack of knowledge defeated my confidence on a regular basis. Just like the knight of Miguel de Cervantes’ famous story I felt that the primary skills necessary were a vision and the tenacity to pursue that vision, come what may - that Fortune favors the courageous fool. This week, my viewpoint  took a giant leap forward from delusion to understanding.

“So You Want to Be an Entrepreneur”, published in 2008 by the Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence, outlines some of the skills necessary for success. Here are the three main skills:

In-depth knowledge of the competitive structure of an industry and a network of contacts within that industry.

There are two ways to acquire this necessary knowledge – learn them yourself (which will probably take years to accomplish), or find a partner who already has them. I immediately thought of industry mentors. Although it is my goal to become a mentor to others, in the beginning I will need several mentors myself. While pondering on this principle, the thought came to me that I can start building my network of experts now.

The skills to run the daily operations of a small, rapidly growing company.

The best way to learn how to run a business is by working in the operational management of a business, either large or small. This is a bit unsettling because it will eventually require that I give up my comfortable career in order to pursue my dream. Knowing this now will help me create a plan to prepare. When the time comes to make that change, I can be ready.

The ability to raise money.

This skill is listed as the least important. In my own business, I plan to fund my company through capital saved while I am working and preparing.

There are still many questions to be answered, and other steps to take along my journey. But I  understand that I can begin to move forward now, even though I am still a student.