Adrie's Blog

Making choices

We all know that in life you have to make choices. However, despite the fact that we all know it - it seems that we are less and less prepared to actually do so. You know what I mean, I am sure: two salary households, both parents working but still wanting to have children, so you have a nanny, you want to buy your house, have exotic holidays, go out, kids go to special schools and have music lessons, tennis lessons and all the other lessons other children go to as well, you want to buy your gadgets and nice cars... not necessarily in that precise order, but it seems we want it all these days.... That's how we end up in a society that is more and more based on consumption. Where society itself seems to tell us it's OK to want it all - why would you save? You can buy it now if you just get this loan, or squander the excess value built up in your home or base it on the future salary increase you may be getting next year...

This kind of attitude and "greed" is a great threat for starting entrepreneurs - because you will soon realize that you absolutely do have to make hard choices. You will see that building a company goes hand in hand with making substantial sacrifices and often for quite a while - no glamour, or nice expensive holidays, eating out three nights a week or building that fabulous home. Building your first company is all about endurance, suffering and almost constant lack of funds. It's about working 12 hours a day which leaves no room for a social life, and a circle of friends that gets smaller day by day (but stronger!).

Building a company is very much like being a top athlete - you will have to dedicate yourself to your own goals and close yourself off from the world around you. You have to train at the top of your ability (read: work) and rest when you can. What you do see with athletes, and with entrepreneurs, is that there comes a point where you start to want different things out of life again. Once they have won a gold medal or two, the athlete may think "I want to have a social life again, go out with my friends". That is the point where they need to move on and change careers, and equally in business - that is the time you should sell your company or turn it over to someone who can carry the burden unconditionally.

I have noticed time and again that if you do not make choices, and think that you can do it all - it never turns out well. It can be that you are trying to build a company and at the same time you want to go and do all these other fun things. But it isn't a good idea to lose your focus - it will show in your performance and provide the wrong example to all those that you need to execute the work. Your staff will quickly start thinking: "If he doesn't have to work that hard, why should I"

The same happens if you overestimate yourself and think that everything you touch will turn to gold. This happens often with entrepreneurs that have never had a bad run in their business lives yet. They think that even if they start a company in an industry that they do not understand, it will be fine because they are that good. I can share with you now, that it will not be fine - and they will have a hard time recovering because you do need focus and commitment as well as knowledge and expertise to make any company a successful business.

If status and glamour are more important to you then building a solid business, just don't even start. You have to acknowledge that you will only have those things again once you have generated an exit or your company is run by someone other then yourself. This week I met with a young man who really does grasp the concept op making choices. He started as a 20 year old on a new adventure in a new country. His first choice was NOT to use his family's network because he wanted to move in a different direction. It meant being conned by people he didn't know, but still he persevered, striving to achieve his goals and adapting his concept. Now, 16 years later, he has a very successful business, a gorgeous Bentley and a beautiful house. It looks simple now - but to achieve all of these material things - he endured 10 years of sacrifices - for me that is the ultimate example of someone who knew what he wanted and was determined to get there. Irrespective of the choices that entailed.
I'd opt for 10 years worth of sacrifices over wondering for 30 years why you never did what you dreamt of.

When you reach that point where people say "yes sure, you've always had it easy" that you know you have made it.