Your vision is clear. You know the opportunity exists. You even tested the market and validated customer needs.

And now…..2009, the year you expected to launch your new business is fraught with a sagging economy and possibly a recession. You have a job that’s ok. You don’t love it. You enjoy most of your colleagues. You have some flexibility. The reality is…it works, it pays the bills and gives you the mental, if not physical time to design your dream.

“Now what?”, you ask yourself. Do you keep your day job longer with your 401K and benefits? Ah…you can feel the freedom. It’s so close….yet so far.

And on it goes. The back and forth – the pros and cons, along with the nagging voice that says “Now is the time. If I don’t do this, I’ll never know if I could make this business a success. Yet, if I am worried about money because my customers can’t pay, will I fail anyway?”

This thinking is not as rare or strange as it might sound. Millions of people are having these conflicting thoughts and emotions. Conventional wisdom – and even the wisdom of well-respected business gurus like Donny Deutsch (CNBC show: The Big Idea, which CNBC removed from its programming this year, because the powers that be anticipate that future small business entrepreneurs are awaiting a better economic climate); and Suze Orman (also with a CNBC show: The Suze Orman Show) who advises mainstream Americans on how deal with their finances, suggests that we hold onto our day jobs before we take the leap into the great unknown.

PRACTICE THESE SKILLS AND ADVANCE IN YOUR DAY JOB
BECOME AN INTRAPRENEUR….

Key Skills to Advancing Anywhere…

• Presentation Skills
Learn to be clear, articulate and focused
Breathe…..and speak from your diaphragm
Use visuals
Skip the jokes if you’re not a comedian

• Consulting Skills
Understand your client’s business – inside and out
Learn to partner and collaborate – not tell
Listen, listen, listen and listen some more
Manage expectations

• Communication Skills
Find the human connection
Focus to get the outcome you want
Provide your full attention

We look forward to your comments, sharing your experiences and wisdom.

Owning a Business is Difficult

Perhaps you now face a competitor’s new product on the market that sells like hot cakes, stealing your market share percent by percent.

Maybe a valued employee leaves your company, after you’ve sent her at a $5000 seminar and confided your five most exciting growth ideas for next year.  Your most reliable supplier discontinues a chemical you require for your product line and customer demand is in the triple digit range.

Business life, even as we strive with dignity and class, is usually messy and inconvenient.  Did the thought ever cross your mind – “This wouldn’t impact a Fortune 500 company.  No way! They’re bigger.  They have other divisions to absorb the loss of this product.  They have more people and can switch gears quickly.”
Your thoughts are certainly realistic and I’d like to add one tidbit of information – Fortune 500 companies can trip over their complexity.  Many large companies may know what to do and the big question for them is:  Can they deliver the results they promise and in what timeframe?

Small companies must use everything they can to succeed.

In his new book,The Strategy Paradox, Michael Raynor states, “The external environment in which we find ourselves is very uncertain, where changes in regulations, the economy, competitors’ behavior, customer preferences or new or disruptive technologies could each, or in combination, dramatically change the operating landscape.  The ability to take bold action with urgency, while maintaining strategic flexibility has never been more important.”

I invite you to please share your musings and thoughts as you concur that we are not alone in the entrepreneurial journey……