Do You Go Out on a Limb in your business?

You won’t get anything or anywhere in life if you don’t take risks.

Before you dispute this, think about it.

You may have taken the risk to go out of your way to ask someone you like to go out for a drink or meal, you may have taken the risk to ask someone to be a friend, or to fill in that application for a job, or university, or booked a flight to somewhere you have never been before. What ever it was, you took a risk.

What if the person you asked out on a date said NO, or that the person you asked to be a friend SHUNNED you, who knows where you may have been directed if you had filled in the application or bookingthat flight, would you rather feel pain of regret of NOT filling out the application or booking a flight?

Every single day we take risks even if you consider yourself not a risk taker, trust me, you are taking risks. The risk of being run over, each time you set out of your house to go to work, or being in an accident just popping up the road. Risk of heart attack if you are not taking care of your body and eating well. So many areas of risk are in our lives, but we have been conditioned to only look at what will endanger us, not what will make us prosper.

Starting a Business Is a Risk

Every business venture has risks associated with them. It will depend on YOU as to how you work your way through them. If you are not willing to fail, then starting a business is not for you. Raise your expectations to be real, most new businesses do struggle in the beginning, you need to find your feet, you need to find your niche and your audience. This takes time and knowledge which needs to be worked upon.

Fact: Most business start ups fail within their first 5 years.

If this is the case then you need to honestly work through something for beyond the 5 years before you quit and say it didnt work out.

A business will grow from many failures if lessons are learned along the way. SO many fail in business because of unreal expectations, you will have resistance from others who are close to you, and if your mindset in business is one that you fall and give up at the first sign of 'failure', these are some of the things that have come out with partners I have sponsored into my businesses over the years, this isn't working for me, no one is interested, the products are priced too high, the products are in short supply, no one wants to partner with me....

The reality is that there are approximately 7.8 billion people on the planet in the world's population as of August 2020 according to the most recent United Nations estimates elaborated by Worldometer. So when you say no one is interested, how many have you reached out to? When you say the price is too high, compared to what? what are the benefits you are providing over and above what is already out there? If there is an issue with product supply, then this is a good thing? Supply and demand, means it is in high demand right. So you see, the above are excuses. Excuses will always block your path to success if you let it.

Risk Management

It is important to manage risk appropriately. Due your own due diligence before starting a new business. Harvard Business School teach the following when looking at whether to partner with a comapny or not, you should consider the following.

1. Look at the company background - how long have they been in operation, who are the management team, look at the leadership within, what are the companies ethics and ethos. Do you align with them?
2. Look at the reviews and recommendations / accreditations of others about that company
3. Products and Price - are they ethically made, sustainability factor, will they be in demand? Are they competitevly priced?
4. The current marketplace and how the business fits in with what is on trend now?
5. The assets of the company, will they last more than 10 - 20 years? what is their current turn over, what are their long term plans, are these realistic.
6. Will you be paid on time and a fair amount for your efforts? what incentives are there for customers as well as investors?
7. Customer Service - for both partners and customers, are the standards high, are they supported. Are they prompt?
8. The leadership of the team or person you are partnering with. WIll you get the support you need, are there systems in place to help you understand what you need to do in your first new months or more in the business? What training will you get, what are the incentives?

When making important decisions, think about the consequences of what may not go right, and how you can minimise the risk of it not going right, but then also think of the risk of NOT DOING ANYTHING. If going ahead will bring more reward with some risk, then YOU will need to make that decision if it is the right thing to do. No one can make that decision for you.

When you make BIG AUDACIOUS Dreams, there is a risk you may not completely attain them. But should that stop you from trying? As long as you have a dream, then when opportunity arises, it may seem like a risk, but see through it and have faith that the risk to reward ratio is greater than not taking the risk at all. The Fun Formula: How Curiosity, Risk-Taking, and Serendipity Can Revolutionize How You Work Is a great book that can help you work through your dreams and risks.

How would you judge yourself a low risk taker, medium risk taker or high risk taker? Take this quiz to find out ===> Click here