Fire in the Belly, Nerves of Steel

Do you have a fire in your belly and nerves of steel? Are you determined enough to take $5,000 and build it into a multi-million dollar business? Rich and I will be the first to tell you, without fire, nerves, and determination (some call this grit) you won’t weather the storms that inevitably accompany entrepreneurship. It is not enough to merely ask yourself tough questions, you must be willing to answer them honestly and act accordingly.

How’s your appetite for entrepreneurship? In this chapter Rich explains that entrepreneurship isn’t about having all the talents and skills yourself; it’s about how bad you want it. You simply need to assess the attitudes and aptitudes you have, and then develop, hire, or partner with the ones you don’t. This is, in large part, how our partnership came to be. We each offer distinct but complimentary skill sets and talents, but we are the same in one respect: we are hungry for success, and we expect to see it.

Does the thought of bootstrapping a business strike fear into your heart and mind? If so, good! Fear can be an incredible motivator. A little terror never hurt an entrepreneur; you simply need to learn to turn terror into triumph.

With regard to your day job- should you stay or should you go? A lot of people are tethered to the corporate claim that life in the world of big business is more stable than your own venture. When the time comes, are you prepared to cut the life line?

How will you survive? The grim fact is 50% of new businesses don’t. And if it goes down, it can take your personal life with it. It’s all about timing. Liberation from the corporate myth is exciting, but you don’t want to jump out of the airplane without your parachute on. In the early stages of bootstrapping a business, you might want to keep that day job around for awhile. Managing all the demands on your time will take planning, but you can do it.