Pick Up Your Sword Before You Plan To Go To War
The best time to learn how to use a sword is before you need to use one. That is pretty self-explanatory. You do not want to be gripping a sword for the first time as enemy fighters are barreling towards you. By that time you want to be well acquainted with a sword. Having spent many hours practicing and perfecting your craft. So, by the time you are in combat, you can properly defend yourself.
Entrepreneurship is quite the same. You want to be prepared to go into situations. Typically, the one who is the most prepared wins. The one who is reactive to situations is typically at a massive disadvantage, as it forces them to make rash, hasty decisions. Now, you can’t be prepared for every situation, but the good news is that you can be prepared for most.
Here is how.
Start from the end and work backward. Let’s say you want to eventually build and sell a company. For companies and funds that acquire other companies, what do they look for? Flawless financial records, a history of quality, organized operations, and a track record of success in the market with great products. Okay, let’s start with flawless financial records. How can we achieve that? When you start asking yourself these questions you will become more and more prepared.
Find a teacher or a mentor. Building off the example in the previous point, let’s say you don’t know the first thing about accounting. That is fine. Most people don’t. What you need to do is find a way to learn rapidly. The best way to do that is to find someone who is able to teach you. Even just a high-level understanding will help. They can be an official advisor or just someone who is willing to help ad hoc. The key is to be able to have someone that you can turn to and trust. Having a rolodex of trusted mentors who you can turn to when various situations arise is an asset that money can’t buy.
Find time to think. One of the most valuable assets is quiet time where you are able to think deeply. To be alone, distraction-free, and let your mind spend time chewing on a problem. Not every idle second of your day needs to be spent catching up on your email inbox or feigning productivity. Create time for yourself to think about the big picture. Question the assumptions your business is built on, drill down on your strategy, determine if it is effective or where it could be improved, and, most importantly, analyze yourself.
No matter how much you prep you will still get kicked in the stomach by the unknowns of entrepreneurship, but we want to limit the amount of kicks that we receive.