So you want to launch a business...

Four hour work week - NOT

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."                                                                            

                                                                             Thomas A. Edison

It's not that I don't believe in the possibility of a four hour work week.  It's that I wouldn't want one.

There is certainly pleasure to be found in self-indulgence, but very little contentment. Indulgence, as many wise people have noted, tends to breed dis-content.  Our human capacity for wanting more, if left unchecked by purposeful living, seems almost limitless.

But, as Maxwell Maltz pointed out, "We find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve."  

The real opportunity, in my opinion, is the chance to do something that matters.  For the entrepreneur that means addressing a client's need, in a powerful, direct, and unique manner.  It is the privilege of making Magic in a meaningful Market.

The entrepreneurs I know seldom want to succeed in order to retire.  They want to succeed in order to play the game again. 

And, just to be really philosophical, I'll quote Jonathon Mead.

"Work is sacred" he says.  "Work is giving yourself. It’s creative self-expression. It’s opening your heart and providing value to others. It’s exchanging a part of yourself with someone else. It’s a possibility for you to make a difference in the world."

That difference, and its personal meaning for us, is where our Moxie comes from.

Intelligent audacity

"You sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."   

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

"Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

A few days ago, a good friend of mine shared his take on Moxie.  He agreed that energy, pep, determination, and perseverance were all part of the formula.  But to him, two more words belonged on the list.  Successful entrepreneurs, he said, demonstrate "intelligent audacity."

Intelligent audacity.

In Potter terms, a successful entrepreneur (often a wizard of a sort), having an abundance of nerve, will often believe that "anything's possible."  That's audacity.  But it is also vital for that entrepreneur to stay in touch with reality.  That's intelligent, obviously.  Because as Old Lodge Skins said in the movie Little Big Man, "Sometimes the Magic works.  Sometimes it doesn't."

So, as you prepare to startup your business, step back for a moment.  Is your plan audacious?  Probably, I would guess.  Is it also intelligent?  Or are you hearing voices no one else can hear?

Hmmmm.

Price and Value

"It's not enough to create magic. You have to create a price for magic, too."

                                                Eric A. Burns

I love this quotation, of course, because it addresses the value of Magic, one of the Four Fundamental Factors governing the success of a business launch.  Every entrepreneur has to make some magic, and that magic must deliver substantial value.  It is one of the supreme challenges of entrepreneurship to attach a price to that value, to position the Magic financially so that it results in both a sale and a profit.  Over-price and there's no sale.  Under-price and there's no profit.  Deliver real value and you have a happy customer.

On January 13, 1981, I, Jim Flowers, solemnly vowed that I had taken my final lukewarm shower. 

At the time I owned an old house with galvanized iron water pipes.  For those of you who have never dealt with old plumbing, iron pipes rust on the inside.  Eventually that rust constricts the flow of water, often to a mere trickle.  That's truly annoying, especially in the winter, when a hot shower is like a first-class ticket to heaven.

I searched out (pre-internet, mind you) and engaged a free-lance plumber who vowed vast experience with old piping.  He looked at the location of my second floor bath, went to the basement, and quietly surveyed the various lines running from the hot water heater.  After what seemed like only a few moments, he reached up and tapped on one of the pipes with a wrench, not hard at all, just four or five gentle taps.

"Please go upstairs and try your hot water now," he said quietly.

I returned to report free flow of nice, hot water.  "OK," he chuckled.  "That will be $75."

In 1981 $75 was serious money, especially for 5 minutes of work.  Charging $75 for 5 minutes work took a lot of Moxie.  As I did an obvious double-take, he added, with a broad grin, "That's $5 for my time, and $70 for knowing where to tap.  Enjoy your shower tomorrow morning."

I nodded and cheerfully wrote out the check.  To tell the truth, I'd have been happy to pay much, much more.

Oh, and by the way...  The shower was fantastic!!

Ignorance is risk

"Ignorance gives one a large range of probabilities."

                      George Eliot

"Nothing is worse than active ignorance."

                                             Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Never let your persistence and passion turn into stubbornness and ignorance."            

                                Anthony J. D'Angelo

To be an entrepreneur is, by definition, to risk.  Risk management is all about reducing uncertainty, somehow minimizing the number of possible outcomes.  There is no greater risk, therefore, than to take aggressive action in the face of serious uncertainty.

To translate that into the terms I commonly use in this blog - don't let your Moxie override your Mastery of Market and Magic.

Here's a simple test for the level of ignorance-risk inherent in your startup plan. 

• Are you entering a Market in which you have never done business?  Yes or No.

• Is your Magic (product or service) something truly new to the world?  Yes or No.

"Yes" answers suggest that your Mastery of the Market or the Magic are probably questionable.  Two "yes" answers suggests very high risk.  One "yes" suggests more moderate risk. 

Good news!  Ignorance can be corrected, starting with location and recruitment of Mentors who have deep personal knowledge of your Market and/or your Magic.

Hitting your personal targets

"Management by objectives works if you first think through your objectives. Ninety percent of the time you haven't."

   
                                                               Peter Drucker

For an entrepreneur, personal objectives and business objectives are hopelessly intertwined.  By starting a business you are, in many respects, re-starting your life.  Whoa.  That's serious stuff.

And since your personal Motivation is your primary source of Moxie, success of your launch must, by definition, include progress toward your life goals.

Each time I seriously reflect on my life plan, the issue of where to live pops up.  It's never at the top of the list.  I care more about people than places.  But on the bold presumption that I can actually achieve my first-tier objectives, location becomes a variable to consider.

If a person can "have it all," why not live in a personal version of paradise?  Given that, where would you like to live?  Why not launch your business there?

Fortune Small Business ranks cities and towns for livability and friendliness to start-ups.  Their list of 100 best places includes some familiar names, but also some out-of-the-way spots, including my home, Blacksburg, Virginia.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that some years ago my wife and I decided we wanted to live in a college town in the mountains?

Claiming Technorati

This post is only to register www.startwithmoxie.com with Technorati.  A little bit of business mechanics requiring attention.

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