This week I have been reading a book ‘Champion’ by David Ndegwa a former Golden Gloves amateur boxing champion and High School teacher. David uses his experience as a boxing Champion to demonstrate what it takes to fight life’s battles and become a Champion. Though the book was given to our 13 year old son as a gift upon his transition to adolescent I am learning lessons that apply to everyone not just a 13 year old.
This article is based on one paragraph that I read in the very first chapter of the book. “As you strife to win your life fights, you will also face these four obstacles; Lack of resources, Poor techniques, Inexperience and Doubt” Says David in his book. As I reflected on this I thought, ‘How true this is, not only in fighting life’s battles, but also in fighting Business battles!’ These four are key determinants of Business success. In the beginning lack of resources, finances and others, always stand out as the missing piece for you to push that Business idea from your mind. But as soon as you apply all the resources at your disposal you are confronted with the next obstacle-poor techniques. You immediately realize that your Business is unique and the technique that seemed to work for your friend or competitor is not working for you. You also realize that you require different techniques at each stage of your Business.
The next thing you realize is that you cannot run your Business without relevant experience either in the your line of Business or in a related field. While it is true you can hire people with the skills and experiences that you need, as the Business founder and owner you cannot blindly get into a certain line of product/service with zero understanding. A couple of years ago my friend decided to gain entry into the shoe market and with a vision of manufacturing her own shoes. She signed up for one month course at a shoe making Industry just for her to have a general idea of what it means to make such a bold move-her background being in a totally different field she needed this. Mark you she will not be the one ‘stitching’ the shoes but she needed to know how it is done and what it takes.
The last obstacle I find it as unifying factor for most of us if not all-‘Doubt’. We always doubt our ability to start that Business, sell that unique product/service, change to that new line of product/service or even move into that new location or region. Many a times you realize that the difference between your ideal entrepreneur and the entrepreneur you are right now is doubt-that if you would be bold enough to get rid of doubt in your mind you would be surprised to find it is all you needed to become your best self. In the Bible we are reminded of how doubt can make us unstable in all we do. “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind” James 1:6. Will you allow doubt to make you like the ‘surf of the sea?’
To face your doubts this week I invite you to address some key Business Elements in your Business which I would consider important for you to become a ‘Business champion’. We, however, at times leave them unattended because we doubt our capacity to address them. These elements include; Vision and Leadership, Business Development, Operations & Delivery and Financial Management. To read more on the four please go to our facebook page[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]