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My son is 2. He’ll be turning 3 at the end of February. He’s a sweet little boy, honest. Smart and funny as hell. The first two months of his life I had serious contemplations that I was not cut out to be a mother. But somehow he miraculously turned into the world’s most near-perfect child. He took his naps on schedule. He slept 12 hours a night. He. was. perfect.
Everyone talks about the terrible twos, so we buckled our belts. I put on my crash helmet and used my husband as a human shield. Then, nothing. He says please and thank you. He does what you ask him without needing a heavy hand on the discipline. Terrible Two’s? Pfft. Eat my shorts. Someone forgot to mention just how bad 3 was going to be. If you’re a parent, I’ll be you’re laughing right now. Maybe even peeing a little in your pants. Because we’re now in the throws of parental hazing. When you live with a 3 year old, your entire day is filled with …wassat mom? What rock chair say mom? No, mom. YOU go back work. Pen’er do myself.
Last night we were picking up a few groceries and something to pretty-up the fish tank. In true form, my kid grabs the cart and starts pulling it out into the busy aisle where people are tripping over him. I grabbed the cart and told him no (which used to end in a super cute awight mom) turned into both a screaming and pulling match. I really needed to get the rest of my groceries so I gave in, left without the fish bling, and let my child shuffle around with the cart under my careful eye.
What the heck does this have to do with business? A lot, and it all occurred to me later that night when I watched Dragon’s Den that showed one very passionate entrepreneur who, despite several yearsin business, just wasn’t generating enough money to support themselves. Sometimes you need someone like Kevin O’Leary to tell you to let the business dry up. Trying to force a business into something that it wasn’t meant to be is like trying to grab the cart from my kid.
So when do you grab the cart to get the fish bling, and when do you give up?
* If you still can’t support yourself after a number of years – or worse yet, your business has yet to break even – you need either quit your business or take the cart down another aisle. If people aren’t buying, you need to re-evaluate your business idea.
* What have you had to give up? (time, money, relationships) Is it worth the sacrifice?
* Does the idea terrify you? Good. Fear is known to push people in some cases, but it can also be a good idea to try something that you’re not familiar with as a way.
* Wha’ts your USP? If you can’t keep a competitive edge over other businesses in your industry you’re going to have difficulties giving your customers a reason to buy from you instead of Joe Blow down the road. By the way, if you don’t even know what USP means, you’re really in trouble.
What else has that little budle of wonder taught me?
* Do what makes you feel good. Drop everything else.
* No matter how much passion you have, you need a break once in awhile. Take a nap.
* Think outside the box. In his world, there is nothing wrong with a purple cow playing with a pink dog.
* Fight for everything.
That’s ma boy.
…….
By the way – my business is 1 year old tomorrow. What a long way we’ve come, baby!
