by Cathy Sedacca
We talk to a lot of people who’ve started their own businesses, and even more who dream about it, but never take the leap.
We get it.
It’s not easy to leave a perfectly good job with steady pay, benefits and a proven track record to venture out on your own into “the wild.”
There are certainly risks, especially for anyone with a family who relies on their income. And we’ve all heard the statistics, including the fact that 50 percent of businesses fail within the first five years. That’s not encouraging.
When Karen and I look back on our decision-making process that lead us to start Sage, those concerns certainly entered our minds. But there were two key factors working in our favor:
1. Neither of us were leaving perfectly good jobs.
There’s a reason that many people who start their own business do it when they find themselves unemployed. Walking away from a job is hard.
Not only are you walking away from a paycheck, you may be walking away from potential opportunities that you have been working toward, or accomplishments that you’ve worked hard to achieve.
It may also feel like you are walking away from a sense of responsibility and commitment to your employer and team members. Perhaps hardest of all, it may mean walking away from friends. It can feel both selfish and scary to leave those things behind.
In our case, both Karen and I were in-between opportunities. And, although we could have found good jobs at that point, the time was right for us, especially given the fact that…
2. We had no fear of failure.
I always say that risk is a lot like spicy food.
I don’t have much tolerance for spicy foods so I tend to avoid them. But my husband can’t get enough of them. It seems the more he eats, the more spice he wants.
People can develop a tolerance for risk the same way they can develop a tolerance for spicy foods.
Karen and I looked at our career paths and found that we had both taken multiple risks professionally. Some worked out. A few others didn’t.
It turns out, paradoxically, our luckiest breaks were our non-fatal failures. They developed in us a tolerance for both risk and failure. We experienced the sometimes frightening thrill of failing forward as we developed resilience, creativity and an appetite for creating and recreating our future.
With trial and error comes energy. By knowing that we have both control and responsibility for our success or failure, it fosters confidence that we can determine what works and what doesn’t.
Heed the call of the wild
Our point in all of this is to encourage you. If you feel the call of the wild, consider these things:
- There is never a perfect time to start a business. The planets never align and there is never the perfect time to leave a job, or to reinvent or recreate your life. The time is now.
- Do you know what you really want? In his book, “Reinvention,” author Brian Tracy quoted a survey of people more than 100 years old about what they would do differently if they could live their life over. Taking more risks and worrying less were among the responses. But also this: Having looked back, they realized almost everything they’d done was a response or reaction to the demands of others. In retrospect, they would have thought more about what they themselves really wanted.
- What’s holding you back?, Put another—more pointed—way: If it weren’t for the money, what would you do? Once you know this answer, the path forward will be much clearer.
- Take baby steps. Still not ready to take the leap? Try taking incremental risks toward what you want. For instance,
- Put yourself out there by applying for a new role or step up and take ownership of a high-profile project. Interested in green technology?
- Start attending industry events and test your ideas by networking and connecting with industry experts.
- Evaluate your idea like an investor (think Shark Tank) and put together a pitch deck that will likely help you clarify the opportunity and the upside.
I think you’ll find it’s really not as risky as you think. In the process, you’ll develop tolerance and a capacity for risk, trial and error. And you’ll stoke your appetite for reward.
So whether you’re considering dipping your toe in the water or taking a cannonball-like plunge, know that Karen and I felt a lot of the same trepidation you feel.
But also know this: It’s a rare week when one of us does not say, “I’m so glad we took the leap.”
Cathy Sedacca is director of sales and marketing for Sage Business Credit. She partnered with Karen Turnquist to found Sage because she believed they could do what had been done by others, but better. Working closely with clients who share the same vision for their own business is the best part of her job.