Page 24 - Business Plans that Work A Guide for Small Business
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Entrepreneurs Create the Future   •   15

                 talk  to  as  many  people  as  you  can,  and  keep  them  informed  of  your
                  progress.


                 Energy

                 Building  knowledge  and  networking  take  energy.  As  Dennis  Kimbro,
                 best-selling author of Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice, shared
                  with faculty and students when he visited Babson College, “Successful
                  people  make  the  40-hour  work  week  look  like  child’s  play.”  He  later
                  added, “If your work is your play and your play is your work, you will
                  never work a day in your life.” Launching a business takes a tremendous
                  amount of energy. The typical entrepreneur can expect to work on aver-
                  age 60 hours a week or more. In reality, most entrepreneurs find that they
                  never leave the job. Even when they are in bed or on vacation, entrepre-
                  neurs are thinking about the business. The business planning process also
                  takes energy. A good plan takes 200 hours to complete, and that is just
                  the first working draft. This energy is somewhat self-sustaining, assum-
                  ing that you also have the final two points on the star, commitment and
                  passion.


                 Commitment

                 To  sustain  energy,  one  needs  commitment  because  everyone  will  face
                 difficult times. Launching a business is an emotional roller coaster. The
                 highs are higher and the lows are lower, and they come at breakneck
                 speeds. If you are not committed to your opportunity, to your vision, it is
                 all too easy to quit when the first low hits. You have to believe in yourself,
                 you have to believe in your vision. Without that definite sense of purpose,
                 you will abandon the venture when things look tough, and things will
                 look tough at several points on the journey. Thus you also need the final
                 point to help sustain you.


                 Passion

                 The last and most important point of the star is passion. Returning to
                 the self-actualization theme, you need to know what drives you. What
                 are  your  professional  and  personal  passions?  As  Dennis  Kimbro  says,
                 “If nobody paid you, what would you do for free?” If you are pursuing
                 entrepreneurship only to make money, you will lack the commitment and
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