All It Takes is a Little Courage

The First Step Is the Hardest (© Max Stein)

The following is a brief copyrighted article taken from the Internet site of a sales training company; we’ll use it as the basis of our discussion in this first chapter:

“If you can get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.

“Begin where you are, work where you are.

“The hour which you are now wasting, dreaming of some far off success,
may be crowded with grand possibilities.

“The first essential of success is that you begin. Once you have started, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance.

“Do not wait. The time will never be ‘just right.’

“Start where you stand and work with whatever tools you have at your command. Better tools will be found as you go along.

“Eighty percent of success is showing up.”


If You Can Get Up The Courage To Begin, You Have The Courage To Succeed.

Going into any business is traumatic. It’s so traumatic, that the majority of small businesses don’t make it as far as the third year.  There are a number of reasons for this, including:

· Finances – it literally takes money to make money. You need money to purchase inventory. In some locations you must purchase permits and
authorities – and subject yourself to inspections to begin and then continue operation. Finances are always key ingredients in the success of a small business, and a home-based business is no exception. Just because the business is operated out of your home doesn’t mean that it does not
consume resources – space, storage, communications, transportation, and supplies, to name the most obvious things.

· Competition – often people who begin a small business fail to take their competition into account. Ken Lord, home-based business is no 
competition to General Motors, of course, but may be heavily affected (in my case) by other people selling Avon, people selling other than Avon
cosmetics, independent sales representatives, and storefront retail sales activities.

· Lack of knowledge. My particular business, Avon, is extremely easy to get into. As this is being written, the entry fee is $10 – which is, in essence, the cost of the initial supplies. But it would never have succeeded had there not been training and tools to develop my knowledge of the product line and of cosmetics and skin care. Often the lack of
knowledge can kill a new business, particularly if the businessperson has little interest to gain the knowledge. It has been my experience that
insofar as cosmetics are concerned, many of the female representatives feel they have an edge – it’s in the genes, if you will – in that they have used cosmetics from their early teen years.

· Lack of resources. I find an astonishing number of people who feel they can begin a business with no investment in learning, literature, or supplies. Often, their initial progress is hampered by the lack of simple financial expertise. For example, they feel they can’t handle a checkbook, so they do not have a checking account. That makes paying for the product somewhat cumbersome. A means of transportation is necessary, in some cases, to pursue the business, yet I find people beginning
business with inadequate or non-existent transportation.

· Pipe dreams. Often somebody begins a small business with a view to distribute over a wide area, get into mail order, take on customers all over the city, and in essence give every similar  business a “run for its money.” The rational approach to building a strong small business is seldom taken, for a couple of obvious reasons: 

(1) this small businessperson is convinced she knows all there is to know about business, this product, this sales activity, etc.; and 

(2) makes no attempt to learn about the necessary steps to building any business, this business in particular, or any of the things necessary to launch and sustain a successful business activity.

· Unrealistic expectations. These are fueled daily with visions of instant and extreme wealth. When too much money has been spent for the
purchase and attempt to execute somebody’s “plan,” it becomes painfully obvious that the author of the GET RICH IN REAL ESTATE book got his
riches from selling the book. There are Avon people who are doing significant businesses, and they have a number of things in common:

o It took them a substantial amount of time to get where they have gotten;

o It took the risk of personal resources necessary to make it happen;

o It took working 70 hour weeks, to the denial of other “easier” interests;

o And it took significant effort to make it happen, including the willingness to listen to others, try different things, and learn from the experiences.

    The Yiddish expression “gonish mit gonish” (nothing for nothing) is an important concept here.

    So it follows that if the business is to be successful, some personal investment of time and other resources is going to be absolutely
necessary. But the first line of Max Stein’s brief article is very important. You had the courage to begin; by definition, you have the courage to succeed. Courage will get you started, and to some extent will sustain your future in your chosen business. Courage tends to get thin over time, particularly as you are beset by adversity. To that end, something other than courage must take over your life – and we’ll hold here that perseverance and specifically persistence are what will make
your small business work over time.

Begin Where You Are, Work Where You Are.

    With the possible exception of amazon.com, few new businesses are begun with a view toward global coverage. And those that are, you can
bet, are well financed with venture capital. No, most of us beginning a small business are faced with carving that business out in our own locale. “Bloom where you’re planted,” is another way to express the concept. The fact is that whatever business you decide to pursue, you will first take the “warm list” approach – finding customers amongst your
family and friends – before you begin to move outward.

    Most small businesses begin in a spare bedroom, a garage, a basement, or some other “free” space, where the newly minted entrepreneur will set up operation. If there is something to be built, it will be here that the prototype will be developed. If there are things to be stored, it will be
here that the shelves will be assembled. If there are documents to be developed or records to be maintained, it will be here that “the office” will be established, the computer located, the copy machine, fax machine, telephone, and other office equipment will be located. A bench, a saw, a
desk, a few chairs, and you’ve got a business. You put your demonstration kit together, gather up your forms, run a comb through your hair, put on a lipstick color (if you are of the female persuasion), and off you go to find customers.

    It takes courage to call somebody on the phone and make an appointment. It takes courage to knock on somebody’s door. It takes courage to make a demonstration. It takes courage to ask for the order.  You’ll be nervous, no doubt, but as you do it more, you will be nervous less. I guarantee it. But you’re not about to live on one coast and make
a sales call across the continent, across the state, or perhaps even across the city. Your customer is the one you cast early eyes upon, the one with whom you wish to develop an ongoing relationship. The idea is to learn your trade, meet and serve your customers, and reap a profit within (or at most briefly outside of) your own sphere of influence – your street, your neighborhood, your church, your market, etc.

    Growth always has a base. Build that cadre of customers closest to your base. Given enough time, you’ll outgrow that bedroom, basement, or
garage. By that time you will have become so successful, you’ll have to go rent space somewhere – and by that time you’ll be able to afford to do so. Next will come a bookkeeper, sales assistance, warehousing assistance, transportation assistance, and your small business will have
become something other than small.

    In all fairness, it should be mentioned that there is a downside to building your customer base close to home. It is there that most of your potential discouragement will come. A brother will always be available to point out that you could make more money by doing something else. A sister will commiserate with your difficulties, and then condemn you for having those difficulties. So called “friends” will be available to tell you of their own failures and how certain your own failure will be.  Therefore, in addition to all the risk, all the work, all the heartache building your own business is certain to be, you will also be faced with having to overcome the imbedded obstacles placed there by people who, if confronted, were “only trying to help.”

The Hour Which You Are Now Wasting, Dreaming Of Some Far Off Success, May Be Crowded With Grand Possibilities.

    One of the true things about being in business for yourself is that you are always on duty. When the telephone rings, it could be a customer, you are aren’t about to tell the potential customer that you won’t talk with her because you ended your business hours two hours ago. So you will take advantage of each and every opportunity to develop and nurture that fledgling business.

    But let’s take it back a notch. Let’s assume that you are not yet in business for yourself – and there you are, “hanging out,” doing nothing, perhaps watching TV. Success will come into your life someday, but not today. Today you’re going to relax. And while you are relaxing, a lot of water is passing under the bridge, over the dam, or wherever otherwise water goes.

    The fact remains that grass grows independent of any effort or impediment placed there by you. Right now, you might be in a position to start to begin to think about starting to begin to build your own business. What’s holding you back? The hour that you are now wasting, dreaming of some far off success, may be crowded with grand possibilities. You can continue to dream about something – and there is nothing wrong in dreaming (it is, after all, a wish your heart makes, according to the song). But action is what is needed to get you on the track to success. Don’t wait beyond tonight to begin to pursue a course that can make that dream come true.

The First Essential Of Success Is That You Begin

   I’m reminded of the country and western song entitled Giddy-Up, Go. In that ballad about a son’s perspective of his father’s trucking occupation
is the recognition that adventure – and we adults recognize “reward” – comes from taking that first step. As Mr. Stein has stated, “Once you have started, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance.” Once we have made a commitment to the journey, we tend to conjure up the necessary fortitude to make it. If we are persuaded that this is the way we should go, we’ll move Heaven and earth to find a way to make it happen. But if we never make the commitment to the journey, there is no incentive – no motivation – to ever be a success at anything.  People find that this can be a very humdrum existence.

     Further, once others have seen the commitment you have made, they will kick in with encouragement and assistance. It is true that some of these folks may be fair weather friends and will soften on that assistance over time. But by that time, you will have proved that you can do it and your motivation can be operating on autopilot.

Do Not Wait. The Time Will Never Be "Just Right."

    The autopilot analogy is somehow apropos to the discussion right here. For me, waiting for the time to be right meant trying to save money for flying lessons. I never was able to save the money – always something demanded it. But that didn’t deter me from taking flying lessons. I found
when I began those lessons that the rest of my life simply wrapped itself around my need for finances for that ambition.

    “No time like the present,” it is said. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” says another. It is not my purpose here to fill these paragraphs with cliché, but it is my purpose to draw to your attention that you cannot persist at something you never begin.

    Four things will make you successful:

· Beginning.

· Persisting at it.

· Consolidating your gains and

· Beginning again.

    It’s a cycle, this thing called a small business. It begins every morning, builds slowly until mid-day, creates a crescendo during the afternoon, and peters out after dinnertime. Some days the day begins and ends later, but that’s OK. Success knows no hours. Opportunity comes at any waking moment. The successful entrepreneur finds ways to “scare up” those opportunities, takes advantage of every opportunity possible, selects and works the best of them, and reaps the rewards. You’ll do it
every day and you’ll become good at it. It will be easier with each passing day. You’ll do it every moment of every day, if you’re serious about it.

    In fact, the most successful entrepreneurs work their own businesses just as if they were working for someone else. Those of us in business
for ourselves do not sleep in until the crack of noon. We’re up with the rooster who crows at the sun, and we’re often at it when day is dying in
the west. We work longer hours, do harder work, and realize more results, because it is our enthusiasm that makes it successful for us.

    The word “entrepreneur” is, itself, interesting. Think of it this way: “eur” is “the person who is doing this. “Entre” simply means the process of “entering.” “Pren” is from the root word “hold.” It’s a French word meaning the person who enters and hangs onto. You and I know he or she works very hard, risks the farm, do everything that must be done. We also know that there is no satisfaction so great as being able to reap the rewards of having done just that.

And Mr. Stein Says:

“Start where you stand and work with whatever tools you have at your command. Better tools will be found as you go along.” So you don’t know
how to sell. So what? You can learn.

· Tons of literature have been written on the subject. The author of this book has just such a sales training manual.

· People are available to you to help you to learn to do the work and do it successfully. Take advantage of their assistance.

· Read everything you can. Get involved with Internet loop and organizational discussions where you can learn from others that, just like you, had to begin somewhere.

· Pattern your behavior after the available stars – those people who are making an outstanding success at doing just the kind of thing you now
contemplate.

And, as he says, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Doing the kind of things that make you successful is only the beginning. Being in
business for yourself is a day after day activity. Showing up. Doing what you must do to survive. Doing what you must do to cause that business to
grow. Setting goals and then achieving them. And then setting new goals and planning to take the necessary steps.

    Readers of my books know that I like the philosophies of a former catcher of the New York Yankees: “You got to be very careful if you don't
know where you're going, because you might not get there.”  --Yogi Berra.

I personally think you will get there. You’ll just not know where you are.

    And you can never get there – or anywhere – without starting. So start today. Grand opportunities await you.

Ken the Avon Man -- AOL IM kenlordjr
RC, UL, CBA District 7286 -- Tucson, AZ
Book: Becoming an Avon Representative
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