On Halloween I asked: What’s scary to you? Only you can answer it but we’re not talking about eating too much candy tonight, ISIS, North Korea, Trump, Hillary, or anything similar.
What’s scary to a lot a people?
Business buyers: It’s the leap of faith they need to take to be in business. It’s understandable because business ownership is not for everybody. As I say in my book, Buying A Business That Makes You Rich, some people are like my mother, who taught college math and couldn’t imagine anything riskier than a school paycheck every month. Others groom themselves to take the plunge, and they love it.
Business sellers: Selling their baby is super-frightening. These owner’s put in so much time, effort, and love into it they can’t imagine someone else taking it over. Of course, these are the people who often are forced into selling (the three D’s, divorce, death, and disability corner them at some point) because they didn’t plan for and make an orderly exit.
Salespeople, advisors, and similar: Making phone calls. When teaching my class at the SBA on growing a consulting business I tell the story of one of our Partner On-Call franchisees who told me he’d stare at the phone for 10 minutes, finally pick it up, have a great call, and stare at it again for 10 minutes. His version of the move Ground Hog Day.
Salespeople, etc.: Asking for the order, because you just might hear no.
All of us: Doing the things we know we need to do. In other words, having the discipline to do things that aren’t much fun. Often because as in the prior two items, there’s risk.
So, put on a costume and scare the heck out of whichever things listed above frighten you. You’ll be glad you did.
“Living in the past is for cowards.” Mike Ditka
