On New Year’s Eve I was talking with a new business owner. He closed his deal and takes over operations on January 3. During the conversation he stated he is nervous and has anxiety about owning and running a company. I told him if he wasn’t nervous there would be something wrong with him as it is a huge step.
Or, as I say in my book, Buying A Business That Makes You Rich, you are making a leap of faith and you want it to be off a chair not the roof, which he clearly is doing (making a small leap) due to all the diligence and preparation. His response was an indifferent, “OK.: Then I said:
“Don’t overthink it. You’re smart, capable, and have run larger companies than this.”
His enthusiastic response was, “That’s really great advice.”
It’s something we all do too often, we overthink by wondering about:
- All the things that could go wrong, which have never gone wrong in the past
- Scenarios about how others will react when they probably aren’t giving the issue one iota of thought
- All the minutiae, most of which doesn’t matter at all, and keeps us from moving forward with our plans on a timely basis
A new year is a great time to consider this. Although it is just as important every day, week, every month of any year.
“If you can’t beat them, arrange to have them beaten.” George Carlin
