Founder-Level Strategies: Performing and Persevering over Time
During 2008, as it became increasingly clear that the market for upscale adult daycare services in Charlotte was not going to materialize any time soon, Lynn Ivey continued to doggedly pursue her dream. She brought on a temporary sales team to generate and follow through on leads. She continued to network with enthusiasm throughout the community, seeking client referrals and new financial partners. But privately, Lynn wrestled with despair and depression. Fatigued by financial crises, she searched for pockets of cash and juggled vendor and bank payments to generate another month’s payroll. It had been more than a year since her mother had passed away, and her lingering grief was now deepened by the growing realization that her business, a monument launched in her mother’s memory, was itself in the process of dying.
The birth of a business idea brings hope, jubilation, and intensity. Aspiring entrepreneurs feed off of this energy and spread it to others as they race forward. Friends and colleagues admire and congratulate new founders on their bravery and creativity. But it is further along the venture road, beyond the honeymoon’s promise, in times of strife and stress and inescapable responsibility, where many businesses are made or broken. Your entrepreneurial stamina and determination will occasionally seem like the only thread holding your venture together. In these times, the most vital questions have little to do with your business model and everything to do with you: How much gas is left in your tank? How do you refuel and recover? Are you moving with enthusiasm and a sense of purpose or with growing weight on your shoulders?
In this section, I will offer a few final thoughts on how to perform and persevere through good times and bad in pursuit of your venture - level goals. While we know that certain entrepreneurs are more hardwired for persistence than others (see personality dimensions covered in Chapter Three), I will focus here on strategies available to all founders, regardless of core personality. Healthy entrepreneurial stamina is not just about the refusal to quit, an attitude that can cause stubbornness and attachment to nonviable concepts, but is grounded in ongoing learning and improvement. Four principles can help you to increase your own staying power for the good of yourself and your venture:
1. Feed your fire.
2. Focus on achievable goals.
3. Balance performance with recovery.
4. Persevere without attaching.
