Quotes of The Day - On Timing of Starting Up
What’s the best economic time to start a company? Boom time or down time? The answer is probably “it depends.”
What if you do want to start now? Then you are probably facing the reality of a weak economy. I recently ran into a blog by Melissa Chang about why a recession is a good time to start a company. I took some liberty to re-summarize Ms. Chang’s article below:
- A recession forces founders to be frugal. Having limited capital leads to creative thinking, healthy deliberation about expenditures, and the need for founders to pay very close attention to cash flow, budgets and balance sheets.
- Recessions force entrepreneurs to take another close look at their ideas. A business based on flawed idea won’t work long term. Back in the dotcom era, start-ups with a lot of money led to the appearance of success, and only to go busted. More scrutiny leads to more solid ideas and plans.
- Recessions lead to committed startup teams. People who have a choice to go to a stable “large” company but still come to a startup could mean that they’re willing to live with the added risk and Spartan conditions because they truly believe the company’s vision and product and enjoy the startup environment. Those are the types of people entrepreneurs need for their teams.
- Startups get a head start. You can get a great head start on that day by starting your business now so when the economy comes out of recession, your business will be that much further along.
- Recessions toughen up companies. Adversity brings out qualities that every entrepreneur needs to succeed – guts, problem-solving, strength and perseverance. Starting a company in the lean times helps develop those qualities more quickly, which will help the startups in the long-run.”
There are also some other benefits during a down turn based on my own experience. For example, we had no problem finding an office space within our limited startup budget and acquired most of our office furniture at virtually no cost. Funding the company with our own money to bootstrap right after the dotcom meltdown also forced us to examine every dime and delay/defer any unnecessary expense.
Winston Churchill once said, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty“. I personally believe that anytime is a good time to start your business. If you have a sound idea and are willingness to put your money where you mouth is, you should be able to have a good run.
Perhaps it is less about timing, but more about the courage needed to get started. To quote from one of the scene in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee that illustrates the kind of courage that you really need to realize your dream.
“I wanted you to see what real courage is…It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through, no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”
Without the courage and the willingness to adapt and give your best try, there will be plenty of opportunity to succeed. There are definitely plenty of people see it the same way:
- “The future belongs to those who are willing to make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains.” - - Fred A. Manske, Sr.
- “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
- “I will tell you the secret of getting rich on Wall Street: You try to be greedy when others are fearful and you try to be very fearful when others are greedy.” –Warren Buffett, American investor, businessman
- “Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.” –Anita Roddick, cosmetics company founder
- When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.
— Alexander Graham Bell - “Kites rise highest against the wind — not with it. “ - ~Sir Winston Churchill
- “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.”–William Butler Yeats, Irish poet
So, why not start NOW. Remember procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.
