Startup Toolbox

I posed a question in a social networking site that is geared toward business folk. The question was – As an entrepreneur, what do you know now that you wish you’d known when you first started out?

For the most part, the input was excellent. But there was one response that surprised me.

“If at first you don’t succeed, quit.”

I know, right? I mean, I had to read it a couple of times to make sure I read it right.

Perhaps he was just being facetious. Perhaps not.

As entrepreneurs…or really even as human beings…we’re going to come up against obstacles. We can either use the obstacle as a convenient reason to quit. Or we can see them for what obstacles really are – opportunities.

Opportunities for growth.

Not all obstacles can be overcome, but they still provide room for growth. Just as a poker player analyzes the table to decide whether they should stay the course, raise the stakes or fold, we need to analyze what lies in our path instead of reacting by immediately throwing in the towel.