Ah, the good old days! Many founding entrepreneurs will lament the days when they launched on a wing and a prayer, with only their wits to survive the challenges in beginning a company. Many started on a shoestring budget, working out of their garage or basement, and a dream that they could succeed.
When you started you had an idea of how to disrupt the market, how to outperform your competitors, and how to deliver greater value. There was no crystal ball for doing so, just your belief and confidence that you could in fact deliver on those promises.
Fast forward and those same entrepreneurs who did in fact succeed now find themselves immersed in procedures and trying to void mistakes or risks. While logically, it makes sense to want to avoid risks, the reality is if you are going to do more than just survive, you will have to take risks and continue to launch new products or services without having everything perfected.
The comfort of our own success makes us want to avoid the very things that made us successful.
Now armed with assets, employees, a client base, and a proven track record, it is easy to pull back and take very incremental steps towards growth. After all, you can pay the bills and you have gained respect for what you have accomplished.
However, the world will not wait while you refine a model or while you evaluate for the 10th time an idea for innovation. The world and your competitors are moving forward at an alarming rate and you are left with just a good idea by the time it launches.
Leaders must fight the temptation to perfect and overanalyze. We must maintain the courage to press forward without all the answers. And finally, we must remember the joy that comes when we are willing to innovate and challenge our assumptions about what will work. The world is ready, are you?
