Business provides a way to leverage you to greater success. Just as borrowing money to invest in financial assets will amplify returns on the money you put at risk, so too will running a business amplify the returns on the labour and knowledge capital you carry with you.
This not a road to be taken by the faint hearted. Making money this way means taking the rocky road to success. In financial terms it is called volatility. In business terms it can mean going from euphoria to despair and back on a regular basis.
Success can come in many forms. For those in the first camp about to enter business it might be imagined as the ability to do more things in life with the money that a business will make. You will occasionally see it in the carefully thought out goals of buyers on spreadsheets and business plans.
For those in the second camp already in business it may be a mixture of achievement, satisfaction and fulfilment. You can sense it from the knowing silence of business owners at the peak of their game. Their look is one that says ‘why would I want to get rid of my business?’
For those in the third camp exiting a business it may mean relief. You can hear it from the sellers who say that it would have been great if only it wasn’t for the difficulties of dealing with customers and staff.
The poem by Rudyard Kipling called ‘If’ is a good one to read at all stages of owning a business if you need a reminder as to why to keep going. I read it sometimes to remind me why I want to be a business broker. I am in the second camp.
