Sneak peek - New Book: Bloody Knees

Throughout my time running my business, I often met eager, soon-to-be entrepreneurs who would stop in for a cup of coffee. Once they realized I was the owner, they’d naturally gravitate toward me, becoming captivated by my journey and progress. Each person was different, yet exactly the same. They all had grandiose ideas and plans for their future business successes and were blissfully ignorant of the demands and sacrifices necessary to succeed at their future endeavors.

Usually, the conversation focused on why I opened a coffee shop or how I survived the pandemic. I use the word “survived” loosely here. I lost count of how many people told me it was their dream, too, to open a coffee shop. They would always express to me that what I was doing was so “cool” and that they, too, wanted to work on their own terms. I guess what I was doing was “cool,” if you’d call it that, but I definitely wasn’t working on my own terms. Little did they know that when it comes to impossible decisions, you give up the right to work on your terms. I was working and being run into the ground on terms that none but me saw or understood.

So many of these conversations had come and gone, so I usually kept my responses generic and simple; like things they should consider: create a business plan, know your margins, and identify your market to establish if there is a need for your service. I drew one conclusion from all these conversations: everyone thought running a business would somehow just magically happen for them and that it was … easy. I will say that the vast majority of people I spoke with didn’t even know what a business plan was or that creating a business plan was necessary and fundamental in the business creation process.

ARE YOU WILLING TO GO THERE?

One day a young girl stopped in to buy a cup of coffee and a bag of beans to-go, and as she completed her payment transaction, she asked me unprovoked in an excited bubbly tone, “What should I consider before starting my own business?”

Her eyes lit up as she stated her question to me, and her face exhibited a smile from ear to ear. Her sudden question toward me took me back with its blunt honesty and naiveté like no other similar questions had. No one had ever asked me what they should consider before starting their own business.

I don’t know if my response was based upon pure exhaustion or if I had somehow subconsciously been thinking of my response to this question all the while, so I responded without thinking, “That’s a big question and I can spend all day talking to you about what you should and shouldn’t consider. I will spare you the rant and just say that you need to look at your business like a race. Do you understand that?” She nodded confirming she did. I could see now that I had her full attention, and her brain was now wondering where I would take the conversation.

I continued on, “Imagine yourself on a starting line with a group of other random business owners. There is a person in front of you that announces, ‘Ok everyone, the goal for today is to go in that direction as far as you can.’” As I pointed off into the distance with one of my arms. I proceeded on, “You can run or walk; it doesn’t matter. The only rule is that you can’t use a vehicle or anything else like that. You must do it on your own power. The winner is the person who goes the farthest. That winner represents success. This is a race you must complete every day. What is your first thought before starting this race?” As I turned to her and asked, eagerly awaiting her response, really trying to emphasize the word before.

“I don’t know what my first thought would be,” clearly catching her off guard.

“You must know. Tell me how you would approach this race,” I responded, trying to push her further.

“I think I would think about how far I could walk, but I am not sure how far I could walk,” she stated in a less excited, more depressed tone now.

Jumping in to save her, I said, “And see, that is the thing. Before I even took one step forward, I would have already committed myself to crawling. After I couldn’t run or walk any further, I would crawl. After my body gave out, I would crawl some more. And not just crawling for a little bit. I am talking about crawling until my hands and knees bleed. I would crawl until I was down to raw flesh, and then still, I would go and crawl more. I would never stop. That would be my mindset before I took one step forward. I know that nobody else would be thinking that. I know that nobody else would be willing to go there and crawl until they had bloody knees. I would know before I even took one step forward that I was going to win this race, not just today, but every day that followed. Business success is nothing more than a race within yourself.”

“Wow, that’s an incredible way to look at it. I don’t know what to say. I understand that. I do. I should really think about this more before I go and start something on my own,” she responded clearly taken aback by my analogy in a more upbeat tone.

“Are you willing to crawl? Unless you’re a trust fund baby and will be given blank checks every time you need a bailout, the idea of running a business is nothing more than your willingness to suffer. Are you willing to suffer? How much pain are you willing to endure in order to become successful?” I said, staring back at her.

“I … I really don’t know,” her mental wheels fully spinning as she tries to digest what I just leveled against her.

But I didn’t stop there and continued to further drive home my point, “How will you get out of bed and deal with all the challenges of running your own business when you don’t want to? Writing a business plan is the painless part that any fool can do. Every business plan is perfect on paper. Everyone talks about passion. Having passion doesn’t get you out of bed in the morning. How will you always maintain the same level of effort day in and day out, especially when you don’t want to? Your effort is the only thing in life you control. Are you willing to do anything to make your dream happen? Are you willing to crawl until you have bloody knees? If so, then go ahead and start your own business because you are ready. That is what I would consider before starting anything. I have made too many incorrect decisions during my own process. The only thing that has maintained me is my effort. It’s constant and consistent. I never have a day off, and that is what I love so much about this business. It’s an intoxicating race within myself. Rent is always due today. I know my effort will always be there. Today, things didn’t go as planned, or maybe another pandemic will occur. It doesn’t matter because I have already made the decision that I’ll crawl if I must in order to figure a way out of it.”

An awkward silence, of her trying to process what I just said, consumes both of us before she breaks the silence and says, “Thank you for that advice. I really mean that. I have spoken to other people, and nobody has told me anything like this before. I need to figure out what I am willing to do to be successful, and if I am willing to crawl until I have bloody knees. I will think about that. Thank you again.”

And then she took her coffee and went on her way.