The other part of preparing for opportunities, is
preparing yourself. Open your eyes, Set some goals. Build a productive mindset.
For example, eliminate words like
"should" and "can't" from your vocabulary -- and your
thinking.” Can’t" is just an excuse for lack of dedication and
imagination. Every problem has a simple, comfortable solution. If you're not
finding it, it's almost certainly because you're asking the wrong question. "How
can I get a half million naira to develop this product?" is a much
different -- and much more restrictive -- question than "How can I get
this product developed?"
"Should" is just someone else's notion
of what's right and wrong. It may or may not apply to you or what you're trying
to do. That's your decision to make. Don't get trapped in other people's norms
and notions. You may be socially correct (or politically, or technically) --
but also, more likely broke.
And don't get trapped in your own notions.
Recognize that your knowledge -- what you've learned from your education and
experience, what's right and wrong, what works and doesn't -- comes with
"blinders". A good deal of that "knowledge" constitutes
solutions to yesterday's problems. It may or may not apply to today's. It's
even less likely to apply to tomorrow's.
Some of the best opportunities lie among
"truths" that no longer apply. When you hear an entrepreneur
expressing thoughts like, "The best possible reason to suspect something
is false is if everybody else believes it to be true", that's not
small-minded arrogance you're hearing -- but an open-minded search for
opportunities.
The final part of preparing for opportunities is
to quit preparing -- and act. Get on the road and start finding out what works
and what doesn't -- for you. There are as many ways of "doing
business" as there are people doing it. There is no right way! At best,
there may be some general principles.
For example, so long as you have more time than
money, spend your time -- not your money. There are always ways of
accomplishing what you want with lower cash outlay -- if you'll take the time
and use your imagination to find them. If you do, you'll have the money when
you really need it. If you don't, you won't.
Don't be afraid of spending that time. The more
time you spend in entrepreneurial activities, the better you'll get at it --
and the better the odds that you'll eventually get whatever it is you want.
Don't have the time? C'mon! There are 168 hours in every week. You spend
40-some keeping food on the table. That leaves another three
"work-weeks" free for you to define. If you don't spend some
significant part of that free time pursuing your entrepreneurial goals, that
just says that other things are more important to you. Which is ok -- just
don't then cry about "lack of opportunity" but realize you just might
not be an entrepreneur at heart.
Don't be afraid to take some risks. You take
risks constantly -- every time you get in a car, every time you cross the
street. But you've decided it's worth that risk to get to where you want to go.
The same thing applies with venturing. When you have doubts, just ask yourself,
"What's the worst thing that could happen?" The answer is never as
bad as your fears. Yes, it's scary to leave a paying job to go out on your own.
But what's the worst thing that could happen? You'd have to find another job.
Big deal!
And don't be afraid to fail. You learn from your
failures -- not from your successes. You're going to have failures. Lot's of
things you try aren't going to work. A key to successful venturing is to speed
up those failures. Keep trying things. Go with what works. Learn from -- and
quickly discard -- what doesn't.
An old proverb says, "Don't push the river;
it flows by itself"-this applies well to venturing. The person who's been
working on their "business plan" for the past year, or their
"great new product" for the past three, is "pushing the
river". They're just using those activities as an excuse to avoid taking
the plunge.
There's no lack of opportunities today. In fact,
arguably, there are more opportunities today than there have ever been in
history. Entrepreneurial opportunities arise from social and technological
change. And the changes we're going through now -- both socially and
technologically, in both magnitude and rate -- are greater than the world has
ever seen.
If you're running around frustrated for lack of
opportunities, you're doing it to yourself -- it's not being done to you. The
opportunities are there -- whatever the level you're aiming at. First, prepare, then look, then act... then prosper.
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