Letting go of “Plan B”

It has taken almost 2 years for me to realize that only in losing everything is one free to do anything. Building a start-up or infancy-stage business does not ensure financial security, bolster career path, or even guarantee an interest in the field. If stability is what you are after: go corporate.

Small businesses are not safe investments. Blazing new trails is risky. Finding fish in a huge ocean is difficult. Dead-ends are not uncommon. Restarting and brainstorming new paths becomes frustrating and daunting. This industry is NOT prudent: so why are you acting like it is? 

I moved to China after graduating college in search of scoping the international business realm and to consider alternative lifestyle. Eventually, I teamed up with a start-up trade company being run by Excel spreadsheets and a personal bank account. My parents supported my decision to work with them because “it would be good experience” and would “look good on a resume.”

This had been my mindset for a number of months. I had graduated from a good school, had aspirations for post-graduate work, and thought that international business experience would broaden my horizons. 

6 months later I was given the opportunity to partner. I took a day off to consider viability, my genuine interest, and think of the prospect of longer than a year stint in a foreign land. With the idea of ‘partner’ to be added to my resume I decided it would be worth a shot; so I got my feet wet.

Months went by and I still hadn’t generated any business on my own. Cold calls stayed cold, emails went unresponded. My partners were having ups and downs, but I couldnt seem to get off the ground. Meanwhile, college buddies were getting promotions, buying their first homes, and making trips to Las Vegas. As my time in China ticked on, I couldn’t help but think about solid job prospects back in sunny California.

A business trip to the Philippines for a prospective client surged my interest and reminded me what this company COULD become. Not what it is now, not experience, not a resume booster. This company could bring me to financial independence, an alternative lifestyle, and the endless ability to travel (combining work with pleasure, of course). Wow!

In considering what other jobs could have been available, I blinded myself of the true potential of this company. Why had I been thinking about Plan B? Plan A is my dream: so that’s what needs to happen. There is no longer a Plan B.

This clairvoyance envigorated my fervor for hunting. I pounded leads until they were flat or still stood to listen to my pitch. My confidence in myself and my company grew, and those listening to me could hear it in my voice. This can work. It will work.

Eventually I got my first client. Later my first sale. Then another. And then a third. Although I still have to work nights and weekends to keep my leg of the ship afloat, my fire continues to burn with confidence and a limitless ceiling.

If you start a company, you did so because you want it to work. Finding profitability is so difficult in this age that any second thoughts or doubts will only drag you down. You have to make the leap of faith, jumping in with both feet. As I learned: getting into the pool with one foot still on deck won’t help you get wet. Jump in. Swim on.