1 of 22

Write now Article Tools

"Running a business is like bringing up a baby." No doubt you may have heard this analogy. You really do not realize its significance until you have a baby AND have entrepreneurship experience. It has to be both as I am finding out. Our baby is less than a month old and we are overwhelmed. I remember going through the exact same feeling with my previous venture seven years ago.

Moment of weakness

Constant feeding (not much I can do in that department), changing diapers, rocking her to sleep all required tremendous amount of patience. That's the same with a new business. I had a checklist of things to do to ensure things do not fall through the cracks. I remember looking at the checklist after a whirlwind of a day thinking I would have pared the pending tasks down to a page. I was astonished to find it had grown instead of shrinking. That's when the feeling of helplessness creeps in just like when you have a fussy infant in your arms; she's just inconsolable whatever you do. That's also when you need a break.

Mistakes - and me?

Babies grow incredibly fast in their first year. Our little princess is just three weeks old and is quite vocal about her likes and dislikes. Soon she will be on her tummy and pretty soon she will be scooting around on all fours getting into places she shouldn't. Then she will start walking; stumbling at first and falling many times. But she will learn. She will learn balance; she will learn the difference between right and wrong; she will learn pain and hurt; she will learn success; and more. Over the years she will make her share of mistakes; some she will learn from our mistakes, some she will learn after committing them. She will learn from each mistake and grow.

Starting a business is like bringing a new born home. It is difficult and challenging. As a business owner you will make mistakes; some you will avoid by learning from others mistakes and some mistakes you will make. You will stumble and fall, and just like a baby you will dust yourself and say, "Charge this to experience." And move on.

B-2-B: Similarities

As I sit with my little girl, rocking her (in vain) to sleep, I wrote down five similarities between starting a business and caring for a newborn.

1. Understand that I will make mistakes. But I have to learn from other people's mistakes. It will help my baby. I read articles on the subject of bringing up a baby just as I would read articles on how to start a business. There are wonderful insights out there on this topic. I do not

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about So you want to start a company??
We want to hear your view. Write now!