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Entrepreneurship requires a leap of faith

To be an entrepreneur is to be a visionary. It takes faith in your idea, as well as in yourself. Often time it also requires a leap of faith from someone else, the investor. The benefit to this faith is more far reaching that just a return on investment. When businesses are created, so are jobs. When these businesses pull resources from the ground or from thin air, such as intellectual resources, they create new wealth. When we sell these resources and products to outside places, both domestically and globally, our region or country grows economically as well. The faith that we have in ourselves and our idea, and that we instill in our investors is amply repaid by the benefits to society and our nation.

The leap of faith that is required is primarily in yourself. If you don't believe in your idea, why should anyone else? You have to know, not think, but know, that you can do what you are saying you can. You have to believe completely in the planning you have done. You have to realize the difficulties that will face your venture, and show that you have made plans to over come them. Your skills and abilities may not have paperwork to back them up, but if you let something like that get between you and your end result, then you will fail. Failing is not always a bad thing. I have failed many times, and always learned a great deal from it. It doesn't make it feel any better when its happening, but later on, when you have picked yourself up, you are stronger for it, as long as you don't let it crush your spirit. Thomas Edison took over 1000 tries before he figured out the correct materials to make a light bulb work. Abe Lincoln failed at several runs for different offices before he was elected president. You have to try, and keep trying. Even if you miss 99% of the shots you take, its better than missing 100% of the shots you don't.

The other leap of faith, and the harder one to overcome, is when your idea requires someone else to aid you. To secure financing, usually, you have to convince someone else that you can do what you are saying you can. This becomes very personal for you, and remains completely impersonal to them, which makes it doubly hard on the entrepreneur. We have to overcome not only our basic business questions, but also our abilities, which can be a daunting task, especially if starting out in a new field.

Always keep in mind that failure is not the end all of business, no matter how badly it ends. Always learn from mistakes, and always know your limits. Remember of course that you can't know your limit unless you push it, but don't over do it either.

Learn more about this author, Thomas Howard Elliot.
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