Small Business Advice: Lessons from a Lifelong Entrepreneur

This is my dad. He is a lifelong entrepreneur.

Two years ago, I asked my dad to go for lunch. I had made the decision to leave my corporate job and was considering starting my own business.

I knew I had the skills to do it, I knew it felt like the right next step for me, but I was scared. So, I went to the best place I could think of for advice. And also the place that was the source of my fears around entrepreneurship. My dad. That lunch was the beginning of my small business journey, and it was a doozy of a conversation.

Let me rewind a bit. For as long as I can remember, my dad has been a small business owner. Being a small business owner is important to him. He has run a successful small business for the last 25 years. He makes it a priority to get involved in the community, and business improvement associations, where he does business. He is passionate about mentoring small business owners. He shares stories, makes connections, and sells himself, and his business, at every networking event he attends. He has succeeded as a small business owner.

And also, he eats, sleeps and breathes small business. He won't hesitate to give advice at every small business he visits - solicited or unsolicited. He has had many businesses failures, has made money, has lost money. Taking a break, or having downtime, is very hard for him because he enjoys everything about business. So there is never any rest or separation. He has disappeared into his work and identity as a small business owner. Now, in his retirement years, he cannot remember any passions he had that weren't small business related. He has struggled as a small business owner.

So, back to "the lunch". My dad knows entrepreneurship, it's in his bones. And I was beginning to suspect that it was in my bones too. But the fear. That fear came from watching my dad's struggles - with identity, risk-taking, decision making, time management, etc. etc. etc... I needed to talk to him about this fear that was born from my observations through the years. GULP. During that lunch, there were 2 things that happened, which on reflection, are exactly what put me where I am right now.

First. I told him I was thinking of starting my own business. That I wanted to take all my years of corporate knowledge and help other small business owners. Help them work through all the wonderful and not-so-wonderful parts of a business. He said...

“I've been waiting for you to do this.”

He saw in me some of the same drive that he had. He also knew I had the skills and mentality to run my own business. He knew working a corporate job, being told what to do just wasn't in my nature, and he was waiting (and I think hoping) for me to see what he saw.

Then, I shared with him all the things that I saw in his journey that scared me. What if the risk doesn't pay off? What if the finances don't work out? What if it doesn't work and I'm back to the drawing board? I've worked hard to recover from burnout, what if this puts me right back there? What if? What if? What If? His response...

HE SHRUGGED!

That was his response. He shrugged. Yes, it was hard, yes, he struggled financially, yes he had losses. But those risks are part of being a small business owner. He accepted it all because the alternative would be worse. The alternative was unimaginable to him.

Walking away from that lunch, I realized I had been at a tipping point. His certainty in my skills was the confirmation I needed. His unflappable acceptance of the risks gave me the confidence to face them, and my fears, head-on. I knew that I wanted to make sure small business owners didn't have to figure it all out on their own as my dad had done. My experience in all different facets of business operations combined with my deep empathy for the small business owner - born from years of watching and working with my dad - created a drive in me that I could not turn away from. My motivation runs deep. I see the passion in each small business owner I work with. I can relate to the challenges that they encounter. And I'm driven to support them the way I wish my father had support through his small business journey.

Fast forward back to today...here I am working with other small businesses. Sharing the information I've learned along the way in my corporate career. And also from the lessons I learned working with my dad through the years.

My most important takeaways...

Sometimes you don't need to figure out all the "What If's". You just need to look those risks in the face and make a plan to conquer them as best you can. Small business owners encounter risks every day, as much as it's scary, it's also what makes it so much fun. The idea that it was risky, but you did it anyway, that's what makes it worth it. AND on the other side of that step forward, I will be there to say "I've been waiting for you to do this." ♡