Chaos rules the world right now. At least it sure looks that way!
That being said, can you start a business and succeed in a world like this? Will the economy affect you and your new business?
The only way I can answer this question is by offering you a few facts that I pulled off the internet...
- Did you know that General Food, and Macy's all started in 1929?
- American Airlines, Duracell, Westin Hotels, Neutrogena and Fisher Price began in 1930
- Tyson Foods and Allstate Insurance started in 1931
- Revlon, Nissan Motors and Ethan Allen all started up in 1932.
Now look at those dates ...
These are all companies who had the incredible courage to start up a business in the middle of the greatest depression the United States has ever seen. With the crash of the stock market in 1929, the U.S. was thrown into a horrible depression. Food lines were everywhere and unemployment was skyrocketing! It was during this time that these brave companies decided to start a business. Now WHY on earth would they do that when chaos was ruling the world?
Do you think they focused on the depression around them, or do you think that perhaps they focused on how to move forward and make it work? They all knew the reality of the world around them, they just didn't pay attention to it.
Revlon, for example, correctly assumed that women spend a little money to buy a lipstick because that one little thing would make them FEEL good in spite of the crumbling world around them ... and women did ... in droves!
So to answer the question ... can you start a business in this economy?
Allstate Insurance, General Foods, Revlon and Macys would say yes ... yes you can.
So it's 2014 and it looks like our old friend chaos is back!
Show him the door.
Don't focus on what is going wrong, focus on what is going right! Focus on your future and concentrate on getting yourself there. Focus on where you want to go and what you want to do. Focus on your success and NOT on your potential failure.
Failure is not an option.
How do I know?
Because failure motivates me. Failure tells me that I need to change direction to get where I want to go.
Actually, now that I think about it, since failure gets me moving in the right direction, have I really failed?
When the going gets tough, I do not simply give up and throw in the towel. Instead, I roll up my sleeves, take a deep breath and do what I need to do to push through to the other side. I might fall, scrape my knee and bleed a bit, but I'll get there.
If the companies listed above can start a thriving business in the great depression, so can you!
Until next time!
Katharine
About the Author: Katharine is an award-winning author, motivational speaker and the world's leading concierge trainer and consultant. She is the founder of Triangle Concierge as well as the author of several business and motivational books. She can be reached through her websites at katharinegiovanni.com and triangleinternational.com
copyright 2014 by Katharine C. Giovanni
interesting article !
Indeed, if you are starting a business you absolutely should do your homework and research it thoroughly. Take some classes, read some books and get as much information as you can before starting. However, you need to go into business with the thought that you are going to succeed ... NOT the thought that you're going to fail. Be positive in all you do! Life is just too short not to.
Good luck to you!
Katharine
The fallacy in this is that 9 out of 10 startup businesses are failures within a year or two because of lack of capitalization. Failure is the norm. All one has to do is watch the TV show, Shark Tank, to see failure happening. It takes many skills to run a business and most people don't have all of those skills. Failure is a hard way to learn, that is the way most learn. Without going into detail, there are many things that can cause a business to fail. A person wishing to start a business, should get as many facts about costs and perception of the prototype product as possible before spending life savings on a losing proposition.
Ron