The 3rd Component of Entrepreneurial Manifestation: Action

In the first article on this site, I wrote "Energy can be defined as four things in this case (and in most cases): time, capital, action, and commitment.... A successful entrepreneurial enterprise needs high levels of all four components. With these investments- and a decent idea- any business can be Manifested."

In start-up, turnaround, and growth phases of business, consistent and progressive action is critical to success. It is about momentum, or the flywheel effect. A little bit of action feeds momentum, which creates more action, which creates more momentum, and so on. Similarly, if action pauses or ceases, the wheel slows and can rapidly come to a stop.

Everyone understands this. There is no need to type a slew of words to describe it over and over. Why then do we let action die? The answer is simple: excuses. Excuses are the enemy of action. Excuses are the antagonist of entrepreneurial ventures. Excuses have the ability to kill a business before it starts.

Excuses can kill action very subtly and quietly. For example, we have to wait on X before we can proceed with Y. Seems pretty straight forward. Things happen in progression, right? No. Milestones may happen in progression. But tasks leading to milestones may often happen concurrently. Let's take an example.

Bob is ready to open his bakery, but the outside needs painting. The painters are delayed by two weeks (aren't they always?). Bob doesn't want to open the store before the storefront is ready. He can list 6 reasons why he shouldn't. 5 are very good reasons, but they are all excuses. Bob can open the shop today. Sure, people might be leery of entering a store with peeling paint. Sure, Bob will have to set up a protective covering to shield customers as they enter. Sure, he will have to set up extra ventilation in the front of the store so that customers can smell the bread. But he will be moving forward. And when the painters finally finish, his sparkling new store front will already be open, will have a few customers, and will be ready for a Grand Opening fiesta.

This is an exceedingly simple example with many holes. But more complex examples involving agents and lawyers are the same. The question is, "What CAN I DO to keep momentum rolling?" Look for housekeeping tasks: strategic plans, business plans, accounting systems. Operational planning has dozens of tasks that can be revisited at any time. Marketing research can be done at anytime (and should be). Strategic relationships can be fostered.

At the end of every day, ask yourself, "What did I do today to grow my business? How did I feed the flywheel today?" Because if you didn't feed it, it is slowing to a stop. And no excuse is good enough to let that happen.

The 2nd Component of Entrepreneurial Manifestation: Time

In the first article on this site, I wrote "Energy can be defined as four things in this case (and in most cases): time, money, action, and commitment.... A successful entrepreneurial enterprise needs high levels of all four components. With these investments- and a decent idea- any business can be Manifested."

Let's talk about time. Time is the one thing that is finite. We can't make more of it. We can make more time available by a variety of time a management methods or simply by paying others to do things for you, hence "freeing" your time. We can not, however, add more time to the overall pool. Time is perhaps the only real direct, flexible expense.

The hard truth in entrepreneurship is also that you may not be able to pay someone else to do what you do. Someone with your expertise may be exceedingly difficult to find. Once you find that person, they may not be able to make the logical leaps you have to get to the right ideas. Or keep those idea secret may be part of your intellectual property. Once you solve all those problems, you could find that another person simply does not fit well in the scenario- they are the wrong person for that "seat on the bus".

Entrepreneurship will take time, and a ton of it. To best ensure the success of the venture, key personnel must be able to commit to the venture full-time. They must clear their time of other things to create as much "free time" as possible. This free time is then "occupied" by the new venture. This takes on a number of strategic advantages. First, the key personnel will not be distracted by other things. This is very important to maximize productivity within the chronological parameters. Second, you will be able to commit the most actual production time within a set quantity of hours. In other words, you will get the most work out of the most time by your key personnel. This moves the venture along as quickly as possible, which is often critical to its success. We will talk more about this when we talk about "action" in the next article.

A talk about investing time energy would not be complete without a discussion of money. Time inevitably costs money. If key personnel are worried about how their mortgage is going to be paid, they can not maximize productivity. And they must be rewarded for their innovation. Reward can be delayed with stock options, and even some salaries can be deferred, but an understanding of compensation must be agreed upon early to ensure that time can be absolutely focused on success.

The 1st Component of Entrepreneurial Manifestation: Comittment

In the first article on this site, I wrote "Energy can be defined as four things in this case (and in most cases): time, money, action, and commitment.... A successful entrepreneurial enterprise needs high levels of all four components. With these investments- and a decent idea- any business can be Manifested."

The first and most important of these is Commitment. Commitment is the basis upon which the other three components can grow and flourish. Commitment is the driving force. And entrepreneurship needs a driving force, for it is a path full of obstacles, hurdles, challenges, doubts, nay-sayers, and do-nothings. It is only with commitment that time, action, and money can maintain momentum in the face of these fantastic foes.

Commitment can be defined very simply as consistent and imperturbable motivation to achieve a defined outcome. This is best identified in the face of adversity, but it can also be equally recognized in the face of prosperity. As individuals, we are equally likely to "slack off" during good times, as we are to be disheartened during bad. Commitment never wavers from the defined outcome, even in the midst of extraordinary middle success. And need it be said that they exhibit the same steadfast character in the face of failure?

Consistent: firm, coherent; steadfast
Imperturbable: not easily excited or upset; marked by extreme calm and composure
Achieve: obtain, attain; perform, accomplish; succeed.
Define: explain, clarify; limit, set boundaries.
Outcome: consequence, effect, result, event, materialization

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Manifestation and the Entrepreneur

So often, entrepreneurs have the wrong results at the forefront of their mind. They are focused on the wrong things. There is a reason, but before we talk about results, let's talk about focus. Most of us by now have seen The Secret or heard the cliff notes on it. Very simply the Secret talks about Manifestation, which I may talk about often here as well. What the Secret teaches is nothing new. I can cite countless texts back to the beginning of time that talk about it. It is simple, what you focus your energy on, you Manifest into reality. So it is with entrepreneurship. The aspect of your business that you focus on is the part that is most successful.

Let me clarify a point about Manifestation. Manifestation is the investment of energy to create an outcome. This energy must talk more than one form. It must take all forms in order for the outcome to be achieved. Let's take the lottery example that most people use to dispute the Secret. The argument is that just by thinking about winning the lottery, I will not win it. No, that's true. You have not invested much energy into it. You focused your thoughts on it, for 15 minutes. But did you buy a ticket? Did you buy ten tickets? Did you buy 10,000 tickets? What is the level of your energetic investment? Buying 1 million tickets would surely increase the chances of winning the lottery significantly, would it not? Ah, I see. You wanted to get a huge return on a very small investment. Manifestation does not work that way. Sorry.

Entrepreneurship does not work that way either. Entrepreneurship requires a huge investment of energy. Energy can be defined as four things in this case (and in most cases): time, money, action, and commitment. Sometimes more of one will compensate for less of another, but to best guarantee success, all must be present, in abundance. This often means a partnership. Those with abundant money can not always invest time and action. Those with available time and action may not be able to invest money. Those that are capable of action, through experience and education, do not always have the time or money. And so on. A successful entrepreneurial enterprise needs high levels of all four components. With these investments- and a decent idea- any business can be Manifested. The abundance of those investment determines the level of manifestation.

Future blogs will discuss the four components of Manifestation in more depth. We will also discuss investing in the right results, outcomes, and ideas. These ideas will focus on the creation and growth of business, but I also hope that my few readers can see the application of these principals to their personal lives. For how your business is a reflection and hence, a manifestation, of your person. Initially, this blog will be about the philosophy of entrepreneurship, however, I will try to include some valuable resources and systems to help you on your way. However, the philosphy of entrepreneurship is the cornerstone of successful ventures, and most often missing entirely from the equation.