Even when you’re unstoppable, you can still burn out.
When you feel you’re being crushed under the pressure of
debts and taxes, and you still come out from under it all alive
and kicking, you’ll know that you are unstoppable. You’ll understand
what being unstoppable truly means to you.
I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was 17 years old. At first
everything was pleasant, fun and exciting. Later in 2002, I was
23 years old and had just finished my obligatory army service
in Finland. The IT bubble had just burst.
Thanks to my army service, I was in good physical condition.
My company employed 17 people. When the IT bubble burst,
my company’s volume of orders fell and we had a serious cashflow
crisis. Things became much less pleasant, fun and exciting.
I couldn’t sleep because I was worrying about how I could pay
salaries to my employees. I was mentally burned out. I crashed.
In fact, I almost went crazy. I had to make a choice between
two bad choices: should I file my company for bankruptcy, or
should I try to continue the business? I honestly didn’t want
bankruptcy, so I thought about the latter option.
I didn’t want to give up. So I started thinking – what is the
worst thing that can happen to me if I fail trying to save this
company? Well, I realised the answer was option one, bankruptcy.
Regardless if I failed at saving the company, or didn’t
even try saving it, the worst-case scenario was that my company
would go bankrupt. Luckily, my own house was not collateral
on my company debts, so my own private property was
protected. I calculated that I could save the company by downsizing
the amount of employees and by handling all the sold,
but still open, cases well.
I called the tax officer and made a deal about the payment
terms. One of the debtors took some of our office furniture
as payment for their bills. With a heavy heart, I had to lay off
12 people, including some very good friends and my son’s god father.
I saved wherever possible. I couldn’t even pay my own
salary for many months.
This challenging downsizing period finally ended 14 months
later, when I paid the last unpaid tax payment. The pen dropped
from my hand to the floor. I was exhausted. But I didn’t
give up. I survived my first big business challenge. It was diffi cult
– a real-life course in “Business and Economy University”.
In high school we didn’t have courses called “How to lay
people off ” or “How to survive and manage a cash crisis”.
Still, my business survived without these kinds of courses. And
I continued on as an entrepreneur despite this challenge. I gave
entrepreneurship a second chance. To this day, my business survival
experience gives me the courage to take on new challenges.
Everything will always be all right in the end, and if it’s
not all right, it doesn’t mean it’s the end.
Those that risk nothing and do nothing get nothing.
Being unstoppable requires a never-give-up attitude.
It also requires conscious actions: regular self-reflection, self management,
development and leading others.
You are unstoppable when you face challenges and perceive
them as opportunities to learn something new.
Protect yourself financially and don’t take risks too big to
handle.
While reading this blog, remind yourself why you do the job
you do. What is your mission and what is your company’s mission?
Think about how you lead yourself and how you lead
others.
You only have one life, so live it!
Have a successful life!
Ilkka O. Lavas
serial entrepreneur and CEO at Improve Media and 61st fastest growing media Group City Digital.
Twitter: @lavas
Twitter: @lavas
Author Profile at Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/ilkkalavas
Unstoppable Entrepreneurship book: http://www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Entrepreneurship-unstoppable-entrepreneur-become-ebook/dp/B00ON3Z7L2/
Internet Marketing Education – What You Need To Know
ReplyDeleteThe importance of internet marketing education for everyone who wants to have a presence online can hardly be ignored. This is perhaps because of the few persons who eventually rise to the top out of the millions of marketers online. This is why Tecademics has been able to develop a platform where people can gain knowledge about e – marketing and what it entails.
Having such knowledge makes them to be fully aware of the competition in their respective niches. Are you one of those who don’t believe the fact that internet marketing education can change your fortune? Or you just can’t see why you should sign up with an e – marketing education platform such as Tecademics. This post will be aimed at having you convinced as to why you can‘t do without being enlightened on your marketing endeavours.
Better Domination
If you are into any form of online marketing then you will know that the major brands are dominating the smaller ones. They know what you don’t know and this puts you at great disadvantage. If you carefully observe most internet marketing news, the bigger brands have positioned themselves as authorities in their respective niches.
The good news is that Tecademics is a platform where you will have the needed awareness about taking a fair share of the market in your niche. You will learn what the so-called gurus are doing and how you can easily replicate their success.
Skills Development
You can attend all the seminars and read all the books that you want about internet marketing. However, always know that you are making those self-acclaimed gurus rich as they may not want to tell you what you ought to know. Check the statistics presented by internet marketing news and see how these people are making lots of money every now and then.
Do you think they will be ready to tell you what you need to know? It doesn’t happen like that. What you need is a platform where you will learn from others that have seen it all in the field of e – marketing. They are always committed to seeing you succeed in your online marketing endeavour.
Developing A Winning Plan
Tecademics does have a plan set out for people like you through its curriculum which is known as ISD (Instructional System Design). Through such a program in place, you will be able to have a better plan about how to go about your online marketing campaigns. You need an improved plan that will give you the needed confidence.
From the above, it is very obvious that signing up with a platform for online marketing education will guarantee you of dominating your niche.
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