Meditations for New Entrepreneurs by 321 Liftoff

Starting and growing a business can be a little intimidating. You might be tempted to think: “I’ll just wait until my business plan is ready and I know exactly how it’s all going to work.” But, the longer you wait, the longer you delay your dream. 

So, how much of a business plan does you really need as a new entrepreneur? 

The answer is: that depends on what you’re comfortable with. 

There are, of course, some things that come up in a business plan that are important to know right from the start, like: 

• What are you offering? 
• Who is your consumer? 
• What problem does this solve for them?

Those questions are critical for aiming your effort – which, at the end of the day, is all you really need from a business plan – to aim your effort and ensure that you march forward in a specific and thoughtful direction. 

Sure, you may not know how it will go every step of the way. That’s normal. You: 

• Have an idea of where you ultimately want to end up or what you want to achieve,
• Know yourself, your skills, and what you have to work with, 
• And, are willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen

Sometimes, that’s enough. 

There’s a scene in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy where the heroes are gathered together, debating their next move. Standing up, Peter Quill, played by Chris Pratt, shares: “I have a plan.”

Drax The Destroyer, follows up: “what percentage of a plan?” Quill responds: “I don’t know. 12%.” And, Rocket, the talking racoon, bursts into laughter, mocking him. 

Writing a business plan is less of a science than you might think. 

For some, 12% of a plan might be all they need. 

I have friends and colleagues who started with a name and a gmail address and that was enough. And, I also have friends and former clients who worked for months to get their business plan right – because that’s what was right for them based on what was going on in their lives at the time. 

In all cases, a business plan has to meet *your* needs. Yes, you. You are, after all, the one building this business. What do *you* need? 

But, if you’re feeling like you need to know that this will be a sure thing? Well, I’ve got some bad news – and a few other blog posts that might help change your mind. 

You can’t know how everything will play out, so don’t bother scripting out every single step. Things rarely go according to planned. That’s life. 

Instead, you just need enough clarity to be comfortable about where you’re going. Then, get moving. 

That doesn’t mean act aimlessly. It’s not about having no plan. Again, it’s about having a plan that aims you in the right direction.

So, how do you do that? 

How do you aim your effort? 

Remember this maxim, from author and acclaimed business researcher, Jim Collins: “stay true to why, but open to what and how it unfolds.”

Building a business is a creative process – you have to be flexible and fluid and capable of rolling with the punches. 

For that to be true, there are parts of your plan that need to be quite firm, so that when you hit an obstacle, you can quickly get back on course by remembering why it matters to do so:

• Why do you want to start this business? 
• What joy or satisfaction will it bring you?
• Is the discomfort from growth worth the investment of time and energy? 
• What do you want to be true along the way? How will your values play a role? 

After that, answer questions like the ones that kicked off this article: 

• What are you offering? 
• Who is your consumer? 
• What problem does this solve for them?

I believe your business plan needs to be more of a platform for your creativity and less of a 20 step plan that details financials and logistics. 

Yes, at some point along your journey, you will need those kinds of details. I’m not saying skip those completely. 

I’m saying don’t start there. Don’t put those hard limits on your imagination. Dream first, then figure out what has to be true in order for that dream to be a reality. 

Let go of the idea of a “perfect” plan and start wrapping your head around an “imperfect” plan – one that meets *you* right where you’re at. 

How much of a plan do *you* need?

Starting and growing a business is not a straight line.

It can feel messy – it zigs and zags, it starts and stops. It can feel frustrating even for the most seasoned business owners. And, that’s ok.

It’s also an exciting challenge. It’s going to stretch you. You’re going to learn a lot – not just about business, but about yourself.

And, that’s why it’s worth it.

The post Do You Need To Perfect A Business Plan To Get Started? appeared first on 321 Liftoff.

You really want this thing – to jump in and start your business or to grow your side-hustle in some new way. But, your list of pros and cons for moving forward hasn’t brought you any closer to a decision. At the end of the day, there’s just one question to consider: is the discomfort from growth worth it to you?

It might be a cliche and an overused plot device in pop culture, but making a list of pros and cons  is a natural step for people who try to be more driven by logic than emotion – myself included. 

We want the answer to reveal itself on the page. Or, at least, we want to make sure that there’s more good that will come from the endeavor than bad. 

We just need to gather all the facts and then we’ll know what to do. Surely, facts and reason will show us the way, right? 

Not necessarily. 

Go ahead, make that list of pros and cons – it’s important to understand how your actions will impact all aspects of your life, of course. What are the cons for your relationships? Your finances? Your free time? Just to name a few examples. 

But, that’s not enough. 

To make decisions about your future – to do something big and bold – you need to combine facts with gut instinct and put the cons in their proper place. 

You need to be willing to break from the illusion of safety and choose the harder path, which, yes, includes discomfort from growth. 

In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger – the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company – tells a story about when he and Steve Jobs were discussing Disney acquiring Pixar. 

Standing in a large conference room at Apple’s headquarters in California, the two men were working on a giant whiteboard, trying to determine whether or not the acquisition made any strategic sense. 

Here’s an excerpt: 

“Two hours later, the pros were meager and the cons were abundant, even if a few of them, in my estimation, were quite petty. I felt dispirited, but I should have expected this. ‘Well,’ I said. ‘It was a nice idea, but I don’t see how we do this.’ Steve interrupts: ‘A few solid pros are more powerful than dozens of cons.’ …Steve was great at weighing all sides of an issue and not allowing negatives to drown out positives.”

Later in the book, Iger crystalizes the lesson of this interaction for us, adding: “Don’t be in the business of playing it safe. Be in the business of creating possibilities for greatness.”

The bullets on the page do not have equal weight, so it’s up to you to strip out the noise, put things into perspective, and see what’s possible. 

That’s hard. What’s possible is still theoretical. It’s not yet tangible because you haven’t built or achieved it yet. So, of course you’re a little intimidated by it.

You think: ‘how the heck am I going to get from point A to point B?’ The answer, of course, is the same for most situations: by doing the work – by hustling – by stretching yourself and your skills – by taking it one action at a time. 

Yes, you will experience discomfort from growth, but isn’t that the whole point? To grow? 

Just a few years prior to starting 321 Liftoff, I was working full-time during the day and pursuing an MBA at night. It was a great experience, but before I decided to apply I felt stuck, so – you guessed it – I made a list of pros and cons. 

Of course, there were obvious pros, like: greater earning potential and the opportunity to strengthen my strategy skills. 

But, I had a much longer list of cons that kept me up at night. 

Yes, some of those cons were trivial, like less time to play videogames or read for pleasure for a few years – there would be too many case studies and group assignments. 

Some cons required serious consideration, like: the risk of being less focused at work, having less time with my wife (fiance at the time) – my attention spread too thin. 

And, critically, there were also some cons that were, in reality, just ridiculous stories that had to do with fear. I had a good thing going – a good job and a good salary – I could have just played it safe and kept the status quo. Why take on the aggravation and stress? 

How short-sighted I was then. I couldn’t see what was immediately in front of me – that the discomfort from growth I would experience would help me move from just good to great. 

Too often, we become bogged down by all the reasons we *shouldn’t* do something. We give the negatives equal weight to the positives – or are intimidated by the length of the list on the negative side of the ledger, no matter how trivial each item might seem in the long run. 

When you’re facing the unknown, it’s easy to get caught in a doom loop of rumination – you think, and think, and think, and take no action. 

You want to know the outcome – that it’ll all work out, but the outcome is unknowable. That’s life. 

Today, I know that the gravity – the pull – of possibility is stronger than almost anything the status quo has to offer. But, that means you have to deliberately choose the harder path – you have to choose growth.

So, by all means, make that list of pros and cons, but, at the end of the day, there’s just one question to consider: is the discomfort from growth worth it to you?

Starting and growing a business is not a straight line.

It can feel messy – it zigs and zags, it starts and stops. It can feel frustrating even for the most seasoned business owners. And, that’s ok.

It’s also an exciting challenge. It’s going to stretch you. You’re going to learn a lot – not just about business, but about yourself.

And, that’s why it’s worth it.

The post Is The Discomfort From Growth Worth It To You? appeared first on 321 Liftoff.

You’re excited to grow your business and start designing your life. But, occasionally, you feel discouraged and blindsided by new obstacles in your path. 

The answer isn’t to avoid obstacles – that’s impossible. In life, things rarely go as planned. 

No, the answer is to build your resilience so that when you meet those obstacles, you’re mentally prepared for it, you have faith that you can tackle it and then quickly recover from it, cheerfully moving on to the next thing on your to do list. 

By tackling obstacles and breaking through to the other side, you’ll have every right to be exhausted. But, you need strategies to bounce back quickly – because the work to grow your business is never really done. 

After all, how can you grow your business if you run out of steam? 

“Growth at all costs” and “go fast and break stuff” attitudes have their place, perhaps. But, for the side-hustler who still has their day job, the artist who puts her heart and soul into her craft, or the small business owner who’s struggling in this economy, I don’t believe that’s a productive mindset. 

No, this is about growth you can sustain – for your business and your life. 

Sure, you want to make six figures and have a thriving enterprise – so do I. Absolutely. But, that won’t happen overnight, so you and I will have to put in the work to get there. 

So, what do you want to be true along the way? 

I believe, to grow your business, first, you need to build your capacity for growth. You need to build your resilience as an entrepreneur. 

Resilience is, of course, your capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. It’s also defined as the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape. 

If you’re starting something new, then you know the feeling – just when you get into a rhythm, something flies in and knocks you off course, distracting you, and sucking away all of your creative momentum. 

But, what if it didn’t knock you off course? What if you could acknowledge it, handle it, and then keep going? That’s what resilient entrepreneurs can do – which makes it more likely that they can sustain and grow their businesses. 

Resilience, therefore, is also personal. It requires some self-awareness and looks different for each of us because we’re each triggered by different things. 

With intention and practice, like everything else, resilience is a muscle you can strengthen. 

Before Covid, I hosted my first in-person workshop. I was so proud of it. It was at a brewery in Minneapolis. I designed some great group activities with printed materials – I even selected the kind of paper I wanted. I bought sticky notes, name tags, and extra pens. The setup was beautiful. 

And, only four people showed up. 

A previous version of me would have freaked out, felt embarrassed, and given up. 

But, that’s not what happened. 

Instead, I kept a cool head and facilitated the session as planned. And, when I got home, I walked over to my desk to reflect on the event. As I sat down, I opened a piece of paper I had left for myself, hours earlier. It said: 

“Tonight was an experiment and you learned a lot from it – congratulations, you just hosted a real live workshop. You made awesome content and people liked it. You did something risky and stretched outside of your comfort zone. No matter who showed up tonight, you won – because you played full out and left nothing on the field. Now, do a five minute meditation, make some tea, and relax. Tomorrow, the work begins again.”

I wrote that to myself because I knew myself. I knew that my usual reaction to unexpected obstacles is frustration, anger, and yes, occasionally, pouting, 

And, I was able to keep my cool and go on with the show because I had mentally prepared for the entire thing to be an experiment, that it wouldn’t be perfect, and that I would learn something from the experience. 

In short, I had to recognize my shortcomings and proactively plan to counter them when – not if – they came up. 

My experience with the workshop was an exercise in building resilience and it followed a simple formula that you can follow too: 

Awareness + Action = Progress

Maya Angelou said: “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

That’s resilience – to accept that change will happen and to dust it off your shoulder, marching on, stronger for the experience (even grateful for it). 

And, that’s what you need in order to grow your business – the personal capacity for growth. For that, resilience is the key – to be steady in the face of obstacles, leveraging them as tools for your own growth and progress. 

Want more ways to build your resilience? Here are a few additional resources:

• Read: Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday
• Watch: The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage, a TED Talk by Susan David
• Do: take the 321 Liftoff Business Readiness Assessment

Starting and growing a business is not a straight line.

It can feel messy – it zigs and zags, it starts and stops. It can feel frustrating even for the most seasoned business owners. And, that’s ok.

It’s also an exciting challenge. It’s going to stretch you. You’re going to learn a lot – not just about business, but about yourself.

And, that’s why it’s worth it.

The post How To Grow Your Business – But Not In The Way You Might Think appeared first on 321 Liftoff.