In the Entrepreneurial World
In a survey carried out on American businessmen who have made it spectacularly to the top, an analysis has been made of what it has taken to place them on their respective pinnacles of success. Their extraordinary feats in business and industry have been attributed largely to their “hard struggle, a devotion to work with such a sense of involvement that family, entertainment, etc. come to take a secondary place.” However, according to one piece of research the key feature which is the common denominator in all of the case histories was their having been “masterful opportunists, keenly alert to any chance of personal advancement” (Reader’s Digest, May 1982). This is not to say that hard, dedicated work did not play a major role, but, obviously, without that initial plunge taken by the budding entrepreneur, no subsequent meteoric rise in life would ever have been possible.
Taking the plunge, needless to say, almost invariably involves taking risks. It is rather like plunging into a mountain stream. What one knows and what one does not know about it, give one equal grounds for hesitation. There is the intense cold of the water, the swiftness of the current, the danger of being dashed against rocks, swept over rapids and hurled headlong down waterfalls, and then—how deep is it? The man who is keen to reach the other side will first look for the safe, easy way. He will simply cross a bridge. But where there is no bridge, he shall have to measure up his own strengths against the crushing powers of nature. Is he strong enough to battle the current, are his reflexes fast enough, has he the wit and adaptability to deal with sudden and unexpected crises? Can he find ways of protecting himself, warding off danger? Can he even trust himself to do the right thing when it comes to the crunch? The man who is really determined to reach the other side of the stream, will summon up all his strength, courage and intelligence, and will plunge straight into the icy waters before him. He will naturally choose a vantage point from which to do so, but, once having found this point, he will no longer hesitate.
In the entrepreneurial world, there are risks to be taken which are no less formidable. Some are fortunate enough to find the safe, easy bridges to success, but, for the majority, the plunge into the mountain stream is an unavoidable hurdle on the path to glory. Often, opportunities suddenly emerge before a person on the brink of launching himself on a career. It is his ability to seize upon the opportunity, then grasp it when the time is ripe that will make all the difference to the direction his career takes from that point onwards.
Opportunity seldom knocks twice, and the potentially successful person is the one who fully realizes this. Often too, a successful career is one in which a whole series of opportunities have had to be seen and thoroughly exploited. No career is ever such a cut and dried affair that new opportunities may be complacently ignored. The most successful individuals are those who are ever alive to the state of affairs around them, and who keep abreast of whatever events are likely to improve or damage their prospects. There is a great deal to the old saying: “Strike while the iron is hot!”
