By Nimroth Gwetsa, 15 December 2015.
Summer holidays are upon us. Whether one is on vacation elsewhere or is enjoying the tranquility of the local environment, summertime is the season expected to bring good fortune. It’s as if living things are doing their best to show off their appreciation of summer: with flowers blossoming, birds singing their early morning glorious melodies, succulent fruits falling-off trees, people getting together and strengthening their relationships.
Summer is the season where you would wish the euphoria of a good life continues forever.
For some, summer is a season representing the worst time of their lives. It highlights difficulties in their lives and shows them how far from bliss their lives have been. Theirs is probably a wish for good fortunes to befall them, or at worst, for the season to pass as quickly as it came.
We should not turn a blind eye to people in our midst in need. We accept that some may be unable to give their time and money to others. But it cannot be a difficult thing for everyone to be polite and courteous to others, as that might be the only best thing people in need may receive. Kindness can go a long way in turning someone’s sadness to joy.
But nothing is more depressing than seeing the outcome of one’s hard work, prudence and self-restraint nullified by factors beyond one’s immediate control, especially if the impact is owing to other people’s poor judgement. The damage has far-reaching consequences.
What then can one do when in such a situation or to prevent becoming a victim of such circumstances?
There will always be light shining away darkness, even if there is a need to endure many seasons of overcast and dull weather.
An entrepreneur’s life is one filled with regular doses of joy and pain – the joy of producing tangible offerings and seeing people using them to solve problems, and the pain of unrealised goals.
With some imagination, if we could find a way of replacing “love” in the lyrics of the song, “Joy and Pain” sung by the soul band Maze, featuring Frankie Beverly, with words describing our different entrepreneurial journey, we would be able to see parallels of the joy and pain of owning a business.
If you do not believe this, reflect on the extract of the said lyrics shown below:
“Remember when you first found love, how you felt so good
Kind that last forever more so you thought it would
Suddenly the things you see got you hurt so bad
How come the things that make us happy make us sad
Well it seems to me that
Joy and pain are like sunshine and rain…
Love can be bitter, love can be sweet
Sometimes devotion and sometimes deceit
The ones that you care for, give you so much pain
Oh but it’s alright there both one and (in) the same
Don’t it seem we go through life going up and down
Seems the things that turn you on turn you around
Always hurting each other if it ain’t one thing it’s another
But when the world is down on you love’s somewhere around
Well it seems to me that
Joy and pain are like sunshine and rain…
Over and over you can be sure
There will be sorrow but you will endure
Where there’s a flower there’s the sun and the rain
Oh and it’s wonderful there both one and (in) the same
Joy and pain are like sunshine and rain…”
The joy and pain of entrepreneurship never cease. But there is a way of enjoying more joy than pain in one’s entrepreneurial journey.
Ensuring More Joy than Pain
The simple truth is that:
Profit is fn (increased Revenue from sales against Cost of sales, i.e., P = R – C)
To increase P, you either increase R and decrease and keep C constant, or if R cannot be increased directly, do so indirectly by drastically reducing C. The ideal situation would be to increase R and decrease C simultaneously.
Plenty literature is available on how to improve on any variables of the profit equation. My focus is on the obvious non-textbook factors we often tend to overlook yet are the basic building blocks of success.
The more sales one makes, the more revenue that could be earned
I’ve said this many times and it is worth repeating: it is best to sell a service or product solving problems affecting people. Notably, basic adherence to the following principles would increase opportunities for successful sales:
From a problem perspective:
- The more problems the solution solves, the better.
- The more people experiencing the problem, the better.
From a solution perspective:
- The more tangible, effective and differentiated the solution is from others, the better.
- The more affordable the solution, the better.
- The more people get to know, regard and seek the solution as the answer to their problems, the better.
Implementation of the above principles does not guarantee success. It limits chances of failure and focuses the mind and actions to ensure success in sales.
Managing Pain
Do not despair if 2015 so far has been a challenging year despite your implementation of the above principles. Do not despair either if you could not implement the above principles for one reason or another.
Provided you have a solution to problems people experience and are concerned about, then you have an asset to help you succeed. Find a way your asset could be used to change your fortunes. If creating new offerings poses a challenge, consider leveraging existing solutions by applying them in a different context.
Consider expanding into other regions or increasing the portfolio of offerings to diversify against disturbances in the environment. This would ensure you heed the advice of experts to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket.
It leaves a better, yet bitter taste in one’s mouth dealing with the adverse consequences of one’s actions. It is devastating dealing with the pain caused by actions of others or lack of actions by others.
Pain, whether caused by others or directly induced, comes into our lives sometimes, primarily to remind us of the importance of:
- Remembering, observing and implementing principles of success we have been trivialising.
- Maintaining surplus and diverse resources from which to draw our buffer against difficulties.
- Nurturing, promoting, preserving and remaining focused on the source of strength for our success.
Going for a Win
Joy and Pain are indeed like Sunshine and Rain. One can show up the other and sometimes one follows another. If pain forces us to remember the promises of success caused by observing and implementing sound principles, prudent management and preservation of resources, and focusing on our core strengths, then pain is what we need to attain success. If success on the one hand, is attained by providing solutions to problems affected people are concerned about and want them solved, then success can be sustained by remaining relevant.
Inasmuch as we might loathe experiencing pain, not all is and should be lost when going through difficulties. We need to garner courage to learn from our failures and to look for opportunities to ensure success in future.
Pain is therefore essential in ensuring development of strength to sustain our success. Let our pain not discourage us and leave us devastated. When faced with pain, we should not be paralysed by fear of its impact in our lives. Rather, let us be encouraged by the size of success we will attain once we have overcome.
Be and stay blessed. Season’s Greetings.