IT‘S DARN HARD to start a business.

depressionI was speaking with a gentleman this week whom I had met a couple of months ago.  He had an interesting and unique business idea, but has been struggling to gain traction.

So a couple of weeks ago, he had to go get a full time job.

It really took the wind out of his sails.  He feels like a failure, particularly to himself.  His grand dreams seem to have been dashed against the rocks, never to be seen again.

Through our discussion, I started to see how this may have actually been a great development.  His particular business idea can totally work as a part-time venture, both in his sales efforts and in delivery of his service.

Landing a “day job” just gave him the ability to not worry about where his next meal’s going to come from.  This frees him to spend some time refining the business idea, trying alternatives and developing a loyal base of customers.

Maybe in the future at some point this will even become so successful that it can become his primary job – but the anxiety has been greatly reduced.  He doesn’t have to spend sleepless nights worrying about the bank account rapidly heading toward zero.

This is something I’ve noticed before in my coaching work:  It’s not uncommon for me, at times, to become even a stronger proponent of the business than my client is.  At first I found this rather strange, but I now see that it’s because I can help my client to see and connect with that glorious vision they once had, without having to experience the anxiety around the daily issues.

I absolutely do help my clients with the daily issues, but I can stay away from the emotional maelstrom.  Which helps those clients to have a higher perspective and re-connect with their vision.

If your dream is really worth having, you just might have to go through a lot of turmoil to get there.  Go ahead and ponder whether the dream is still your passion; talk it over with a coach or mentor.  But don’t give up just because there’s tricky shoals to navigate!