(Expansion) – Being an entrepreneur is an arduous path, there are no shortcuts or secret recipes. Each path is one in itself and different from all the others. To go through it requires preparation, dedication and learning from failures. When someone decides to undertake, they must be willing to pay the price, which means living a few years like many would not, and then living like many could not.
The success of an enterprise is a complex matter to quantify. For some, the most valuable part may be the economic factor that is obtained after several years of effort; others consider that the social value that the company contributes or the legacy that it leaves to the community is what is truly relevant, others bet on everything: profit and legacy.
Neither option is more legitimate than another. Success lies in analyzing what is behind reaching the goal. The vision, the leadership, the flexibility or sometimes even the resilience to bear that, on various occasions, you don’t even have to pay the payroll or the rent of the premises. These are the factors that shape you to develop your full potential, leave a legacy and achieve your goals.
They always tell you that to succeed it is essential to do business using the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. All entrepreneurs learn to sharpen them as they go. And so, they can see ‘gold’ where others see copper, they can smell the flowers in the desert or touch success even when it is on the distant horizon.
These five senses that we all have are super developed when it comes to entrepreneurship and can take projects to a very favorable place, but it is not about creating good ideas, but brilliant ones and for this you need something more than five senses, you need nine.
And I am not referring to the ‘interoceptor’ type senses, such as synesthesia or proprioception, but to other types of inner sensations that every entrepreneur who wants to be brilliant must carry with them.
5+4=9
The first of these, and the most fundamental, is common sense . We must work more with this logic that allows us to discern between the good and the bad, to distinguish how valuable an upright, honest entrepreneur with unwavering principles is for our society.
Subsequently, there is the sense of opportunity . It is not just about looking for an option to make the project grow or take advantage of a precise time to expand, sometimes we must generate opportunities if necessary.
We must take more calculated risks, especially when the purpose is noble and our goal of entrepreneurship is to positively impact society.
There is a sense that we develop very little and that is humor . In this path of entrepreneurship we face a considerable number of adverse moments, but, regardless of the result, we must always interpret the fact with good sense. How boring life would be if we couldn’t laugh! Sometimes you have to laugh even at yourself to see things from another angle.
An entrepreneur who sees his mistakes with a good attitude recovers faster from adversity. You can even make fewer mistakes and inspire collaborators to be more creative and make those failures (no matter how much it hurts) become lessons. It is human to err, but it is also human to learn.
And finally, there is the sense of responsibility . All of us entrepreneurs owe ourselves to someone, be it our family, society or ourselves. You have to maintain a balance between entrepreneurship and your own life project. Being in harmony eases the path to success. Every decision implicitly carries a responsibility.
In this life we develop with five senses, but for entrepreneurship we must learn to live with four more. Nobody said it would be easy, the hard part is doing it every day, but the reward is totally worth it.
Editor’s note: Luis Arandia is an entrepreneur, innovator and life-changer. Write to larandia@loopempresarial.com.mx The opinions published in this column belong exclusively to the author.
