Keep Moving Forward

Business carries inherent risks, but don’t let fear of failure prevent success.

Interested in Business?

Get Business articles, news and videos right in your inbox! Sign up now.

Business + Get Alerts

Every month, Cleaner brings you stories of contractors who are succeeding, doing great work and making their businesses stronger. And to make that happen for your business, sometimes you need to take a chance.

Going into business for yourself is perhaps the biggest professional risk you can take. Adding a new line of services, expanding your staff or buying an expensive new jet/vac truck all carry risks, but they also present opportunities. These are important decisions in the course of operating a business, and they can play a huge role in shaping your future.

There is a balance between risk and reward, and good business owners must be willing to take occasional risks to keep their businesses moving forward.

That’s one of the great freedoms in business ownership: You are the primary factor in creating your own success. When you embrace that, and put fear aside, everything becomes possible.

As we kick off the new year, we’re working on several stories that demonstrate what it takes to make a business successful. From a Pennsylvania contractor who went out on his own with no help 10 years ago and now has 29 employees, to a woman in Georgia who took a risk and started her own inspection company, these stories will all provide some insight on operating your own business.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to succeeding in this industry. We try to show you a variety of approaches that have worked for other contractors. We’ve profiled companies with a focus on growth and continual expansion of their services and market share. We’ve profiled just as many companies that have found their niche on a smaller scale and in a more specialized approach. A company that specializes in pipe bursting and has remained steady at eight employees for the past 10 years might not look as impressive as a company that has 100-plus employees and handles everything from pipe inspection to hydroexcavation, but success can take many forms, and what it means to you is all that matters.

The key is setting goals for your business and having the courage to go after them. So be bold. When you see an opportunity for improvement, go after it. Some decisions will inevitably lead to failures or setbacks, but success and failure are often separated by the thinnest of margins, and the greatest failure is not taking the chance and giving yourself the opportunity to succeed.

There’s a quote from one of my favorite writers, Hunter S. Thompson, that I’ve carried around with me for years. It’s as important a question in business as it is in life:

Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived, or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?

Don’t be afraid to take a chance when you see an opportunity to improve your business, and don’t ever let fear keep you on shore.

Enjoy this month’s issue.



Discussion

Comments on this site are submitted by users and are not endorsed by nor do they reflect the views or opinions of COLE Publishing, Inc. Comments are moderated before being posted.