Do You Want to Dance?
Middle school dances and starting a business…
In many ways, creating a business is really like attending your first middle school dance. There is a foreign, awkward excitement that is hard to put into words. Many thoughts and actions lead up to the day. And then suddenly you are there–back against the wall, surveying the landscape–looking for anyone eager to give you a shot.
I’ve often struggled to describe the powerful combination of anxiety and elation of entrepreneurship but maybe I was not tapping into the right middle school memories, buried beneath braces and rejection.
When you start a business, and as you begin to realize people are not beating down the door to engage with you, a certain real pragmatism sets in. You have to be open to anyone! Anyone who is ultimately willing to look past your inexperience; anyone who is willing to prioritize your enthusiasm over your core competency. And so you work with/for (or dance) with whomever will have you. Friends, family, less-than-ideal prospects, any and all are welcome as long as they can help to get you out of the corner and off the proverbial wall.
If you are lucky and/or fortunate as I have been in business (and dancing–as anyone who has seen my wife dance can attest), you survive long enough to get another shot, another chance to show maybe, just maybe, you can learn a thing or two. You may never become Steve Jobs (or Fred Astaire), but, if you play your cards right, you get enough reps to get that innate awareness of your own frequency and rhythm and you begin to find music (and prospects) that suit your speed.
With this awareness, you understand that you will also never be on Dancing with the Stars but perhaps you can find a beat and venue that leads to real competency and proficiency. Maybe, just maybe, you can hang around long enough to say no to enough songs, to enough opportunities, you reach the rare air of becoming expert in a certain niche, industry, market and skill.