Camp fires or bonfires are a great way to relax and enjoy time with friends and family. A little bit of food, some comfortable chairs, a six pack or two… or three and maybe even a lesson learned for business owners and entrepreneurs.
A fire is like starting a business. You find available resources and build with what you have. You can start with wood you find on your own if you do not have the capital to buy fire starters. It’s your choice. Once you have the resources, it’s time to build your foundation and get the fire started. You can either throw all the wood you have in a pile and hope it turns out, or you can plan the placement of the wood so the fire will continue to burn efficiently. I’ve seen people start businesses using both methods. Some have an idea and just run with it. Others have an idea and develop a well thought out plan.
However, a few unexpected variables come along and mess your plan up like the wind or a possible rain storm. Some people will be prepared for the unexpected variables with a little planning. Others will not. If you plan on building a fire, you might want to see how the environment will be. You can relate that to the market you plan on entering with your business. What is your market like? How are the conditions? Will you be able to create and maintain a business in the given environment? If the conditions are bad, do you have a plan to overcome the challenges? If not, you may build your fire to find out that a hurricane is coming to the market and your fire is now destroyed.
Once your fire is made, you have to maintain it. If not, your fire will slowly die. The same thing goes for your business. If your business is not innovative, it will slowly die. You also have to learn what works and does not work. After the fire is burning for an hour, you have an understanding of how much wood you have to put in to maintain the fire. If you put in a little extra, the fire will grow stronger for a little bit. If you put in too much, your fire expands too fast and the party is now over because nobody is alive. The same principle applies to a business. Once you are past your start up stage, you have an understanding of the amount of work and capital must go in to maintain the business. If you put in a little more money and some more work, revenue may increase within that period. If you expand too fast you can lose focus on your core competency, experience higher stress because of the increase workload, deliver less quality customer service, etc.
What kind of fire is your business?
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