Before we go any further in the step-by-step of opening a business, I want to inject a note of reality here. I have just read David Brooks’ op-ed piece about genius in The New York Times. He echoes what I have read elsewhere, and what I think bears repeating here if someone is thinking that she will whip up a startup company or simply follow her newfound bliss and become an instant millionaire. OK, it has happened, but the number of cases is infinitesimal compared with the number of startups that go belly up each year.
The issue is that excellence has been found to be the product of at least 10,000 hours of focused work on your area of interest or desired expertise. It seems that there is no way around this figure: 10,000 hours minimum. What does that break down to? I’ve done the math for you because I was curious, too:
10, 000 = 250 40-hour workweeks = 5 years of 50 weeks
(generous soul that I am, I have allowed for two-week vacations each year).
Maybe you have a leg up on this number because you have worked in your intended field. That doesn’t mean you will automatically have a “Get Out of Work” card; it means that you can still devote necessary hours about the aspects of your business that you have not studied.
You already know I am passionate about owning your own business. I also want to be fair and clear–having the knowledge to do it successfully is not a slam dunk (I can’t believe I’m using sports metaphors!).
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