
DUBAI 6 December 2017: There are 2 sides to this coin:
- When you have the cash-flow maintained, save the funds for a rainy day, forget about splurging to elevate your image, because there will come a time when you will be able to do this with freedom of mind.
- When you know you must utilize all your cash for your startup and will have zero left, then don’t go there, wait until you have enough to sustain yourself and your company for at least the first 12m, especially when you want to create a startup with a physical image to impress others, then it’s a no-go, absolutely!
- When you don’t understand how important the 2 above points are, then first source the best mentor you can find and forget about the affordability, if you find one that absolutely resonates with you, your goals, desires and dreams, then use some of your investment funding to INVEST IN YOU, as the payback will be phenomenal versus starting your business with no knowledge, experience, direction or authentic vision, only to splurge all your cash and find yourself closing your business doors after 6months, because that will happen.

These are key reality factors to starting and maintaining a business to achieve the desired success, because not every up-and-coming entrepreneur has an instant winning creation that will generate thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions in the 1st few months. So being wise or taking sound advice is the right decision to make, else you might find yourself jobless, penniless and homeless if you make bad decisions. What you perceive as reality when looking around at other successful entrepreneurs, where you assume you can waive a magical wand and find yourself in the same spot, is delusional, because there are no free lunches and not everyone is fortunate to be successful at the first attempt, hardly any to be exact.
So, covering your bases and ensuring you can see this journey through from day 1, means you need to create your own awareness of the below key factors, before embarking on your entrepreneurial journey:
- Alignment – Find the right fit, look and feel for your creation and you will know it is the right one, because you will connect emotionally with yourself, if you are aligned with your true purpose and calling, if not, find someone, a mentor or coach to guide you and once you feel right, activate your creation.
- Knowledge – Emerge and drown yourself with as much knowledge and experience whenever you can find it, on the subject and groom yourself to emerge as the trusted authority on the vision and mission of your creation.
- Strategic Plans – Create strategic plans for your new business, incorporating all key components of a startup, including an exit strategy, even if you venture into this business positively, just be prepared and learn the art of Game-Changing, why it is key to have insight into this process and the most effective strategies.
- Infrastructure – Initially, be conservative, unless you can afford to splash out and have tons of funds that you can throw around, don’t go there to being extravagant to create an impression that you will not be able to maintain and sustain. Rome was not built in 1day, neither did you walk before you could talk, the process requires initial stability, sustenance and maintenance. Even if you could splurge, learn to contain yourself, because failure is a very hard process, it requires huge rebuilding that is not for everyone, so it’s better to be careful and make informed decisions, before splurging.
- Your Team – This is your life-blood, so treat them with respect, designate the right abilities, experience and capabilities to ensure your business success, be human, people like to be treated with dignity and respect and that is how you earn the same and you will need it, because managing by fear will be the downfall of your business, before you even start.
- Operational Expenses – Remember, you stand last in the queue when it pertains to paying your employees and your other operational expenses and this is perhaps the toughest task any entrepreneur faces on startup, especially if they have transited as an employee to an entrepreneur – Do not expect to receive your salary or compensation like clockwork, as you are accustomed to, because every entrepreneur faces lean months and some bad times, but they learn how to overcome, transform and recover, whatever time it takes. Mastering the art of entrepreneurship, means survival, if you can’t go there, then don’t and that is the best advice I could tender today.
- Wants versus Needs – Wants and ‘nice to have’s’ remain on the backburner until you can comfortably afford them, needs are the priority, they come first regardless. Trying to ‘make a big show’ for friends, associates, ex-colleagues, neighbours and family, is totally off the cards, even if you have surplus funds to inject into your new startup, you can throw good money after bad and money is generally not an ongoing bottomless pit, if you don’t come from legacy money, which many don’t. So, you’re delusional to go there in the first place, because the fall will be harder for you and I don’t know if you will handle the ‘fall from grace’ as easily as you assume, or if you are even aware that this can happen?
- Raising the Bar – Set your standards higher than you expect, then you are ensured of higher achievement and don’t compromise those standards that you set for anyone, not even a client, because you cannot capture all potential clients, your only job is to capture the right ones, aligned with your deliverables and whom you can authentically serve.
- Serving to your Highest Self – Serving is the sole key to success, if you don’t know this, then take the time to read the very infamous book “Think And Grow Rich” written by Napoleon Hill, then you will totally comprehend what is expected of you to achieve the desired wealth, success, abundance and prosperity in your life.
- Money/Cash Flow – When the well runs dry because your forecast was off-course, then it’s harder to make a decision to throw in the towel and lose it all, so always ensure that you maintain an acceptable level of Cash Flow to see your business through from day 1 and learn to master the art of Cash Flow, as it is the life-blood of your business, without it, it’s the toughest time to survive, having to toil with closing the doors or hoping some client will save your day or month and then it never happens, because you opted to purchase a new smashing car to show off to everyone, instead of waiting, because the latter is a game of patience, where most of the time the little ‘want’ was totally unnecessary, but caused the demise of your business and then your life.
There are many sacrifices to be made on a successful Entrepreneurial Journey, and it is your job to ensure you remain aligned and don’t step out of line until you are absolutely 200% sure by financial means, that you can make that spend and it will not affect your business or life.
Note: Theda Muller is a UAE-based visionary entrepreneur, CEO & Founder of various UAE companies, business advisor and legacy mentor, US trained and globally experienced. She is also an author of two books: Embrace Financial Freedom Volume One: 10 Proven Ways To Release Debt And Emotional Fears In Today’s Economy, and Volume Two: Releasing Fear And Bouncing Back From A Debt Crisis. She also conducts webinars and workshops on debt recovery.