4 Tips for Entrepreneurial Success

Earlier this month I had the privilege of speaking on a panel at the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneurship Evening. I am a member of the Owner and Entrepreneurs Circle (OEC) and they have monthly meetings the first Thursday of the month.  Members convene for happy hour at a local Silver Spring place. It’s always at a location I would love to go to, with people I admire and learn a lot from.  And I find support and community in groups like this.

At the same time, as the parent of school-age kids, happy hour is my witching hour.  Busses, practice, homework, dinner, school forms and any tiny snippet of what’s happening in their lives happens in those hours and while I’m battle weary enough not to call that time precious, it is important.

But when my friend Andrea asked me to be on a panel for the OEC -at happy hour time – I enthusiastically said yes. I had been to the event last year and knew how impactful it was. It was an honor to be asked to contribute my own experience. Even better was the chance to hang out with my fellow panelists  – local area founders and entrepreneurs- who are supporting and uplifting the local community.

Backing Up

I recently wrote a post about Silver Spring being voted one of the best places to raise a family in the U.S. and why I like it. In order to talk about what being here really means to me, I need to back up a little to talk about how I got here.

The short story is that the DC area is home. I went to part of grade school and high school in Annapolis but my mom and aunt moved to Silver Spring when I was in college and my Dad’s always lived in Northwest DC.

The longer story is that I always saw myself working internationally and in fact had a couple of opportunities to do that. In graduate school I studied International Affairs, went to school in Beijing for a bit. Then I had a job working internationally. I was based in DC but flew all over Latin America and Europe while developing international programs for business owners worldwide.

What I realized was that from the U.S., I was guiding and advising business owners on how to grow their businesses and tap into U.S. markets.  Meanwhile, back home entrepreneurs were struggling with those same things.

Back to the Panel

I mention the background here because Jason Miskiri, owner of Society in Silver Spring and several other DC  and Baltimore restaurants talked about something similar when asked, “Why Silver Spring?” He grew up in Takoma Park and felt a real pull not only to support the community in DC but right down the street where he grew up.

That Jason, a former basketball player (in the NBA!), and I, committed nerd, could not only be on the same panel but also share a similar pull to the area is an example of one of the best things about Silver Spring, and the Chamber’s OEC that brings people together.

Make a Decision Good

The most fun panels I’ve had the good fortune to speak on are the ones where I learn as much as I tell.  A couple of things that had an impact on me were what Deepesh Saxena and Dauda Fonteh said about decisions.

Most decisions aren’t bad if you learn something from them.  I’ve made better or worse decisions but the important thing I’ve learned is that when I make a decision and know it’s not going as planned – time to make another decision. Quickly.  Deepesh took that to the next level by saying you don’t necessarily make a good decision, you make a decision good. That framing is sticking with me as way to think about how I make decisions going forward.

The death of other decisions

Dauda also weighed in on decision making with etymology. Decide comes from the root word “to kill”. Every decision is the death of other options so do it confidently. That resonated with me because as a business owner you can’t always hedge your bets. Sometimes you have to “kill off” the other possibilities (and your anxiety around not choosing them) and just move forward.

Protecting your time

Kim Levone from Improbable Comedy has a full time job, produces a comedy show and has 3 kids.  I try to stay away from the “How does she do it all?” thing but I appreciated her talking about how she switches off during Shabbat. Observing Shabbat in Judaism means at sundown at 5 until Saturday afternoon or evening you are free of technology and transactions that define modern day Western civilization.

My business partner Heather also observes Shabbat. While a simple way to frame it is a list of things one can’t do after sundown Friday, when Kim described it as protecting her time, I recognized that I was a little envious of those “restrictions.” I also recognized that there’s nothing stopping me from making my own rituals at home. In fact, we already have.  Kim illuminated the importance of that time and the gift of it.

Past to the Present

There were so many gems for other entrepreneurs.  One brave person in the audience talked about the loneliness of being the owner and the boss. And that person had definitely come to the right place and I hope to see them at OEC meetings in the future.

What I’ll wrap up with is something Jason said at the end during an emotional moment.  We might not be proud of all the decisions we’ve made.  And while it’s important not to let the past define us, it can be a motivator. We may not always make good decisions, but we can make decisions good.

I’m totally in awe of these business owners and that I was with them on stage. I hope all my fellow business owners get a chance to share in the same kind of community.