I recently sat down with a long time family friend about his business web needs. He’s an Orthodontist, mine in fact. Unfortunately, his website was lost because the previous developer let the domain expire and is now unreachable. So, they called us. Lesson #1 here is, hire professionals that will be here for the long run, like us. But, that’s not my point in this post.
After we went through our discovery meeting, Dave was eager to show me what he was working on in his basement. I had seen it once before, but the progress he made since then was immense. Dave is building his own boat. Now, when I first thought of Dave building his own boat, I thought maybe a nice canoe, or a small row-boat. Not even close. Dave is building a really nice speed boat. It’s all wood with room for 4 and a fast motor. It has this classic look with wood on top and white on the bottom. He’s still working on the paint style as I write this. Doesn’t matter how he paints it, this boat is going to be amazing. I’m really excited to see it all done.
At the end of our conversation, I asked when the boat would be ready. Dave said, “It goes in the water in August.” It hit me right then, putting the boat in the water is a huge deal. There cannot be even the tiniest hole. This boat must be near perfect, or it’ll sink. After he told me that, I told Dave that he has a ton of courage taking on this project. I’m not sure I would have that courage. Building a boat by yourself with no previous experience. Learning as you go. Getting as much insight as possible from others who have done this before you. You have to commit. You have to see it through. You can’t let fear or your lack of knowledge stop you.
To me, that sounded an awful lot like starting a business. You have to commit, go all in, never give up, and not be afraid of failure. You can’t let the fear of sinking keep you from trying. Of course we don’t want to let our boat sink, but we must try. The courage it takes to build a boat is the same courage it takes to start a business, go to market, hire a team, and provide for your family. Be courageous.
Learn more about Dave’s boat here >