Why that ‘dirty’ environment may be spark you need

In one instructional story, a young girl spotted a nice lovely flower in the garden. She was excited and impressed by its magnificent beauty but saddened that it was growing on a dirty and wet soil. The ugly environment does not surely befit such as beautiful flower, she thought.

One day she carefully uprooted the plant, washed it clean and planted it in a neat tin filled with white sand and placed it inside the house ostensibly in a better environment free from dirty.

The father looked at her and said, “My daughter, you have scuttled its growth. The health and beauty you behold in this plant is because of that dirty environment. That dirty soil has the manure that feeds the plant and makes its flowers beautiful.”

This story reminds of a youngster who came to me recently looking for a job. He told me his ultimate desire is to start business but needed a job to get capital. Impressed by his aspiration I immediately offered him a sales job purely on commission. His face turned pale and I could see his disappointment even before he verbalised refusal.

Why did he turn down the commission-based job? Ostensibly because he perceived it to be risky and ‘dirty’ without a reliable predictable pay. He did not see it as an opportunity to determine his pay.  It was not a good environment to him.

Environment largely determines ones entrepreneurial success. That tough, unpredictable, not so-attractive-to-behold job environment, or lack of it may be the perfect environment to germinate and grow your business. It might be the training, or push you need to get out and became a business owner. 

I was in a similar situation early in my career. When I graduated from university, unlike few of my colleagues I did not get a stable job immediately. For two years I agonised as a commission salesman without a predicable pay, only inspired by theoretical possibility to earn unlimited figures in commission.  At some point I felt I was in the wrong place because I was trained in linguistic, yet I was languishing in sales.

Then one day I realised the work environment was godsend opportunity to nurture my dream of becoming an entrepreneur. I realised it was imparting on me discipline and key business skills. I immediately enrolled for a business course and my entrepreneurial journey began.

Many seasoned entrepreneurs would tell you that certain challenges in life in one way or another were the spark or pushing that led them into business.

Do not look for comfort and convenience to accomplish your life or entrepreneurial aspirations. Great empires have been born out of very adverse situations.