It was a really hot session and I was so pressed that I had to quickly rush towards the public toilet in the building to take a pee. Upon getting to the door of the toilet, I tried the locks to get it opened but it wouldn't budge so I assumed it was locked or engaged. Though I tried the lock only once, I assumed someone must have locked it from behind since it didn't open. I retreated to 'go do the do' at some other place, but just then someone else walked past me towards the door, turned the knob, and pushed it open. The door was only jammed and needed an extra push. The other fellow knew the 'formula' to get the door opened while I was retreating with a false assumption. Since it's a public toilet I assumed someone must be engaged and locked it from behind... Assumptions!
Like the analogy in the story above, so many times entrepreneurs in business, especially young budding entrepreneurs/startuppers, are "pressed" with ideas so much that they hastily approach doors potential sponsors, partners, or investors to want to relieve themselves. This in itself isn't a bad practice, because the "pressing situation" makes us rush towards doors of opportunities that will birth our ideas. However, it becomes bad when we become impatient with our attempts at the doors of opportunities. Many times we try once (like I did with the public toilet door) and give up at the disappointment of an unbudging door. Some doors may be "jammed" and may require an extra push to get them opened, so try harder. It may take several attempts at proposal submission to get the desired contract or deal, so never give up.
Another error young entrepreneurs fall into is with developing wrong assumptions about a door of opportunity that failed to yield at their first attempt. From my opening story, I also hastily arrived at the assumption that the public toilet door was locked probably because the toilet was engaged and so I decided to leave for some other place (of uncertainty), likewise, many young entrepreneurs develop erroneous assumptions about their ideas when hit with certain disappointment or rejection about their business proposal. They may begin to think in the line that their idea isn't good enough as the reason for a rejection or unresponsive attitude from a potential investor or sponsor. Such an entrepreneur may also contemplate throwing in the towel on the idea. CAPITAL NO! Never give up! Developing negative assumptions is very dangerous in business. You must stay positive always and work towards improving your idea to make it ever relevant to changing business dynamics.
In conclusion, sometimes we expect or assume a door to be locked that we don't push hard enough to get it opened. We simply retreat at the first failed trial. Today you know better. What door of opportunity are you trying to get opened at the moment? Push harder, it's only jammed for the moment. The formula is to keep pushing till it opens.
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