What Motivates You to Keep Going?

The birth of the new year symbolizing motivation to have and build on your yearly plan that promotes “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” reminds me of the mission statement that new entrepreneurial forefathers, were determined to build a new life for themselves in America, today’s entrepreneurs are highly motivated to succeed.

Clearly, making money is a large motivation. Aside from making money though, what motivates you to go into your own business?

Once I gave a talk at a conference on the four most common motivators for entrepreneurs: Creativity, Control, Challenge, and Cash. The audience responded spontaneously suggesting other words beginning with the letter “C” that motivated them in their work. Since then I have been thinking about and experiencing these motivators in my own business and my work with clients. Here are my list of motivational “C” words and how each impacts the entrepreneurial lifestyle. I invite you to define each word in the way that’s most meaningful to you.

• CHALLENGE

If challenge is your motivator, you love the exhilaration of succeeding at a particular hard task, inventing a new product, or finding a firm way to market your service. You like to work on projects that provide opportunities to try new approaches. You love learning and are willing to take calculated risk frequently.

For example, Barbara Liewellyn of Barbara Liewellyn catering in Oakland says “After twenty year of business, i still have challenges in catering biz, “I like that. It is always a moving target to know exactly how to promote my business and continue doing well. Things change in the market all the time, and I need to be on my toes. I just love to take on something new – client, product and type of event. I am truly excited about working with a new or repeat client making it happen, creating the event and then moving on to the next!”

• CONTROL

If control is your primary motivator, you want to be the lead dog; you’re a take-charge kind of person. You are interested in every aspect of your business. Often the line between business and play are blurred because you are your business.

For example, Hugh Groman of High Groman Catering, Inc., in Berkeley, California, says, “I am passionate about food and I love all aspects of business. I knew early in my twenties that it was not my natural state to work for others. It feels totally normal to be the rainmaker, take calculated risks, to challenge myself to develop the best product and customer service as well as direct others – basically to be in charge. I have the vision to know what I want to create and choose people to be around me who can buy in and make it happen.

• CREATIVITY

If creativity is your motivator, you are innovative and independent, with high energy and strong self-confidence. You also like to tackle situations or problems and find creative ways to solve them. You thrive on tackling projects that might involve unknown difficulties or have outcomes that are unpredictable.

Pauline Pearsall of Pauline Pearsall, Inc., a staging company, says, “I am a pathological optimist. I simply have confidence that everything will work out. I started in business accidentally after a career in social work. I just wanted to get back to using my creativity. So I did slipcovers, catering and staging. I realized what I like about all three was the visual presentation so I decided to focus exclusively on staging homes for sale. I have developed tried and true systems, especially when I have multiple houses to be staged simultaneously, but I love the variety and the creative challenge we face for each project large or small.”

Read: The Individual Entrepreneur (Solopreneur)

• CASH

You love making lots of money and may also be motivated by achieving status and prestige. If cash is your number one motivator, choose a business that has a strong likelihood of growing fast. Otherwise, if you aren’t making a healthy profit within the first two years, you’ll lose interest.

For example, Michael Dennison of Bavarian Professionals, BMW Auto Repair, in Berkeley, California, agrees. Michael says, “Choose your business well. It must be one that can be profitable over time. If you have what I call a lifestyle business where lots of owners are spending fifty to sixty hours a week working and lots of people want to work in that business, chances are you can pay people less. However, customers also have lots of choices as to with whom to do business, and they can look for lower pricing. It’s hard to make this type of business profitable over time. In addition, it is essential to be able to compensate your key people well in salary and profit sharing. This will free up your time because your managers are motivated to build the business as much as you are. My business is growing considerably each year and I have been working twenty hours a week for the last five years.”

• CONTRIBUTION

If contribution is your primary motivator, you want to make a difference or help others improve their lives in both personal and practical ways. This could be anything from founding a nonprofit, to providing direct aid to third world countries, to being an auto mechanic who goes out of his way to make an emergency repair on a customer’s car.

Anthony Sandberg of OCSC Sailing Club, Inc., in Berkeley, California, says, “I’ve been in business for thirty years, starting with one sailboat and living in my car for the first few months. I believe in giving back to the community in any way I can. Since we’ve had our clubhouse, we have made it available for fundraisers for local groups, nonprofits, pretty much any of our members or their friends who ask. We also regularly contribute gift certificates for sailing lessons to local auctions fundraisers. In addition, we support our employees by putting some through college, helping them with a down payment for a house, whatever is needed. I love the work and the people I work with, I have a very successful business, but if I have to close my doors tomorrow and walk away without a cent, I’d say ‘Boy those were thirty well-spent years’.

• COMPETITION

If competition is your primary motivator, you want to be the best at what you do. Being competitive in the market place is essential to keeping your business doors open, but for you it is also a strong internal motivator. You strive to be the market leader in your field.

Alasdair Clements of GoCar Tours, Inc., in San Francisco, California, says, “We want to grow big. After three years in business, we are still figuring out whom besides tourists and locals are part of our potential market. We opened a second location yet we would also like to expand internationally. We are building a brand that is recognized internationally. We always need to be one step ahead of our competition.”

• COLLABORATION

If collaboration is your primary motivator, you enjoy developing a special synergy with a group of colleagues to create a strategic alliance or a new product or service. You must to brainstorm with trusted colleagues for inspiration, validation of your efforts, encouragement and renewed energy. If you have employees, you will promote teamwork and a free exchange of idea.

For example, several women entrepreneurs I interviewed for this book belong to the same business networking organization, Women Presidents Organization (WPO). All of them have noted that it’s incredibly helpful to express what is going on in their business, get suggestions, and hear what other women have done. These entrepreneurs help each other by sharing different perspectives and ways of processing issues and problem solving. They feel that a support group or a business coach is very important for all business owners, especially women, so they don’t feel that they are each alone on an island.

Business owners usually have two or three internal drivers that motivate them to start and run their own business. Of course, you need to be competitive and make a profit in order to have a viable business, but usually there are individual motivators that drive you.

When I’m trying to find out what makes people tick I often ask, “What really excites you about what you do?” Answer that question for yourself and you’ll know what your strongest motivators are. Apply those of your business, and you have a great chance of succeeding at something you love doing.

Entrepreneurs are people who are highly motivated to succeed.

Ref: The Accidental Entrepreneur