Tired of Your “Old” Business? Then Do This

Hands of people on a table with the text New Business

A friend of mine runs a successful 8-figure IT security business, with a clientele consisting primarily of federal government agencies.

He has built the business via long term relationships, and via a deep understanding of the government procurement and competitive bidding process.

He both loves, and doesn’t love, it.

He loves it for the relationships.

And he loves it because he doesn’t have to worry about delinquent customers as so many companies serving the private sector must do.

But he doesn’t love the competitive bidding process on which his business is based, as it makes it impossible to predict and feel secure about future revenues and cash flows.

And, more personally, he doesn’t love it because the work is often painfully bureaucratic and boringly slow.

So earlier this year he did something about it.

He started a new business.

A new business that, while built on his IT security experience, instead is aimed at a completely different market and clientele – individuals and small businesses.

Now before we get too deep into the challenges and competitors his new business faces, let’s first admire and acknowledge my friend because – as opposed to just complaining about the limitations of his current business like way too many business owners do – he did something about it.

And he did so maturely, pursuing a new business that leverages the strengths of his current one.

And a business which, at its heart, is the opposite of the elements of his current business that he doesn’t like – its slow, bureaucratic clients and its lack of predictability.

Will he be successful?

Maybe. Maybe not.

He will need to overcome the sad reality that his years in the government sector have left him lacking key skills in how to market and sell via the “modern way” to individuals and small business.

He will need to learn how to balance his focus and resources between two companies, especially given the natural tendency to be enamored with the new and promise-filled one, and to neglect the “old faithful” one.

In spite of these challenges and risks, his expected economic value for the new venture is clearly positive, especially as he is building it from the start for an “early exit” to a strategic or financial buyer.

And more importantly, it is the right personal choice, as starting a new business is one of life’s “Hero’s Journeys,” and one that by no means should be reserved just for the young, or for those currently not in business.

I wish my friend best wishes and hopes for prosperity.

But he really doesn’t need it.

Because he is in the arena, living and acting on his dreams.

He has won already.

 

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