What can be done when one feels they have nothing?  For most people, the answer is “not much”.  However, for the entrepreneur, the answer is very different.  They answer the question by saying “What do I have to work with?”

Nothing is a very dangerous place to get into in ones mind.  It cripples the ability to be resourceful and creative.  That’s the key difference between the entrepreneur and the average person.   How often do we hear things like “They built that company from scratch!” or “How did they manage to accomplish that when they had nothing?” 

We hear those things because of a massive difference in perception.  The average person sees a situation where there are no resources, no money or no help.  The entrepreneur digs deep to find whatever they can work with to make the desired outcome happen.

Let’s look at some examples of “nothing” situations and how they could be turned around…  Say you were starting out and needed a website, but you were a little short on the funds required to make it happen.  Most people would hit that obstacle and stop dead in their tracks.  An entrepreneur would look at it differently; they would ask what value does their product or service offer, and could they do an exchange of services to get that site done.  Perhaps you have started a cleaning business and in exchange for a complete website, you offer to clean the web company’s office for two months. Entrepreneurs remember that money is not the only exchangeable value out there.  If one is creative, many more options rise to the surface.

Say you are looking for office space to rent and your business is new or your credit is bad… again most people will stop and decide that it’s too hard to proceed.  An entrepreneur will often resort to different tactics.  Do they know someone who may know someone else to facilitate the transaction?  Can they speak to the decision maker directly to help convince them that leasing to them would be a good idea?  Don’t forget, often your most valuable resource is you and your passion, commitment and ability to persuade those around you about your great idea.  Entrepreneurs know that they are so much more than a credit score or a balance in the bank.  Often it is the vision and commitment to carry that through that wins the day, when most others see “nothing”.

Todd Dean