Entrepreneurship is a lot like riding a lion. Everyone looks at you and thinks wow that guy is brave! Look at him riding the king of the jungle! Meanwhile as an entrepreneur on top of a lion, you are thinking; wow, how did I get here?! How the hell do I stay on and avoid being eaten?! There is nothing comfortable about lion back riding.
Here are some lessons from riding a lion;
It’s lonely, on top of a lion. Such is the life of an entrepreneur. The only people who get what you are going through are other lion riders. The problem of course is that they too are busy trying not fall off their own lions. Everyone else just thinks you are crazy to be riding a lion in the first place.
You don’t get to eat with the lion:
As an entrepreneur I hate month end. You have to pay salaries and suppliers and there’s usually not nearly enough money in the bank account. Your personal bank account’s debit orders bounce every 20mins. My cousin said it best, he said debit orders will humble you. I once did a presentation to the chairman of Investec. During my presentation the debit orders from his bank were vibrating in my pocket as they bounced. There is nothing so perverse as paying salaries when you don’t get one.
Catching a prey takes a lot of patience.
In hunting, you need to be patient in catching prey. You want to get close as possible before pouncing on the unsuspecting prey. You move to quickly you alert the prey and the longer you have to run to catch it. Whilst patience is hard the returns are better. Entrepreneurs often want overnight success but in truth it takes time for things to fall into place.
Lions can go a long time without eating
When you run your own business you learn that there will be lean months. There will be a time where you are monk. The importance of knowing this, is that bad times don’t last and but tough people do. When the good times do come and it’s time to feast remember to enjoy the feast. It is the memory of the good times that will carry you through the tough times.
It’s bumpy on top of a lion.
Unlike a horse its bumpy on top of a lion, especially when the lion starts chasing prey. Lesson here is that the faster you go expect more bumps. The faster you go the likely you will fall off. Staying atop a lion is a measure of balance between speed and stability. If you are too slow you will not survive as an entrepreneur. If you are too fast you may not make it to the final destination, you will simply run out of energy and capital.
A lion has a mind of its own
You can’t always control a lion. There are many extraneous variables when riding a lion. You have to have great vision when dealing with the king of the Jungle. He can see far, he can see in the dark and he can smell prey far away. So you must be agile when riding a lion. You need to be comfortable with ambiguity. Things can happen quickly, one minute it’s a lazy afternoon walk and the next you are chasing down a wildebeest.
Always be paranoid
Always know that the lion can turn on you anytime and eat you. It can do so in the first ten months or in ten years. Know that you are never safe. You could be stealing someone’s lunch and market share one moment or you could be the lunch yourself.
A great pack goes a long way.
Choose your pack carefully, a lion can hunt by itself or with a pack. It is more efficient and effective to hunt as a pack. But once you have caught the prey everyone eats the spoils. Eat fast because someone else is eying your lunch.
Hyenas will steal from a lion in broad day light. Hyenas have the strongest jaws of all the animals, they may look like a nuisance but when they out number a lion, they are formidable. Not even a king of the jungle can stand up against them. Pride comes before the fall of a prey. Some times a team is better than one. Never be too proud to ask for help.
Make the loudest noise:
You don’t have to be the biggest to be king of the jungle, if that was the case the elephant would win that hands down. Why then is the lion the king of the Jungle? I think its the attitude that makes you king. You look like a king and behave like one then you are one. Lions are regal. In other words, dress the way you want to be addressed.
It’s a jungle out there, it’s either you are someone’s lunch or you are eating someone’s lunch.
So true