14 Days Entrepreneurs Challenge

Welcome! I'm York Zucchi and today I will be your guide in this incredible adventure called "being an entrepreneur".

Entrepreneurship is one amazing juggling act. In this juggling act it is sometime easy to lose focus on what is really important, why you are doing what you are doing and the direction you are going.

This 14 day challenge is designed to assist you in finding your path again. It is based on my work supporting SMEs in over 83 countries and is essentially a collection of easy to do exercises - 1 a day - that you can do at the end of a day while relaxing and which - if my previous experience of doing this in person with entrepreneurs and business owners everywhere is any indication - should be a real eye opener to you.

Is there a cost? This is my way of supporting fellow entrepreneurs. My way of giving back. The only cost to you - if you found this useful - is to leave a kind word in the reviews or comments.

Enjoy it! And never forget: entrepreneurs are neither born nor made. They are panel beaten!

Ready to rock? Then let's do it! Just keep in mind that it is more effective to do 1 exercise a day rather than cramming all the exercises in quickly. The brain needs time to absorb, translate and understand things so by rushing you won't get the full impact out of it.

Today I invite you to focus on your destination: your exit strategy.

If you don't know where you are doing how are you going to choose the right type of vehicle to get you there? For example, if you started a business with global ambitions you would from day one focus on processes, systems, distribution partnerships. If you instead started a business to provide for you and your family you'd probably build a company with relatively low overheads, perhaps working from home with outsources help working remotely. Where you are planning on going shapes how you will build your company.

So the question to you is this: what is your exit strategy?

Today let's focus on your role in your company/business. If you were to hire yourself what position and responsibility and more specifically what targets would you give yourself? I know you are doing everything right now... step outside your current drowning situation and look at yourself as if you were being interviewed.

The purpose of this exercise is to help you understand what you are really good at and what you should delegate. One of the best ways to burn out is for you to do everything. As amazing as you are you can't do everything. Even the phenomenal Elon Musk spends 80% of his time on engineering and only 20% on business because his expertise and talent is best deployed in that space.

So... What role, responsibility and targets would you give yourself?

Today let's focus on the things that are distracting you. I invite you to list - as many as you wish - the things that are currently distracting you from working on making progress in your business.

No. Not lack of funding. I am talking about your replying to lots of emails, meeting people for coffee that end up being nice but a waste of time in terms of making commercial progress, your commuting to work, your filing documents or following up on invoices...

Once you have that list read it out loud. What are you going to do about this list?

Do you even know what your goals are? I am not talking about selling your business and retiring or buying that fancy car. I want to know your short term (1 month, 3 months, 6 months) goals. Write them down on nice pieces of paper that you are going to stick on your wall...

And then I invite you to ask yourself if every single day you are doing something - sometime something really small - to get you a step closer to the goals.

Today I invite you to sit back, relax and watch Simon Sinek on "finding your why".: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en

If you are the entrepreneur I think you are you'll know what to do after watching that :-)

What drives you? In this exercise go and find a big permanent marker and a nice wooden board (let's say something rectangular measuring at least the size of an A3 paper). I invite you to think of what is it that really drives you in life... For example, I am driven by reducing the high failure rate amongst entrepreneurs because I truly believe in the power of entrepreneurship to address unemployment, grow a country and as a driver of innovation.

What drives you?

I want you to imagine yourself wildly successful. You are sitting in the TV studio and the interviewer asks you - in front of an audience of millions - "what are your rules of doing business". What would you answer?

For example... my rules are:

- Be careful of distractions dressed as opportunities

- Never ever take a shortcut no matter how profitable and alluring it may seem. You will pay the price later

- Always treat everyone honestly and transparently, just as you wish to be treated.

What are your rules?

What is success for you? At the end of this week what make you pat yourself on your back? It doesn't have to be a mind blowingly big goal... What would you be happy with realistically?

Today I invite you to think of your butterflies... Those things that you are most scared of. Don't focus on solving them. I just want you to write then down and not tackle them. Write as many as you wish. Be specific (e.g. not "my business fails" but "I run out of cash flow to fulfill the next orders"). I want you to write them, look at them, observe them and admire them from the lenses of times... today, tomorrow, next week. You will be amazed what happens with your phenomenal brain when you let off the pressure to solve everything steam...

Today I invite you to tell me the day that you decide you will walk away from your business. When I used to be a pilot there is a point during takeoff where you decide to continue or 'pull the brakes' and abort the takeoff... or maybe you are already flying. As a pilot you are constantly scouting for emergency landing fields for the eventuality that your engines fail. What is your emergency landing field?

It is not an easy question to answer. But an important one. When are you going to pull the plug?

Today I invite you on a trip down your memory lane... What inspired you to start your entrepreneurial journey? What got you off your couch and decide to take destiny by its horns? Today is about recognition and gratitude. Maybe - if it was an individual - send them a whatsapp to thank them.

What advice would you give your younger self? What things do you wish you had known before you started your entrepreneurial journey? Things you wish someone had told you...

Today I invite you to think of what you need... More specifically, what would be the minimum you would need to do what you are doing in your entrepreneurial venture? Eg. If your office was gone would a co-working space or your garage turned into an office be enough?

The things we surround ourselves in times of positivity and progress tend to be the things that slow us down when times are tough (as they inevitably will be). Your aim is to keep life as simple as possible. A nice permanent big office in a cool location seems nice but it adds to the pressure to make money each month to pay the rent (or bond). Keeping it simple allows you to focus on what really matters. So what is it that you need - not want - to do what you do?

Well done! You made it to the last day. I hope lots of interesting thoughts are going through your head. You might even feel a bit confused (that's good! It is a sign that you are taking things seriously as life never is absolutely clear). Don't panic. This is a time to let things absorb.

But you do need to make a commitment to yourself. And the best way to do this? Tell the world! Make a commitment publicly and ask people to hold you accountable. Whether it is a target, a dream, a milestone, a decision... And yes, do risk failing. But when you make a public (realistic) commitment you won't believe what happens deep down inside you.

Try it. Go on. Maybe tweet your commitment to me on @YZP or send me an email on yz@yzp.ch, but whatever you do don't keep it to yourself.

Well done on being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship isn't a job description or title: it is an attitude. An attitude that says that you aren't prepared to wait for the world but that you are actively pursuing your own future.

... and for that I congratulate you!