Page 220 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

like these usually were followed by clarifying ones such as “Starting this
business, no matter the eventual outcome, has been worth the energy, effort, and
sacrifices it has taken thus far to get it off the ground.”

One of our case studies, a Canadian manufacturer, said: “I used to be afraid to
fail. I wanted concrete numbers telling me that we weren’t going to lose before I
took the leap. But if nobody was going to die, even in the absolute worst-case
scenario, then what the hell was I so afraid of? I’ve never looked back.”

A European designer was even more dramatic: “Do you want to know the
honest truth? In the early days, I almost expected my business to be a failure. I
believed that it had to be that way because it is the first business I have ever run,
and I know the biggest successes have the biggest failures behind them. It
sounds perverse but I almost wanted it to fail so I could look back and say, ‘Yep,
that one failed, but I learned from it!’ ” (Fortunately or not, his business is doing
just fine.)

The Moment They Knew

As I reviewed thousands of pages of survey data and made countless follow-up
calls, I learned to ask people if the decision to start their business had been worth
it. You might think that such a question is simplistic; wouldn’t most responses be
“yes”? Well, perhaps … but one of the best parts of the study was hearing
exactly how a group of diverse people answered this question. There was usually
a story behind the affirmative answer, and the story often related to a particular
day, event, or moment when they knew their business was going to work. As we
come to the end of this journey, I thought you should hear from a few of them
directly.

Gary Leff
Book Your Award
Fairfax, Virginia

I never thought that people would pay for the service that I offer, so the
very first time I received a check in payment for services from my very first
client, it hit me like a ton of bricks—there’s real money on the table here!
And when I saw a letter from that very first customer published in a
magazine recommending my service, I realized that there was both