Are you an Entrepreneur, my family is! Here are some suggestions
My Entrepreneurial family - and some ideas for you
Long before I started my own coaching business, my boys started a bunny business. Rabbits multiply quickly, you know.
Jehle Bunnies for sale!
My two sons are entrepreneurs of sorts. One has two businesses: he writes and produces music and he is part of a small media company, responsible for sound design. Among these other things, the men have had a business raising rabbits that we in the family call the Jehle Bunny Business (JBB for short), it’s been a long time running. They have sold rabbits, dead (to eat) or alive (for pets) for what seems like forever. My husband and I were the venture capitalists for this endeavour, and my husband was chief of marketing and sales by default for quite a while, but now the word is out, and this is no longer the case for the rabbits. One son also has an egg business (ducks and chickens) and my husband still does the sales for this part of the family business. Luckily or not, rabbits pretty much take care of themselves regarding re-production, so there was no Head of Production. The then boys (now men) were in charge of administration, financial accounting, operations, and R&D.
Before I forget, I have started my own coaching, supervision and consulting business, and now my husband is just starting his own massage therapy practice. Entrepreneurship runs in our veins.
50 rabbits! What to do?
That very first JBB year, there were almost fifty bunnies running about our extensive garden at one point. Personally, I had sleepless nights thinking of what could have happened if the kits had had more babies. That particular scenario did happen a few times, but for the most part my sons were pretty good about checking out the sex of the babies and keeping them apart.
The years since then have seen ups and downs in the JBB, but the boys have faithfully continued on their course. However, as with any normal business, the situation changed. At this moment, my eldest son is in the Swiss military. So the angels offered a friendly takeover and returned to the “bunnies as pet” model. Although the JBB is on a hiatus at least for the moment, we have all learned some valuable lessons from this (ad)venture. So, what have we learned from our boys’ entrepreneurship?
1. Be prepared for big success
The first year was much more successful than expected for everyone involved. As I have mentioned, we had 50 rabbits to care for and find buyers for. The boys and their parents were just a wee bit overwhelmed.
The lesson here is: be prepared for success and make sure you know what you are able to do when that BIG CHANCE comes your way. Make sure you are prepared with a “what if” plan. But don’t have just one; make a few of those kinds of plans because there will be surprises. Try and be prepared with and for various success scenarios.
2. You won’t be able to foresee everything, good or bad.
But sometimes bunnies escape or are eaten by foxes or neighborhood cats. To this day, this remains a problem, as our animals are so-called “happy” bunnies and enjoy romping about the garden. They are free-range with movable fences that are not always perfectly escape-free. This means that we have to watch them more carefully and prepare for runaways. With runaways and with multiplication, the rule remains: something you haven’t thought of might, and most likely will, happen. Also, there is always a possibility that another animal invades the garden and carries off a bunny.
So, when you start your business, consider the what ifs and make contingency plans for both success and disaster.
(adapted from my upcoming book, “Reach for the mountain top: tips for starting a business in Switzerland” – hopefully to be published soon- when I find the right publisher)
Wishing you a great time planning and dreaming this week,
Patricia Jehle patricia@jehle-coaching.com
