“Spanx!” Not only is it fun to say but it is also a great example of a woman who pushed her potential to the limits, without knowing how, and it all began because Sara Blakely’s panties were, quite literally, in a bundle. So how does Sara Blakely, the billionaire founder of Spanx form fitting undergarments, know about potential when she was a woman in a dead-end job and completely failed to meet her professional goals? Simple, she had an idea and unleashed her potential through innovation, self-reliance, and determination to make it a reality.
Most of us are not millionaires or have access to unlimited sources to fund our ideas. What we all have is the ability to rely on ourselves to make our ideas a reality. Blakely soon realized that though she had a fantastic idea she was unable to afford a patent attorney to secure her ideas. Instead of giving up, she hit the library and drafted most the patent herself. We all hit road blocks and need to be able to rely on ourselves to get past these challenges. I recently started a job where I was hired to reinvigorate a program that was left dying on the vine. The personnel who have been in the organization for many years had no desire to put any effort into the program, so I have been relying on myself and my experiences to turn the program around. Sometimes it may feel like we are the only ones out there working on our idea and that is because it may be true. Nobody cares more about our idea than we do; therefore, nobody will work harder to get it accomplished. This is when we need to understand that at times there is nothing wrong with being alone. The power of solidarity through self-reliance can push us to go farther and do more than we possibly thought we could ever do.
Determination and perseverance, do not leave home without it if you want to be a successful entrepreneur! Throughout all the podcasts I have heard there seems to be the resonating theme that, though millionaire entrepreneurs were made, they did not get there without encountering failure along the way. Perseverance and determination to make a dream come try made them successful. Blakely started to cold-call companies to help with both production and selling her product. Often, she could not even get in the door because she was just “Sara Blakely,” an unknown. When I arrived at my new job I was a complete unknown to the leaders in executive positions and when I wrote them explaining what I could do for them I was ignored. Next, I began calling decision makers, introducing myself, and asking how could I help them meet their goals. I was, and am, determined to help make them a success thereby making the program I oversee a success as well.
Understanding that determination will be required to keep a new entrepreneur going through the challenges and failures will also help build the foundation for what could be a lasting and successful business.
Entrepreneurship is the ability to take an idea and make it a reality even if we are not exactly sure how to do that. Sara Blakely came up with an idea based on her own desire for a better undergarment. Whatever the entrepreneur’s desire, they need to be self-reliant in their approach. Entrepreneurs must know how to go about getting their ideas out to their audience. This is accomplished through determination and perseverance as was noted to keep Blakely working towards her goal. There will be plenty of doubters and obstacles along the way and you need to turn all of those perceived failures into opportunities to become very successful!