Unicorns or horses?

Hi world,

Unicorns.

Magical, mythical creatures - mostly horse, or goat depending on your lore - with a single horn protruding from their brows. So why are we so fascinated by them and why have we taken to using the term to mean “improbable” or “very good”? There are countless articles telling you to “hire unicorns” or offering advice on how your startup can “become a unicorn”. The internet is full of ideas and recommendations, suggesting that if only you take these five steps, or hire these five people, but it is just as willing to say that if you do and don't become a unicorn, well, it's your fault. You didn't believe, or you didn't hire the right people or, or, or.

The reality is that most companies - 99.93% - do not become unicorns. Most staff you hire are not unicorns. Unicorning is not a realistic goal but a fluke, though those we call unicorns would not say so. So if we know it is mythical, magical, and are incredibly unlikely to achieve it, why do we chase after the dream? Is it an entrepreneurial trait, to go for the best? Is it part of our culture, where good or even great is not enough?

Say we go on the premise that we should never limit ourselves and always reach for the stars. Always looking ahead to what can make us or our companies stronger and more appealing for an exit can be tough work - especially if you're only likely to succeed .07% of the time.

Yet working toward a realistic goal is simultaneously lauded and frowned upon. If you say you do not want to be a unicorn, then you are not committed enough or don't care enough, or are setting yourself up to fail. And with a few social media exceptions, if you say you are aiming to be a unicorn, people generally look at you like you are delusional, and you are. So why not leave it out of the discussion altogether? Because it is the pink elephant in the room. It's on everyone's lips and everyone's mind.

So how do we navigate the situation with aplomb and grace, being realistic and yet not limiting ourselves?

Take a few simple steps:

• Take a read on the situation. Could your product/service, even with the best metrics and most perfect outcomes ever get to unicorn status? Most can't, and that is perfectly fine. If everyone could unicorn, it'd be called horsing.
• Are your business development plans realistic or overly optimistic? Have you given yourself time and financial contingencies? Are you hoping for the best and planning for the worst? As was illustrated in a prior post, the path to success is rarely a straight line. There will be setbacks and they will seem less colossal if you are as prepared as possible.
• Do you have the right tools to succeed, be that in manufacturing or employee team? The round block may be perfect for some things, but not if you have a square hole. Assess your core competencies, make a list of what you need, and compare the two. If you are missing any skills, they will need to be filled.

Ok, so you have looked at your organisation and decided you have everything you need in place. Now all you need is those unicorn venture capitalists – the ones that put up metric tonnes of money without question, guide and advise you without taking over at all, and work hard to make sure you succeed and then, if everything is just right, you may be able to grow and have a wonderful exit. But again, those mythical, magical beings are not just out there wandering around, waiting to be bridled and ridden into the sunset on a wave of dollar bills. The most adventurous VCs are still going to want something in return and thank goodness. That is what capitalism is all about.

Perhaps the best way to look at all of this is to do the sensible thing and just try to succeed to the best of your ability and leave the catching of unicorns to companies with bigger nets. Now this is not to say that if unicorning is an actual possibility for you that you oughtn't go for it; on the contrary, we would encourage you strongly to go out there and ride that beast home, because that would be succeeding to the best of your ability. Like it says at the top: Always be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then always be a unicorn. To the startups that are looking to earn a gross profit of >$500,000 p/a though, then we challenge you to horse it up.

Let that be the mantra for every entrepreneur, every startup, every company that is struggling to make it for that first little while and get on their feet: Stay on the horse. The old adage to get back in the saddle applies well. Perhaps unicorns feel like riding on a puff of cloud in flannel pyjamas, but riding a horse can be hard work and lead to chafing. So young startups, find your seat and buy chaps, because it's going to be a heck of a ride.

-SWW

Do you agree? Disagree? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below or through Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

 

The failure, the fear, and the favourite

Hi world,

So while looking through Twitter this morning, @Addictd2Success tweeted this picture:

and, once one gets over the Yoda-like feel of it, there is a certain truth to it. Aren't we all, as entrepreneurs, afraid not to try? Yet how does one get over the fear of failure? When the stakes seem so high that you might lose everything, how do you let go?

Imagine yourself as a kid who has just dropped out of high school and how ridiculous your failure must seem. Everyone gets through high school, for goodness' sake. Well, everyone but our favourite billionaire Sir Richard Branson.

It's always turned back to perspective. Yes, you may lose your shirt, and yes, it may be uncomfortable, but if you stick with it and you learn from what you did wrong, you can do far worse things than fail. You can, as they said, not try.

So go out there, world, and conquer your fears. And when you have, let us know – what was your worst fear and how did you overcome it?

Tweet, Facebook, Google+, or comment below.

-SWW

(Here's a start. One of us at SWW used to have a terrible fear of losing luggage or missing a flight. After an unfortunate delay, a lost watch, and what wound up being a very long night waiting for a cancellation on the next flight, and the one after that... and the one after that, we finally got to our destination, having made sure in advance that our luggage would be on our plane and was absolutely assured that it was. It wasn't.

You buy some, you borrow some, you make do. Hotels have complimentary soaps and airlines will deliver lost luggage, so if the worst comes to the worst and you wind up taking a long, hot shower and walking around in yesterday's clothes, well, what's travel without a little adventure and spice thrown in? It's a great story now, despite how utterly terrifying and life-changing it seemed at the time. What's your story?)

The Struggle to Succeed

Hi world,

It was said in an earlier post that we are a new enough company to get excited about things we know will become old hat. We are also new enough to be learning with every step we take. Edison famously quipped “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” The non-failure of Edison is the non-failure of every entrepreneur, every startup company. Staying positive and learning from missteps can be taxing at times, but consistently works to better the company's status and morale.

Wildest rollercoaster ever.

When faced with challenges, it is easy to tell you, world, that we will stay upbeat and optimistic, but behind closed doors it is harder to maintain. There are bumps and grooves in every road and we understand that. It is, in the end, all a matter of perspective. After all, Japan's melody roads are just made of bumps and grooves.

So in the spirit of looking at things with a positive spin, Edison also famously said “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Well, that seems fair because we're working up a sweat!

So, entrepreneurs of the world, what do you do to stay positive?  Leave your comments and positive thoughts below.

Keep connected on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube, as well as our website at www.shawwaterworks.com.   

Resolutions

Hi world,

A new year and a new look at the world. All of us take the time to look into the future and think about what we want for ourselves, our communities, our planet. What do you want? To be fitter, richer, healthier? To work with your community and volunteer more? To lighten your carbon footprint and work to save the planet?

We have resolutions too. We want to ensure that as many Peco-M Systems get to you as possible so we can all work to lighten our footprint together and save our beautiful environment. We want to make it possible for us to all work together on maintaining the natural beauty and delicacy of this world, so that our children and our children's children will be able to enjoy the wilds.

It is not “Beautiful British Columbia” for no reason; we are fortunate enough to enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. We have a wide variety of geography from plateaus to lowlands, high mountains and low river basins, islands, coastlines, rainforests, and permafrost plains. And though we are surrounded by this amazing range within our immediate environment, we know we are not alone. It is not just rainforests that need saving; they just have great PR. Deserts, plains, even our man-made concrete jungles need our help if they are going to survive even faintly intact under the groaning duress of our energy demands.

Yes, there are other ways to produce energy: wind farms, solar power, nuclear energy, tidal harnessing; the list goes on. But all of these, like coal and oil, have drawbacks. Wind farms require space, lots of space. Solar power needs unfiltered access to the sky. Tidal harnessing puts coastal marine life at risk with the nets designed to keep it safe. We're not saying these are not feasible options, or that they are not preferable to some that we have now. Yes, they are all cleaner and more sustainable, and these are wonderful things, but they are not the full answer, just steps in the right direction.

We're not saying we have the solution, either; we are just saying that together, working with new power sources and old, supporting those who continue to work on new ideas for the energy we all keep consuming. We know it sounds clichéd that we all have to work together, but it is a reality. We all have to choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution and we want to be on the side of solving our global ecological issues. Not overnight, but with each of our Peco-M Systems in place we will make a small change that can turn into a big change. By reducing the usage of electricity produced from clean sources, we can make a big difference in our world.

We want to work with you to keep our planet healthy and happy. That is our resolution. Yes, we need our bodies fit and our minds fresh, but we want to see the bigger picture. To see our startup running well and our environment able to rest a little easier. Each Peco-M System sold means up to a 20% reduction on energy consumption from one inefficient appliance. We wouldn't need many, world, to save a lot of power (not to mention a lot of money!). The power companies often charge different rates depending on how many KWhs are consumed, so if you are using up to 20% less, you may stay at the lower rate as well. We know that you want to help save the environment; we all do, but the reason we are not all out driving electric cars and using clean energy sources has a lot to do with the initial expenditure and the reduced ease of use. The Peco-M Systems face neither of these issues; they take up no power of their own, only manage the usage, and require no manipulation at all once installed.

So if your resolution is like ours and you want to lighten your carbon footprint, reduce your energy consumption, help the environment, or just plain save a little money, keep looking back to ShawWaterWorks for news on when our Peco-M Systems will be hitting the shelves. If you want to help us get it there, great! We'll be running a crowdfunding campaign early in the new year. Check back here, on our website, www.shawwaterworks.com, Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ for details and dates; any and all help is appreciated from time to donations.

Bring on 2015 and watch our resolutions come to fruition!

-SWW