Hard work, long hours and vision as I have pointed out are required to be successful in building any business including an insurance agency. Along the way to success though almost always comes adversity.
Adversity in business takes many forms including a poor economy, unreliable vendors, intense unrelenting competition, dishonest employees, lack of capital and credit, self-doubt and a myriad of other things. The successful entrepreneur is always looking over his shoulder because he has learned through bitter experience that the bed of roses that is success is lined with thorns.
The question always is how will the business person respond to the adversity?
An employee can change jobs but the owner must persevere. To become, and then remain, successful means never quitting. It means never backing down from the vision. It means that although one must listen and consider good advice one needs to always be self-reliant and willing to make the decisions regardless of the cost.
Richard Nixon said “A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits”. There are many struggles on the path to success and many dark and lonely days. This comes with the territory and should be expected by anyone who decides to embark on the journey of building a business.
The reward does come from staying the course no matter how difficult. Nixon again “Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain”.
Do you have the guts to try and never quit? Then build a business!