Your business dreams

Starting and running a business is always an adventure.  Even for seasoned entrepreneurs, every new venture requires a step into the unknown, because each business is unique, and every situation is unique.  And it always starts with a business dream.

I had occasion during almost a year to work with a business that symbolizes for me the essence of the business dream.   This business started very simply with a husband and wife team running a resort condominium exchange on their dining room table, using paper index cards.  I encountered this business by working on a sizable IBM engagement team that had been brought to upgrade the information technology infrastructure and applications.  By this time, the business was the leader in their market, occupying multiple floors in a building that dominated the skyline of northern Indianapolis.  The solopreneur was all grown up and had left home long ago! 

A key moment in the history of this company came when the couple divorced.  Most people in the industry assumed that the husband would buy out the wife, but instead the reverse actually occurred.  Here was an example of an incredible journey of from the dining-room table to industry leader, that had led this woman to be the leader of a significant, privately held company.  

How significant?  Well, after working on our project for almost a full year, the IBM project disbanded, because the company was sold – for a cool one billion dollars!  From the dining table to a billionaire – yes, quite an adventure!  And an image of how a business dream can lead to truly amazing results.

So, what was the dream that got you going?  What is the dream that gets you up in the morning?

Or has your dream transformed into a nightmare that keeps you up at night?  What makes it so hard?