I’ve asked myself a number of times since starting my own business, “Did I make the right choice?” I think this is a normal question, and I can’t imagine anyone starting their business and not asking themselves the same question. Even if you have a ton of money to inject into a start-up business, you may still wonder. Even if you have enough money to start a business, sustain the initial losses, and sustain yourself and your family until it turns a profit, the questions will still be there, “Will it turn a profit and eventually support itself? Did I make the right choice?”

You are likely to ask yourself more than once if you made the right choice, even if you previously knew the answer was yes! Because it can take a while for your business to hit its stride, there will be times when you have felt you made the right decision (e.g. “This is working!”) and times—maybe just days later—where you felt you did not (e.g. “This isn’t working!”).

Through the down periods, I encourage you to remember that you are doing something that others are not able to, or perhaps others do not have the courage to do. Yes, you may fail, but remember that others have not even had the courage to try—even when they had more resources and better chances than you. Sometimes, the best we can do in the down times is to continue to walk out the prudence we’ve learned, and the prudence that has been imparted to us from others. And I do mean that; starting and running your business isn’t a gamble, but should instead be a calculated risk. Simply put, it should be a risk for which you’ve planned for the cost, as much as possible.

My Creed by Dean Alfange

I do not choose to be a common man,
It is my right to be uncommon … if I can,
I seek opportunity … not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen.
Humbled and dulled by having the
State look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk;
To dream and to build.
To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life
To the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment
To the stale calm of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a handout
I will never cower before any master
Nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect.
Proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And to face the world boldly and say:
This, with God’s help, I have done
All this is what it means
To be an Entrepreneur.