If you are not bold, you are probably not already
a business owner, and if you can't stomach risk,
you should keep your job with a paycheck.

We've written much about courage here, and you need to know that it is the only common quality we find in every business owner that we have studied.

In this library there are men, women, and people of all ages. Some have nearly no education -- Heliodoro Valadez only finished third grade -- and many have advanced degrees. There are those born in the US and brand new Americans who came here to make a better life for themselves and their familes.

Without exception, every person you study here has faced down fear. They always have been able to muster the courage needed to walk into the the unknown and come out on the other side either as a success or as one who admits they learned from their failure.

Topic for Discussion: What launched Mike into the log home business?

Answer: Mike was a ski instructor on Mount Hood. He loved skiing and being surrounded by nature. So, he decided to build a little log home in a place where he could enjoy the view of his favorite mountain. After that he couldn't imagine living in anything other than a log home, and he knew other people loved log homes too.

The bold part of Mike's launch was that he built his first log home with blow-down logs on US Forest Service land. The tiny home was loved by everyone who saw it, including the Forest Service officials. It became everybody's special place. But when called to question, they had to ask him to dismantle the house. The experience demonstrated that he had talent, and the Forest Service felt so bad about making him leave this sweet place, that they gave him some of those logs to build himself a new home on land he could own.

You think about it: What kind of bold move did you make to launch your business? Is it time to make another bold move? Is it time to be brave again? If you knew you would succeed, what steps would you take next to grow your business?