“You Can’t Hold Out Forever”

girl sitting in chair thinking. Entrepreneur written on wall next to her with all involved in being an entrepreneur pictured around it.
Just DeW it!

Webster’s Dictionary Definition of Entrepreneur is:

A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking greater than normal financial risks to do so.

While I’m not sure I would like to start a debate with Mr. Webster,

I think I’d also like to add that in many cases these businesses are unique, often with new and unexplored business models. As someone who fits this definition, I’ve also not only been concerned about “trade secrets”, but can also attest to the fact that many of my peers have been equally apprehensive when it came to releasing or sharing a specific methodology that contributed to trade secrets or operational confidences. After participating in the development of many company models I now feel differently than I did with the creation of my two earlier endeavors.

What occurred to me is that whatever information may get exposed to the outside, without the details as to how this proprietary process is implemented all the information in the world is not going to be “delivered” properly.

I see this as tantamount to baking a cake in some ways. Having all the ingredients to bake the cake is one thing, but without the actual amounts and proper time needed to complete the process, you will not create a successful product.

Ingredients without the recipe…

How freeing it is to know that there is no need to suppress a new and unique concept. After all, how long must we keep our newest endeavor under wraps? The longer we hold back its release, the more time there is for others to consider “cloning” their efforts. Sooner or later it needs to get to the market place, and this is where the financial risks that Webster speaks of comes into play. There are many products and services that have been duplicated to varying degrees in all industries. Competition is a good thing. It gives a similar business model the opportunity to compete for a position in any arena and ultimately inspires excellence.

Like so many things that we as entrepreneurs must contend with, timing is another facet of launching a successful business model. We can hold back just so much for so long, and I’m starting to realize that we must just trust in what we have created and just take a deep breath and go for it. Let it all out there and just keep on pushing. If we are timid and afraid to move our product out the door, then maybe we know we are just not ready.

Procrastinating will never achieve a goal.

What is holding you back?

Feature image by: © Melpomene
Inserted image by: © baibaz
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Dentistry has been Deb’s career for almost 5 decades. With experience right in the trenches, eventually migrating to the business office and owning and operating a crown and bridge lab, she has been exposed to every area of dentistry. Owing to her interest in developing a more structured way to locate, interview and integrate dental team professionals, she built a dental only placement agency in Phoenix, Arizona that served as the prototype for a national franchise offering. Recently she is continued to work on a smaller scale coaching dentists throughout the country with team development working both remotely and onsite team coaching, and lecturing across the country on team hire, integration and retention. Deb's most recent endeavor, in conjunction with her technical team, involves creating dental-related cloud based software to optimize the overall effectiveness and efficiency of practice teams. Her latest project, OurPerioTeam©, is an exciting program that assists periodontists and their teams with virtually all of their very specific day-to-day business, including a stunning new method for automating the transfer of patient information both FROM and TO their referring general dentists. This is in addition to other functions that are not accommodated by any Practice Management Software.


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