Risk - Reward

I like a good story. I like hearing a good story, and from time to time I like to tell a story. I hope you find some value in this story: I was probably only about 6 years old when my father gave me my first set of snow skis for Christmas. By the time I was is high school I knew very few people who could ski as well as I did. Obviously, there were better skiers than I. I just didn't know many. Skiing was something we did as a family and almost every year we would take a family ski vacation. One year, when I was in high school, we took a week long vacation to Aspen Colorado where we skied Snow Mass most of the week. Early in the vacation I noticed a ski jump under one of the chair lifts. This wasn't your ordinary ski jump, because on the other side of it was a cabin covered with snow. In taking the jump you would sail over the cabin and land on the other side. At least that was the idea. I was drawn to that jump and every time I rode the chair lift over it, I would contemplate the risks and measure those risks against my confidence that I could successfully complete such a jump. I noticed that the signs leading to the jump said "For Professionals Only!", "Take At Your Own Risk". Just how good was I? We had a bad weather day one day, so we went into Aspen to check out the shops. In a tee shirt shop I had found a T-shirt that had a black diamond on it along with the phrase "No Guts - No Glory". For non-skiers a ski run marked with a black diamond means "Most Difficult". I had made the decision to take the jump; I bought that T-shirt. I had been talking about taking "The Jump" all week and my father kept telling me he was not in favor of the idea. The day before our vacation ended, I announced to the family that I had decided to take the jump. Imagine my surprise when my father said - "let me get the movie camera I'm coming with you". We didn't have camcorders in those days. As I started down the approach to the jump I was moving fast, I slowed myself slightly as it was a long approach to the jump. I could see the "For Professionals Only" signs in a blurr as I sped past them. Concentrating, I did not look up, I could here people on the chair lift above me yelling to me that I was not going fast enough. It was too late. I hit the jump, I felt my skis skim the snow on the top of the cabin and I struggled to straighten them out. I had made it over. The landing was near perfect, but I was really moving. All that was left to do was stop. I made it. There was only one problem; I had skimmed the top of the roof of the cabin when I went over. I was not satisfied. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. I went back up to the top and took the jump again, a little faster this time. I sailed over the cabin and landed with no problem. My father had the whole thing on film. I was satisfied in knowing that I had accomplished what I had set out to do from the beginning of the trip. That was all the reward I needed.
As an entrepreneur risk is always part of the game. If you're not willing to risk, you won't be an entrepreneur. Still, you'll have to calculate the risk. What's the worst that could happen. Could you live with that? With each risk you'll have to decide to either take the jump, or walk away. If you decide to take the jump, look closely for the reward. It may not always be what you had anticipated.