Smart Persistence

One of the hallmarks of successful entrepreneurs is persistence. The ability to keep driving on; often in the face of all the reasons not to presented by the naysayers.

There are frequent setbacks in building a business. Many of them are small and occur day-to-day. Less frequently there will be a major setback - like the nudie fire. But big or small it is the attitude of persistence which allows an entrepreneur to keep pushing forward.

I think a worthy metaphor is the Bozo the Clown punching bag I had as a kid. He has a rounded bottom and is sand filled. So no matter how hard you bop him in the nose he keeps springing back up.

It is important to understand though that there is no virtue in dumb persistence.

We have a major supermarket in our village on the peninsula. At the exit to the car park there is wall which is relatively frequently partially demolished by departing trucks who can't successfully negotiate the narrow confines as they leave the loading dock.

With monotonous regularity, in its efforts to uphold the aesthetic, the supermarket calls in workmen to repair the wall. They patiently rebuild it brick-by-brick, then render it and paint it. Beaut - just like a bought one again! The quickest I have personally seen it re-demolished is about 48 hours.

As I picked up my coffee this morning I found yet another team of workers commencing the latest re-build of the wall which has been damaged now for about 3 months.

One can't help but think there are better uses for the work men's time and the supermarket's money. This is dumb persistence.

Smart persistence would have the wall re-designed - perhaps lowered or re-shaped - or eliminated altogether, or built of a different material which might withstand the occasional knock.

Successful entrepreneurs harness their capability for smart persistence to drive their organisations forward.