Resilience building

It takes sheer grit and determination to be a success, as Sam Tyson explains.

When you first start out in business, it can take a while for your ‘business self’ to emerge. When I first stepped into my business 10 years ago, I quickly learnt to take on a sort of game face that allowed me to fake it until I could make it and, believe me, there was a lot of faking going on.

People would ask how things were going, and I would put on my game face and tell them great! In reality, I was drowning— working long hours, having sleepless nights of worry, not eating well, and drinking copious amounts of wine to console myself.

Staff would come to me with issues that needed sorting. I would put on my fake-it face, act like I was in charge, in control, and yet the voice inside was shouting at me saying, “How the hell are you going to fix this?!”

Don’t get me wrong, there were moments when all the planets aligned, everything was going swimmingly, and I wanted to shout it out to the world. But equally there have been enormous lows, where I couldn’t lift my head above water; where all I felt like doing was curling up in my bed, head under the covers, bawling my eyes out, and wanting to run far away.

The thing that separates the business success stories from the ones that don’t make it—which is the majority—is your ability to grind it out. You need to be very, very gritty, and your grit is a muscle that needs to be trained. Little by little, you build up resilience to face the hard stuff, your grit muscle becomes stronger, you get used to it, the issues get easier to deal with, your fake-it face turns into your real face, and eventually you are rewarded.

Another contributor to your own business success is your determination. When you initially go into business, you are generally driven by a purpose, or wanting to create change, make a difference, or meet a monetary milestone. I am definitely motivated by having all these types of aspirations for my business, but never underestimate the power of: “I’m gonna show them.” This is your hit list of the people you want to prove wrong by making damn sure you succeed. I gathered fuel from all those who dissed me and made comment along the lines of, “Who does she think she is running a plumbing business? She knows nothing about plumbing.”

It is really hard to prepare for any of this when you are thinking of starting up your own business. It’s not until you are in the thick of it, that you experience how strong your grit muscle is and how determined you are to be successful. It has been said that behind every overnight success story is a decade of an entrepreneur chewing on glass, and this has been true for me. It has taken 10 years of sheer grit and determination for me to feel successful as a business owner.

About the author: Sam Tyson has been Managing Director of Climate & Plumbing since 2010. She is an active member in the industry and, with a background in strategic business development, shares the knowledge and experience gained from her award-winning business to help others obtain better results in their businesses. Sam is a Director on the national Master Plumbers Board.