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Health & Fitness

New Business Owner Learns to 'Fake It Until You Make It'

The ups and downs of starting a new business...part 1

During my first year of teaching they used to tell us to “Fake it until you make it.”  That meant appearing bold and confident when you were really shaking in your boots.

It also meant becoming a leader and a role model when you really had no idea what you were doing. It’s been several years since those teaching days but the tools that I used to get my through my roughest days in the classroom is now the framework I lean on to get a new business off the ground. 

I opened earlier this month, a specialty running store in Cupertino that is all about inspiring and supporting our local community in staying healthy and active. For the most part, the reactions I have gotten from customers visiting the store have been pretty amazing.

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The reactions range from, “Wow, this is so cool!” to “Wow, I would have never done anything like this.”  Of course there have been some less than encouraging comments such as, “Good luck with your new business! Hope you don’t end up like everyone else!” 

When one envisions starting their own business they always think that they will be different than all the other businesses that didn’t make it. But on some really hard days the thought that you might really end up just like ‘everyone else’ is defeating and scary.

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I have learned some very interesting things over the course of the past year in planning the store and even more so in the first month of being open. 

I have learned that taking a risk to pursue something I love doing is worth the possibility of failure.  I have learned that more people than not support small local business and are willing to help you succeed. I have also learned that focusing on the small, positive things that occur each and everyday is the secret to progress.

I have to say, it’s pretty cool when somebody whips out their wallet and actually buys something. But what is actually more rewarding is when a customer sends you a thank you card or writes a brilliant review of you on the Internet.

It is those moments that remind me to keep going and to not give up. 

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