You remember your startup days fondly. The excitement you had
for your new company bubbled over into every aspect of your life.
You designed, sold, marketed and managed with a fervor that lit up
your very soul. To say you were passionate about your journey into
the world of entrepreneurship would be an understatement.
But now, without even realizing it, you've lost that glint
in your eye. The sparkle for creating something new has given way
to deadlines, staffing issues, the search for capital, trying economic times, and any
number of business woes. You find yourself moving in "have
to" mode: I have to sign this contract. I have to hire this
person. I have to go to work today.
As The Righteous Brothers would say, "You've lost that
loving feeling." But before you hang up your entrepreneurial
hat, listen to what a few been-there, done-that entrepreneurs have
to say about rediscovering the passion. For one entrepreneur, it
meant getting back to the daily trenches. For another, losing that
entrepreneurial twinkle motivated her to start her next business.
And for yet another, it meant buckling down during tough times and
finding new sources of inspiration. Each journey is unique, but
they all share one common thread: These business owners rode out
the ebb and flow of passion for their businesses and made it to the
other side, and—dare we say it—they got that loving
feeling back.
Coming Back With a Vengeance
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Yan Skwara went back to the trenches to regain his passion for
Soccer
Development of America (SDA). Founded in 1997, the company
sells soccer equipment, develops and manages professional and youth
soccer in the United States and abroad, and publishes a soccer
magazine called 90:00 Minutes. Skwara, 38, was excited about the
endeavor until about the third year, when, he says, "we got a
little overextended as a company—we needed to meet a cash
call." He hooked up with an investor, who eventually took a
controlling interest in the company.
With a new management team at the helm, Skwara found himself
losing the passion he'd had for the business. "When
it's not fun, it's almost not worth showing up," he
says. In September 2000, he resigned as president and CEO, though
he remained a shareholder in the San Diego company.
After about six months, the new management left, and SDA was in
bad shape. As founder and shareholder, Skwara felt compelled to go
back and pump some new juice into the faltering company. "I
got the original management team back together," he says.
"We went all the way back to the one-yard line." That
meant revamping the business model to focus on the magazine and
giving up the company's interest in one of the professional
soccer teams it managed. Skwara regained the controlling interest
in the company, which now has $1.8 million in annual estimated
sales, and applied some of the lessons he'd learned during his
time away from the business.
Skwara spent time evaluating what the company had originally
done well and what needed improvement. To keep the passion fires
burning, he intends to watch the changing needs of his business
closely—and not to let any one aspect overwhelm the core of
the venture. "We were going way too fast," he says.
"Now we're more conservative." It was even more than
passion that motivated Skwara to go back to his business:
"It's about passion, pride and loyalty to what you
started."
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