Steps you can take to prepare yourself for your Next BIG Challenge
Whenever I know I have a big challenge ahead of me, I do everything possible to prepare myself for what is ahead of me. This is normally because I mostly know NOTHING about the different things I have tried to undertake.The feeling of being completely clueless and the impending thoughts of failure because of my lack of knowledge force me to seek everywhere to know and learn more about the things that I want to do.
The real truth about preparation is that you will never be fully prepared for what is up ahead of you, but there are certain things you can do to work on your skills and knowledge. If you think about it in the way that you are preparing for a long race, you don't just turn up on race day and be like 'oh yeah I'm here' and expect to do well. Well maybe you do. Most people take time to train their minds and bodies to be ready for what is ahead of them. Everything in life can run along with these same principles.
Before I even arrived in Serbia, as soon as I knew I was going, I studied Serbian language and culture from every angle I could. Although I didn't have much time before I would arrive, I studied an online Serbian language course and read everything I could about the history of the country. I watched a series of documentaries on Yugoslavian history and I also watched lots of movies about people which up and changed their lives.
What can you do to prepare for opening your new business, here are some things that I did, maybe they will be helpful to you
1. Read about it
When I knew for sure that we were with a green light to try to open CE (Before we even had one penny of money towards it, or knew much about anything) I bought two books on amazon about setting up coffee shops. I even made a short video on my camera, with my talking about how this was the first steps of preparation. I unfortunately cannot find that video, otherwise I would post it here. Reading about opening a shop really helped me to see the experience of others who had done the same. I also read some very uninspirational articles, such as one called 'how opening our own cafe ruined our lives', which did make me a bit afraid, but yes they were right...it kind of ruined my life in the beginning, as everything else went to pieces and the only thing I could think about and work on was the new business. It also, like most challenging and difficult tasks, made my life amazing. Every situation is different and no book can really charter your journey or tell you what kind of weather conditions will be going on in the sea of business you will sail in. Research is an easy and fast tool to use to your advantage, google the things you want to know, get some books and it will give you a slightly clearer picture of what to expect.
2. Ask Questions
There is no way that you can come from a position of knowing nothing to knowing everything in a short amount of time. So many things about business can only be learnt from experience, but some things can be learnt from the experience of others. Ask questions wherever you go, to whoever you meet. I remember going into a bar in Serbia and asking the owner if I could go behind the bar to take a look at the kegs of beer to see how much space we needed. I asked my friend who owned a coffee machine to let me have a try to make a coffee on his espresso machine. I asked the owners of another place to show me their cash register. I asked my friend who worked for a bar to help me decide which drinks to order and what a bar's first stock list should look like. I asked every kind of question I could think of, sometimes i think I came across really dumb and annoying (I've dealt with this before). There is no point of being shy when you need help with a big task. I love it when people come to the Cafe and ask us for advice on our business and other people are normally more than happy to share with you the things they have learnt. You can also gain good friends this way as you bond over business and progress, rather then gossip and useless things.
3. Learn the language as much as you can
If you are trying to open in a foreign country, it is a matter of respect to learn the language and to try to understand the people. Even if your business will be operating mainly in English, as CE is, people really appreciate the effort and time it takes you to learn and study their language. When we arrived in Serbia we went through a year of Serbian school, we all studied the language together. In my spare time I studied our workbook and worked hard on my studies. Even though I am not perfect at Serbian, I do understand a lot and use it every day when I serve people or when people come to talk to me inside CE. I don't really understand when people say that learning a language is hard so they don't do it. OF COURSE ITS HARD... aren't all things that are worthwhile kind of difficult. I think when you learn a new language its kind of the same as when a baby is learning its first words, it takes a few years to get a grasp of it and understand and a really long time before you can learn it fluently (unless you are talented with these kind of things). For me, it has been heard to learn Serbian, but I cant describe how good I feel when I can talk to people and also understand what they are saying, it makes me feel closer to the whole community and also smarter ( I don't get that feeling much)
4. Help others for free
If you want others to help you and be part of the new community you are building, you must be willing to take the first steps into the new country and be a genuine helping hand and a friend. Your deeds of unpaid kindness and going out of your way to be of assistance in every area will not necessarily be reciprocated right away, but they will be. I have seen so much bad business policy from owners who are very stingy, and don't reach out to do anything that they are not gaining from for the community. I think that this is a very bad way to run or start a business. You must be willing to give before you receive, cultivate a giving attitude in your life and business and it will come back to you 100 times over. I learnt this so many times, I couldn't possibly name to you the amount of times I have seen this rule of the universe go into effect at my life. One example, when I arrived in Serbia my friend told me that her mom had been fired from her job as a seamstress, this had put the whole family in a tough situation as they really needed the money. Her mother could continue to work if she had her own sewing machine, but they had no money to buy it. Even though at the time I was saving money to open CE, I put the money in an envelope and dropped it into her hands. I never expected a return in any way and I felt good to have helped. This friend repaid me the money 2 years later (even though I never asked for it back) she also became one of my best friends and helped us with one of the ideas that gave us the finances to open CE. She was the friend that told me about indie-gogo (an online crowd funding site) and encouraged me to make the video and put it out there. The video raised 3000 dollars for our opening. If you give you will receive.. keep that in mind and keep your heart and hands open to help those around you.
Whenever I know I have a big challenge ahead of me, I do everything possible to prepare myself for what is ahead of me. This is normally because I mostly know NOTHING about the different things I have tried to undertake.The feeling of being completely clueless and the impending thoughts of failure because of my lack of knowledge force me to seek everywhere to know and learn more about the things that I want to do.
The real truth about preparation is that you will never be fully prepared for what is up ahead of you, but there are certain things you can do to work on your skills and knowledge. If you think about it in the way that you are preparing for a long race, you don't just turn up on race day and be like 'oh yeah I'm here' and expect to do well. Well maybe you do. Most people take time to train their minds and bodies to be ready for what is ahead of them. Everything in life can run along with these same principles.
Before I even arrived in Serbia, as soon as I knew I was going, I studied Serbian language and culture from every angle I could. Although I didn't have much time before I would arrive, I studied an online Serbian language course and read everything I could about the history of the country. I watched a series of documentaries on Yugoslavian history and I also watched lots of movies about people which up and changed their lives.
What can you do to prepare for opening your new business, here are some things that I did, maybe they will be helpful to you
1. Read about it
When I knew for sure that we were with a green light to try to open CE (Before we even had one penny of money towards it, or knew much about anything) I bought two books on amazon about setting up coffee shops. I even made a short video on my camera, with my talking about how this was the first steps of preparation. I unfortunately cannot find that video, otherwise I would post it here. Reading about opening a shop really helped me to see the experience of others who had done the same. I also read some very uninspirational articles, such as one called 'how opening our own cafe ruined our lives', which did make me a bit afraid, but yes they were right...it kind of ruined my life in the beginning, as everything else went to pieces and the only thing I could think about and work on was the new business. It also, like most challenging and difficult tasks, made my life amazing. Every situation is different and no book can really charter your journey or tell you what kind of weather conditions will be going on in the sea of business you will sail in. Research is an easy and fast tool to use to your advantage, google the things you want to know, get some books and it will give you a slightly clearer picture of what to expect.
2. Ask Questions
There is no way that you can come from a position of knowing nothing to knowing everything in a short amount of time. So many things about business can only be learnt from experience, but some things can be learnt from the experience of others. Ask questions wherever you go, to whoever you meet. I remember going into a bar in Serbia and asking the owner if I could go behind the bar to take a look at the kegs of beer to see how much space we needed. I asked my friend who owned a coffee machine to let me have a try to make a coffee on his espresso machine. I asked the owners of another place to show me their cash register. I asked my friend who worked for a bar to help me decide which drinks to order and what a bar's first stock list should look like. I asked every kind of question I could think of, sometimes i think I came across really dumb and annoying (I've dealt with this before). There is no point of being shy when you need help with a big task. I love it when people come to the Cafe and ask us for advice on our business and other people are normally more than happy to share with you the things they have learnt. You can also gain good friends this way as you bond over business and progress, rather then gossip and useless things.
3. Learn the language as much as you can
If you are trying to open in a foreign country, it is a matter of respect to learn the language and to try to understand the people. Even if your business will be operating mainly in English, as CE is, people really appreciate the effort and time it takes you to learn and study their language. When we arrived in Serbia we went through a year of Serbian school, we all studied the language together. In my spare time I studied our workbook and worked hard on my studies. Even though I am not perfect at Serbian, I do understand a lot and use it every day when I serve people or when people come to talk to me inside CE. I don't really understand when people say that learning a language is hard so they don't do it. OF COURSE ITS HARD... aren't all things that are worthwhile kind of difficult. I think when you learn a new language its kind of the same as when a baby is learning its first words, it takes a few years to get a grasp of it and understand and a really long time before you can learn it fluently (unless you are talented with these kind of things). For me, it has been heard to learn Serbian, but I cant describe how good I feel when I can talk to people and also understand what they are saying, it makes me feel closer to the whole community and also smarter ( I don't get that feeling much)
4. Help others for free
If you want others to help you and be part of the new community you are building, you must be willing to take the first steps into the new country and be a genuine helping hand and a friend. Your deeds of unpaid kindness and going out of your way to be of assistance in every area will not necessarily be reciprocated right away, but they will be. I have seen so much bad business policy from owners who are very stingy, and don't reach out to do anything that they are not gaining from for the community. I think that this is a very bad way to run or start a business. You must be willing to give before you receive, cultivate a giving attitude in your life and business and it will come back to you 100 times over. I learnt this so many times, I couldn't possibly name to you the amount of times I have seen this rule of the universe go into effect at my life. One example, when I arrived in Serbia my friend told me that her mom had been fired from her job as a seamstress, this had put the whole family in a tough situation as they really needed the money. Her mother could continue to work if she had her own sewing machine, but they had no money to buy it. Even though at the time I was saving money to open CE, I put the money in an envelope and dropped it into her hands. I never expected a return in any way and I felt good to have helped. This friend repaid me the money 2 years later (even though I never asked for it back) she also became one of my best friends and helped us with one of the ideas that gave us the finances to open CE. She was the friend that told me about indie-gogo (an online crowd funding site) and encouraged me to make the video and put it out there. The video raised 3000 dollars for our opening. If you give you will receive.. keep that in mind and keep your heart and hands open to help those around you.
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