Venturing out into a business without being very sure of its success is risk taking. Risk takers are noted for exceptional show of genuine courage. I took a lot of risks in 2015. I met an Indian guy on Facebook who invited me to consider his company’s products and possibly make orders. I was excited about the product because it was going to turn my business around. I was also afraid because I was not so sure if the man was genuine or not. I went on with the business deal after making some inquiries. When I approached the bank to which I was to pay in the amount for the goods to be supplied, I was told that I should have known the authenticity of the person I was dealing with before making payments because they cannot guarantee a reimbursement of my money if eventually the whole deal turned out to be a fraud. I therefore made up my mind that this transaction was going to be a risk. I made up my mind to succeed or fail. I eventually succeeded. Risk taking is not foolishness. It will be foolish to think that one can create a huge market base in the desert by selling heaters or carrying coal to coal castle.
There were people who wanted the product but did not want to dare. They waited for me to succeed before going into the business. My success was like a path finding mission. Those who take risks are pathfinders. Their success opens the way for others successes. Their failures also open the way for further improvement. Therefore whether in the negative or positive risk takers add value to the society.
Risk taking is different from bravado. Bravado is a false show of courage. Those who exhibit bravado do not count the cost implication of what they intend to do. They just believe that the act of exhibiting courage alone is enough to scare the negative forces away. They are sometimes people who act based on emotion and sentiments instead of facts. For instance, it will be a foolish risk to undertake to pull out someone who has been electrocuted without taking the necessary precaution. It would be a foolish risk and an act of bravado to establish your business at the war front without minding the inherent dangers. There are businesses that thrive at the war front but they are often high risk businesses.
An event happened while the children of Israel were about to posses the Promised Land. In Numbers chapter 13, they had earlier sent spies to spy the land they were to possess. This is a good business strategy. One has to take a survey of what the business climate is before embarking full scale. When they returned, the spies all gave a damning verdict about the possibility of Israel conquering and taking over the land. They claimed the people were too strong for them even though the land was quite good as promised by the Lord. Joshua and Caleb however gave a different report. They insisted that they were capable of possessing the land because according to them,
Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” Num 14:9 (NIV).
Joshua and Caleb were optimists. They saw prospects while the rest saw defeat. Be that as it may, the children of Israel having realized that they were making a mistake in insisting that they were unable to conquer the land decided on their own volition to wage war against the inhabitants of Canaan. Their decision to wage war was however not back by strategy. They did not also have the support of the Lord and Moses and so the whole act of bravado turned out a fiasco:
“Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. “We have sinned,” they said. “We will go up to the place the LORD promised.” But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.” Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.” Num 14:40-45 NIV.
It is necessary to ensure your business with a plan “B”. A plan “B” is what you would do if the venture turns out against positive expectation. Some people insure their business formally. There are some risks that may not necessarily need just insurance. Your plan in case your project fails is important because it would help the business person to rise quickly from the ashes or move forward. The plan “B” sometimes could be a courageous heart to accept the negative consequences if the venture fails. Remember that a soldier going to battle has already made up his mind either to survive or die. Jesus Christ has given us what to do about risk:
“For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.” Luke 14:28-32
Risk takers add value to life while those who do not take risk discover nothing. Those who do not take risk seem to be wise especially as the seemingly failure of the risk takers vindicate them. The risk takers may appear foolish for a while especially as they venture and temporarily fail. Those who do not take risk will however capitalize on the failures of the risk takers to justify their lack of zeal to move out and do something new. Risk takers are people of exploits who leave behind them, biographies for others to study and make success in life, while non risk takers leave behind them no history or lessons for improvement.
Remaining in your comfort zone because you have made it or because you are no longer experiencing strong challenges and competitions can be deceptive. The world unfortunately is not static. New ideas are emerging every day. People are changing in their behavior and attitude, if one remains at his or her comfort zone the tendency to be overtaken becomes very high. It is only the risk takers that remain on top because they are always on the lookout for opportunities to improve and move to a higher level of operation.
