It Takes Courage Starting a business, facing the prospect of failure, making it through the tough times--it's all part and parcel of BIZ Experiencesship. With courage, though, you can make it through anything.

In 1994, Celita Schutz left a lucrative art director position totrain for the 1996 Olympics and start her own graphic designbusiness, Celita Schutz Designs, based in New York City. Six monthsbefore the 1996 Olympic trials, the judo Olympian broke her leg intwo places while competing in Brazil. The doctors predicted asix-month recovery, which would have eliminated Schutz from theOlympics. "I could either sit back and accept my injury,feeling sorry for myself, or I could fight. Win or lose, I had totry," says Schutz, 34. She made it back onto the mat in threemonths, winning a spot on the 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams. All thewhile, her graphic design business provided a mental diversionduring the painful rehabilitation.

As an BIZ Experiences, you ride a roller-coaster of emotion everyday-from the exhilarating highs of making a sale to the deeplows of lying awake at 3 a.m., wondering if your company willsurvive. As the economy sputters through recession, you countdwindling cash reserves. Months of massive layoffs have torn gapingholes in the corporate safety net-there are fewer jobs tocatch you if you fall. How can you find the courage to face yourfears and make your business successful? How do you push pastdiscouragement and the darkness of self-doubt?

Return to the Reason YouStarted
BIZ Experiencess work for a purpose far beyond a paycheck. Stayingfocused on your company's original mission will give you thestamina to last through the tough times. Dust off your earliestbusiness plan and re-read it. Why did you start the business? Didyou have a vision of great service or an innovative product to meetan unmatched need? Were you going to make the world a better placein some small way? Recommit to your company mission, and rewriteyour vision to match the urgency of the moment.

For Kimberly Ogilvie, keeping her company's original missiontop-of-mind is all she needs to forge ahead. The 31-year-oldstarted Transcending Concepts, a disability and accommodationconsulting firm in Kansas City, Missouri, out of frustration: Asshe watched a friend with muscular dystrophy go from walking, torelying on a walker, to being wheelchair-bound, Ogilvie felt calledto make a difference. Today, she works with employers to make theircompanies more accessible to disabled individuals. She has learnedfrom her disabled clients to never give up, to never take no for ananswer-a lesson every BIZ Experiences could use these days.

Sometimes, sticking with your BIZ Experiencesial venture is assimple as considering the alternative: a corporate job. That wasenough to keep Andrew Frumovitz in the game, even when the marketcorrection of 2001 dried up his financing and brought business athis Los Angeles law firm to a screeching halt in the span of oneweek. Frumovitz went from advising his high-tech clients onachieving success to advising them on how to close their businesseswithout hurting anyone. With a new marriage-and a newmortgage-on the line, he was tempted to return to a handsomecorporate salary at a large law firm. But going back would havemeant giving up on his dream-a prospect far scarier thanfailure. "The reason I became an BIZ Experiences was that Iwanted to create something," explains Frumovitz, 31. "Youcan sleep at night when you've given your best on yourterms."

Face Down Your Fears
For Wendy Tarzian, president of Tarzian Search Consultants Inc., aChicago-based recruiting company, facing her fears motivates her toput in the long hours necessary to make her recruiting firm asuccess. "I'm putting everything I have into thisbusiness. That is a little bit terrifying at times," admitsTarzian, 34. " I don't want to end up knocking on the doorof the homeless shelter, asking if they can spare a cot, [so] Ihave to bear down and work through the fear."

Realistically facing the worst scenario for your business andpreparing a contingency plan can build courage. Ask yourself, whatis the worst thing that could happen? Laying off your employees?Bankruptcy? Losing your home? Losing your family? Facing down yourfear at the faintest death rattle can help you plan to avoidfinancial and familial ruin.

Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize

Know the Price You Are Willing toPay
Sometimes you get so entangled in saving your company at all costs,you might realize too late that you've gone past the point ofrecovery. The devastation of business failure and bankruptcy candestroy your personal relationships, ruin your health and generallymake life miserable. So before you get caught up in the adrenalinerush, ask yourself, "What price am I willing to pay forsuccess?" Draw a line in the sand-commit to a time limitor level of debt, and don't cross that line.

"At the end of the day, you must keep your family together.You may have to take a second job while growing the business,"notes B. Tyler Sory, founder of benefits consulting firm SCA Corp. inBrentwood, Tennessee.

Sory ought to know. His business is successful now, but thatcertainly didn't happen overnight. "My family hasstruggled for my dream," says Sory, 31. "We have beenbroke; we've eaten Ramen noodles for three weeks, had ourutilities disconnected, our cars repossessed and been evicted. Whenyou start with nothing, you have to risk everything."

If you find yourself in this type of situation, you have to knowwhere that line in the sand is. Says Sory, "Money ismoney-but losing your family is the biggest risk."

Refocus & Redefine
As an BIZ Experiences, you have to constantly evaluate what is andisn't working. You have to refocus, redefine and even reinventyour business to meet a changing market.

When Schutz returned from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she wentthrough a divorce-not to mention the transition from constanttraining to running her business full time. And after 9/11, thedemand for design services slowed dramatically. So Schutz shiftedgears, studying construction basics to take her designs off thepage to three-dimensional. She is considering becoming an architectand helping to reconstruct New York City. "The down times area perfect time to focus on new skills and techniques," shesays. "When the opportunities do arise, you will be betterprepared."

Both Frumovitz and Tarzian underwent similar transformations.When Frumovitz's firm went from boom to bust, he re-evaluatedhis business model, diversifying his client base from technologyfirms to include traditional brick-and-mortar companies. He alsomerged his practice with established tax and real estate attorneyRobert A. Briskin, forming Briskin & Frumovitz, and refocused the practice oncorporate, tax and intellectual property law for growingcompanies.

Likewise, when the economy slowed and unemployment rose, Tarzianredefined her business plan, developing a niche market. She createda survey linking brand image to the hiring process that waspublished in multiple mediums, generating over 22,000 hits on herWebsite. Still, Tarzian doesn't ever allow herself to get toorelaxed: "The moment I get too comfortable is the moment Iwill make a mistake. I'm always on the lookout for how I canfurther differentiate myself from my competition and addvalue."

Partner With YourPartner
Isolation extinguishes the BIZ Experiencesial spirit. Often, thehardest part of having a small business is not having anyone tobounce ideas off of and help shoulder the stress. Given the rightcircumstances, partnering with a trusted friend or your spouse canrelieve some of the pressure.

When the Internet company where Daisy Ramirez had been workingas a distribution center manager folded, she and her husband,James, talked over the possibility of Daisy joining him in histwo-person Placentia, California, business. Although the newlywedswere confident that Daisy's strategic thinking and financialbackground, coupled with James' technology skills and customerrelationships, could take the company to the next level, they knewit was a gamble-Daisy had provided the couple's financialstability.

The couple decided that the benefits of working together andsupporting each other outweighed the risk. Daisy joined James inPacific TimeSystems, a time and attendance software and hardware solutionscompany, in September 2001, and together they struggled through theslow economy. Daisy did consulting work for her former employer totide the company over while James worked on building the business."We would have been in dire financial straits without theconsulting work," adds Daisy, 31. "But the biggestadvantage of being in business with James is that we have controlof the outcome. If we work 15-hour days, we see thebenefit-in my corporate job, my salary stayed the same. IfI'm going to work this hard, let it be for me and for myfamily."

Find Your Courage
In judo and in life, there is a difference between pain and injury.You must never surrender. If you can withstand the pain and keepfighting, you might go on to win the gold. "When you train forthe Olympics, you expect things to go as you plan, just as you doin business and in life," says Schutz. "When they do,it's great. But I've discovered that I learned the mostduring times of struggle. I came back stronger each time."

Rebecca Smith is the author of numerous business and sportsarticles (online at www.winningyourway.com) and Winning Without LosingYour Way: Courage and Honor in Leadership, scheduled forpublication by Executive Excellence in October 2002. Smith, a blackbelt in judo, coaches, competes and referees.