When you start a business, everyone has a lot of advice. \u201cJust do this\u2026\u201d and everything will be great. Usually, this is quickly followed by what I call a \u201cwhite knight\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s a white knight? In shot, it\u2019s that \u201cone thing that would change everything.\u201d You\u2019ll recognize it because it usually starts with the words if only.\u00a0 If only I could get X or Y, then everything will be different. When it comes to business owners, every owner has one. Sometimes, it\u2019s magazine coverage – if Oprah would cover us, then we would have a line out the door! Or if this investor just SAW us, we would be all set<\/p>\n
White knights are seductive because they are easy and a final destination. Just grind for a specific period and once you get this one thing, you can kick back and relax. They also tend to illicit dreams of fame, success and mega sales or what I like to call the Tiltillating Trifecta.<\/p>\n
They often are a major let-down. Getting a white knight is one in a million for many small businesses. Or, if you are part of the chosen few, they can cause more harm than good.\u00a0 How many businesses have been brought to their knees by explosive growth and have had to reorganize, disappoint customers, or worse close?<\/p>\n
Look, I won\u2019t lie – sometimes white knights pan out and they are life-changing. You get on Shark Tank and suddenly the phone doesn\u2019t stop ringing. And, if you\u2019re lucky, you\u2019re prepared. You\u2019ve thought of the logistics, operations and finances needed to manage growth. Hopefully, you haven\u2019t given up so much equity and control during negotiations that it\u2019s not your company any more.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s my suggestion. Don\u2019t spend your time pursuing white knights. Instead, spend your time on your business. And be patient. Adjust your expectations so that you expect success in 10 years rather than five. It\u2019s a safer bet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When you start a business, everyone has a lot of advice. \u201cJust do this\u2026\u201d and everything will be great. Usually, this is quickly followed by what I call a \u201cwhite knight\u201d What\u2019s a white knight? In shot, it\u2019s that \u201cone thing that would change everything.\u201d You\u2019ll recognize it because it usually starts with the words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":43494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farrahhaidar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}