Stillness and uncertainty is a part of the life cycle of an entrepreneur. Moments of glory and purposefulness are too.

We ride through the moments of glory and quickly become ill prepared for those moment of stillness and uncertainty. But we need to find comfort in them being part of the entrepreneurial development process too. I am finding myself in this exact spot right now. I have completed a large cycle: written a book, found a great agent, and successfully have begun speaking about how to create value from art. I have done a good job. Reached goals I never thought I could reach. Built the foundation of something exciting and, at the same time, still really young and very new. I am finding myself now staring at the uncertainties of Stage II. A new stage of development means a whole new cycle of beginnings. A new period of growth, change and uncertainty all over again. Part of me is thrilled and part of me wants to pack up my bags with my accomplishments to date, still fresh and intact, and put them on my trophy shelf and let them collect dust instead of venture again into the unknown. Moving forward is a risk. Or is it more about getting comfortable with development cycles? I think the life of a venture is all about development cycles that, no matter what stage you are at, really look all the same. Each begins with a sense of uncertainty, adventure, fear, desire and hope. I began writing my book and this blog in exactly this same place. I began speaking the same way. All that I have accomplished has come from a sense of adventure, fear, and desire but also with little expectation of what it would bring. But as you grow your ideas and they begin to bloom, the shear fact your ideas have taken a visible shape to others, who then ask you questions about it, will cause you to want to include that word EXPECTATION into your vocabulary. Expectations are dreadful because they create an assumption about what you can or cannot do and how you are suppose to do it and when. How dreadful to limit your potential by allowing expectations to let you down and keep your best most purposeful self waiting. You see, I expected my book to be sold to a publisher by now. Everyone keeps asking me WHEN will my book be published. I began my adventure writing my book and blogging and THEN I wrote my business plan for the next big steps on my journey. Well, my plan says I am suppose to have a publisher now to move forward with my plan. So now what? Should I allow my expectations to let me down? How easy it is, with a few moments of success- a completed book, landing an agent, becoming increasingly accomplished speaking- ( fill in your own glory moments here) to forgot that a business plan must evolve as you create it in real time. Entrepreneurial growth does not have room for

expectations because you need that free space to add the needed head, foot or limb, that your EXPECTATIONS would never allow you to incorporate into the growth of your venture. Every entrepreneur needs those moments of glory but sometimes they make us forget how creativity grows into something beautiful and strong. After all every rose begins in the mud and every cycle of growth and evolution in a venture must too.

Entrepreneurship Development Process

Major assistance requirements of the new entrepreneurs are worth mentioning while discussing the entrepreneurial development as a tool of economic growth of a nation. They need multiple assistance which may be offered in a package form. To set up an enterprise and run it successfully an entrepreneur need these types of assistance. These three groups of assistance form an Entrepreneurship Development Cycle. The groups of assistance are:

a. Stimulatory; b. Support; and c. Sustaining.

a. The stimulatory activities comprise entrepreneurial education, provision of entrepreneurial opportunities and guidance in selecting industries are needed to help emergence of entrepreneurship in the Society. This support ensures a good supply of entrepreneurs to start a new venture and develop potentiality to succeed in a venture.

b. The support activities refer to those which enable the entrepreneurs in setting up and running the enterprises successfully. They help in mobilising resources and assistance.

c. The sustaining activities include efforts which help the entrepreneurs sustain themselves against the challenges of actual operation. Many enterprises starting well, meet immature death subsequently because of some problems. Such cases are many and they are particularly more significant in the field of small enterprises.

The above groups of activities play complementary roles to each other. In the absence or negligence of one, others may be rendered infructuous. If the stimulatory activities are over-emphasised, there may be better supply in failure and frustration. This causes national wastage of resources in terms of men and materials. Similarly, if support activities are over emphasised and the other two are neglected, then there may be facilities available with no or few entrepreneurs to avail such facilities. When sustaining activities are over-emphasised the growth in the number of enterprises is bound to be stagnant. It is thus imperative that the needs of enterprises are required to be identified in the total perspective before devising package of assistance. Entrepreneurship Development Cycle is shown in Exhibit-II.

Entrepreneurial Development Cycle: