A man is on his first brutal day as a crewman of a pirate ship. He is swabbing the decks, heaving ropes, and emptying latrines. All the horrible jobs delegated to the newest sailor. Then out onto the deck steps the meanest, crustiest, saltiest pirate captain you can imagine. He’s got a peg leg, an eyepatch, a hook for a hand, a parrot on his shoulder, a long beard, a gold ear ring, and a saber at his side. The new sailor was awestruck. He nudges a fellow sailor and asks who he is. “That’s the captain. He’s the fiercest pirate on all the seas.” “Wow! How did he lose the leg?” “Crocodile in the waters of Africa. He killed it with his bare hands.” “WOW! How did he lose the hand?” “Shark took it in the Caribbean. He killed it with the one good hand.” “WHOA! How did he lose his eye?” “A bird pooped in it.” “Ummm… wait..What? He lost his eye from that? “Yep. First day with the hook.” Webster defines the word special “better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual (unusual). And it was American entrepreneur, Jim Rohn that said “”If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” Building a business is analogous to Rohn’s quote. What are you willing to put on the line and risk for the reward – time, family, money or pride? The dismal statistics about new business failure get quoted all the time (85-90%). If you mention at Thanksgiving that you’re thinking about starting a business, your Grandmother or Aunt May will definitely dredge them up. But gross statistics compiled by government agencies can’t give you the picture of what those “failures” look like. They don’t tell you how many were experiments. They don’t tell you what the “failures” taught the business owners. They don’t tell you how many of those businesses changed into something else – something more profitable. They don’t tell you how motivated the owners were. They don’t tell you what the owners went on to do next. Now don’t get me wrong, I realize that many new businesses don’t make it. Many of them start out with fatally high overhead – rent & employees are expensive. It isn’t easy…. Nothing good ever is. Rohn’s quote fits perfectly fits starting a business -“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”