One of my favorite movies from my teenage years was Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner. For those of you much younger than I, this movie told the story of Ray, a novice Iowa corn farmer, that while out walking in his corn field starts hearing a voice out of thin air whispering, “If you build it he will come”. He interprets the voice as a command to build a baseball diamond in his corn fields, thus putting his entire farm and family at risk of bankruptcy and bringing with it the contempt of others who don’t understand what he’s doing.
I believe that all aspiring entrepreneurs can point back to a time where they either heard or felt something that propelled them to take a risk and go after their own field of dreams. How each person interprets that voice or feeling may vary greatly depending on their past experiences and beliefs. For some it may be interrupted as an inner voice or a feeling in their heart, for others its divinely inspired, perhaps the prodding of the Holy Spirit. And still for some it was a simple conversation with a respected family member, friend or mentor that stirred the waters. Whatever the origin, there is a good possibility it was the catalyst that kicked off their desire to become an entrepreneur. Once that decision was made, it brought along with it the fear of the unknown and the contempt of people that didn’t support or understand their goals. Naysayers that tried to convince them it wasn’t a good idea, that’d they’d fail or make total fools of themselves.
Unfortunately for all aspiring entrepreneurs, we can’t simply build our field like Ray did in Field of Dreams. Building a foundation simply isn’t enough. We’re left to recruit a team, train staff, promote the games, pay for the lights and most important of all, we need to find the fans. Without our fans, our field won’t lead us out of our dreams and into reality.
So don’t just stay in your field, “hoping they will come”. Sure you might lose a few games, have to trade some players or fire the popcorn vendor. But, if you work real hard out in your field every day, then the fans will come and you’ll find yourself not just building a field, but living the dream.
