Does your startup have limits?

By definition, a limit is a point, edge, or line beyond which something cannot or may not proceed. It is the boundary surrounding a specific area that cannot be crossed.

A limit is a confining or restricting agent or influence. And I’d wager a bet that for many startups, and those ready to scale existing businesses, that agent and influence — is you. Consider that you may very well be your own limiting factor.

This observation isn’t one-sided. Sure, there are limiting circumstances, situations, and people that could contribute to a limited perspective on business. But instead, imagine yourself … and your business — with no limits.

Imaginary Startup Limits

[pullquote align=”right”]”In order to progress from passion to profit in your business, it’s time for you to pack up your limiting thoughts and put them on notice.”[/pullquote]Limitations are not ideal because at their best they suggest an unforeseeable future. In business, this is a direct contradiction for the mindset required to imagine, re-imagine, innovate, expect, plan, build and grow.

Essentially a limit restricts capacity, negates room for potential, and places you on a steady plain of mediocrity. Most successful people understand that in order to build a profitable business, you must think and act as if you have no limits.

As a serial entrepreneur that has built wildly successful, and some unsuccessful, companies I’ve learned the only limits that exist are what I perceive. In order to progress from passion to profit in your business, it’s time for you to pack up your limiting thoughts and put them on notice. It’s them or your business — one or the other has to go.

But how do you know if you have limits?

While circumstances are very real, more often than not a persons perceived inability to face them — is not. Here’s a look at four limiting situations that could potentially hold a person back in business and limitless options on how to overcome them:

1. I don’t have the necessary certifications, degrees, or training.

   Do you believe “formalities” are holding you back? If so, I can unequivocally say for many of you — if you said “Yes,” you are wrong.

   Case in point. “Steve Jobs wasn’t an engineer or a designer. But he was one of the greatest users of technology of all time, and that made all the difference,” according to Fast Company’s Co.Design Deputy Editor, Belinda Lanks. Imagine if Jobs had said to himself, in his garage, “Because I don’t have this skill, I cannot move forward?” In business you too, will be faced with limited knowledge, certifications, degrees or training.

   But instead of focusing on perceived limits, consider how they can work to your advantage. Most importantly, do what Jobs so eloquently did — partner up with someone who has the credentials to help bring your vision to life or simply, move forward without the formalities.

   While you may say, “I’m not Steve Jobs!” Consider that Jobs and Wozniak used Job’s family garage as a base of operation to co-found the Apple Corporation in 1979. At the time, he and his co-founder, Wozniak, could have only imagined who they would become.

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