If the Shoe Fits: the Cost of Distraction
by Miki SaxonA Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
What happens when you create a fast growing business that has unicorn potential, but it doesn’t fit with your personal dream?
Do you pursue both?
That’s what Ben Nash did and almost destroyed PCS Wireless in the process.
Nash had always dreamed of being a real-estate mogul, while PCS Wireless bought, fixed and sold old cell phones.
Glamorous real estate or mundane phone reselling — which would you chase?
“I was running around the business world trying to find myself. I got distracted with ego and shiny things. I lost money in real estate, but losing money isn’t the problem. That’s a minor issue. I’ve always personally made money. The issue was my energy and focus was going to my other businesses and not to PCS.”
Nash didn’t get himself back on track, his team did.
About two years ago, the PCS executive team sat Nash down and gave him the “are we going to do this or not?” talk. (It’s “very important to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you,” is how Nash describes his team.)
There are myriad distractions in life; everybody has them.
What’s important isn’t the distraction, but how you deal with it.
And how comfortable your team would be if it was necessary to sit you down for “the talk.”
Image credit: HikingArtist