I am an entrepreneur and have been since I was around 8 years old. My entire family was and still are entrepreneurs.

As a family raised in Minneapolis we did some very interesting jobs to get ahead.
The Peterson family picked night crawlers (very large worms) at night on the local golf course. We had our flashlights and buckets and when we would shine the light on the grass and saw a large bump, we would pull out the worm. These worms were sold to the local bait shop...remember, Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and ten zillion fishermen.

My Dad was an electrician and together we would renovate old neon beer signs. We’d find them - preferably Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer signs - in the alleys behind the taverns, take them home, clean them, rewire and sell them.

My Mom and Dad started Electric Service Company in 1954. It was the best of times to begin a business, and all of us were very involved. It was all about getting ahead. Even in good times business would lag, and you would wonder if you were ever going to get another customer. We had a great growth pattern, but sometimes events beyond our control would put a damper on spirits.

When growth stalls today, it’s every bit as disheartening as it was in 1954. And in 1954 and today the cure for this is the same. You need to address the four points here (thanks to author Steve McKey) to make sure you are doing all you can to recover from the adversity of stalled growth:

· Fear of risk
· Resistance to change
· Resistance to invest
· Loss of nerve

All of this makes a big difference and to get back on track to growth we need to examine what we are doing and what we could do to get ahead. If you want something different, you need to do something different.

I did not realize at that early age what I had learned from my parents. How to work hard, take a chance and be a risk taker were common practices in the Peterson Family. What we invested was sweat equity and financially it paid off.

Thank you Mom and Dad!