This is America At Work. I’m Debra Stamp.

That’s the stage of business I really like. I like the start up and the growth and the change. Once it’s all running beautifully, it’s time for somebody else, so I can go do it again.

When Erika Mangrum worked in corporate America, she remembers gravitating toward, as she puts it, the jobs nobody else wanted; the start up, the growth or the change position. So what skills or characteristics does she possess that make her successful in developing companies?

I would say it’s tenacity. You have a lot of hurdles. As an entrepreneur, it does not come easily because you are not following a path or land that’s really laid out for you. So, sometimes, it’s a matter of being able to maneuver, but just stick with it. It’s like surfing, it’s catching the right wave.

Okay. But what about that fear of, well, taking the wrong path or making the wrong move? Is that something that she’s ever experienced?

Sure. Every entrepreneur has. I think anybody in business has. You know, tenacity, the definition of tenacity is not moving forward with blinders despite the obstacles. It is sticking with a project and being able to change direction if that’s necessary, still keeping the end goal in mind.

When I asked Erika to recall an example of something that she tried that didn’t quite go as planned, she laughed and said her expectations have been severely pruned many times. She cited an example, opening day of her spa, Iatria. Now, I don’t usually let an audio clip run this long, but this one is worth the two minutes. Take a listen.

I’ll start with the emotional side of the expectations, because I think that part comes first. I quit my job in April, got everything ready with the building, all the build out, the construction, everything else to be ready to open and we had all this pre-marketing that we did, so that we would be pre-booked on opening day and we were ready, prepared the staff, we had meetings, “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen, people are going to come to the door. We’re going to give them this grand tour and here’s what everybody is going to do.” Everybody had their marching orders and they knew exactly what they were supposed to do for this day. And ten o’clock came and we had moved the cars out of the parking lot so we had plenty of room and we stood and we looked out the window, and we waited for that first wave of people to come. And we waited and we waited and then finally a person did drive in and we captured them. I mean, it was literally, like tackling that person at the door, and doing the tour. We showed them the bathroom, we showed them everything. “Here’s the spa,” so much more than they ever wanted to know about the spa. And then later that day we moved the cars into the parking lot to make it look like we were busy. We had a grand total of about four customers that first day. That was it. And trying to keep the staff really happy, really focused, telling stories and I went home that day and I cried my eyes out, because I thought, “Oh, my gosh, we did all this work, all these months of preparation, and look, is this what it’s going to be like?”

Well, she got it out of her system, went back in the next day and proceeded to make her spa business a success. Eventually, adding another location.

When you’re the entrepreneur, when you’re the one that’s the head, everybody feels what you’re feeling. So you have to stay positive and stay focussed and know it will come. Because if you’re not happy, it will just infect the rest of the group.

Here’s another example of an unexpected twist she faced. Focus groups had indicated a keen interest in natural approaches to feeling and looking better, so Erika included naturopathic medicine in their initial array of services. But, she found out that regulations imposed by the state of North Carolina just didn’t make it worthwhile. Was it hard to cut those services out?

Sure, sure, because you have decisions to make that are sometimes hard and you can’t be so married to the decision that you can’t recognise what your market says. The market wins, every time. It’s not you, it’s not me, it’s not the entrepreneur, it’s what the market wants.

A valuable benefit of all the challenges she faced? Developing patience.

Until I had my own business, I never really learned patience and sometimes it’s a matter of just letting things take their time, they can’t happen on your timeframe because you want it to be there. It takes a belief that you’re on the right track and you just need to let it happen.

Thankfully, Erika heeded the advice of her team members, whose experience and expertise complimented hers. Important to know what you’re good at and where you could use some help, huh?

Absolutely, and that’s where you have to know your strengths and your weaknesses. I’m the optimist when it comes to the business plan. Revenue in the door, the ramp up rate, I missed that one. And fortunately I had somebody working with me who was a strong accountant that said, “Here’s what I, here’s what worst case scenario is, let’s prepare somewhere in the middle.” And fortunately I had that skill set with me, helping me, because if not, it could have been a disaster.

America At Work. Hear more at AmericaAtWorkStories.com