“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
This saying is the ultimate metaphor for entrepreneurship. You’re either a gazelle or a lion, and every day, you have to run faster and harder than the competition.
There’s no room for complacency or taking it easy.
In the world of business, if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind.
As an entrepreneur, there are several lessons that can be learned from this saying:
Sense of urgency: As an entrepreneur, it is important to have a sense of urgency and to take decisive action when necessary to stay ahead of the competition.
Entrepreneurs must also move quickly and be agile to keep up with changing market conditions and customer needs.
It’s important to face reality and respond promptly to market changes, customer feedback, and other external factors that can impact the success of the business.
Consequences: The stakes are high for both the gazelle and the lion. For entrepreneurs, the cost of ignoring reality or failing to adapt can be severe, including loss of market share, declining revenue, or even business failure.
It’s critical for entrepreneurs to assess the severity of their situation and take action accordingly, whether that means making strategic pivots or implementing drastic cost-cutting measures. If you don’t move quickly on these, you may be the slowest gazelle.
If we want to succeed as entrepreneurs, we need to be able to roll with the punches, absorb fresh information, and push ourselves to evolve.
Be the gazelle that outruns the lion. Be the lion that catches the slowest gazelle. Either way, whatever happens, when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.
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