Contributed by Shawn Johal, business growth coach, leadership speaker and co-founder of DALS Lighting, Inc. He is also an active member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Montreal chapter. 

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” –Mark Twain

Many entrepreneurs I meet have incredible stories about the way they started their businesses. Some had a wild idea and found a way to sell it; others accidentally bumped into an opportunity they were able to seize and monetize. Rare are those who spent months planning with a highly detailed strategic plan filled with metrics and key performance indicators.

My own journey started in the toughest of circumstances. My wife’s family had started a business. They were able to take it public and experienced exponential growth within eight years through mergers and acquisitions. The business was a true local success story.

Then the recession hit. The company was ill-prepared to handle the pressure of reduced revenue with growing expenses. Within 18 months, all was lost. It truly felt as if life were ending for us.

My brother-in-law and I did the only thing we could think of: Buy some of the remaining assets and start our own thing from scratch. I wish I could say we had exceptional vision and knew we were building “the next big thing.”