Entrepreneurship Lessons I Learned Hiking With My Wife’s Family

Yesterday we had a great day with my wife’s family. It’s already a tradition. Every year we still spend a week in the mountains of Austria (before it was Switzerland but the prices are now on another level) for hiking. For the past few years, we have all been together in a big house. This year we are all in separate apartments but in the same building. So the kids can play with my wife’s brother’s family and spend most of the day with their older cousins.

The trip we did yesterday was short (three hours) but it inspired me for this post.

Your pace is set by the slowest member

Our youngest, who is already six years old, almost always passes through my hand. Generally when things go uphill it doesn’t mind being pulled a bit to make the trail smoother. He is the one who gives the rhythm to the whole group. On average, it’s the slowest. When we calculate the arrival time according to the distance, we must take into account your speed and your motivation. It’s not always about what he is capable of, but about how to motivate him to go a little faster or a little further. Today pulling the little one is an investment. When 30 years have passed and we will continue to spend our holidays in the mountains, I hope that he will be the one who will pull me to the mountains the fastest.

• My lesson to start: when you have a new member in your team, you must remove it. This slows down the speed of the whole company. It is he who sets the pace. Over time, he must become one more member who pulls the car to go faster with everyone.

You can take risks if the consequences are not serious

Before leaving, we had heavy rain. It made our way muddy everywhere. Within 30 minutes my feet were soaked. He was the only member of the eleven who was not wearing hiking boots. I wore what I always wear. My running shoes. Then I noticed the other people’s pants. There was an inverse relationship between risk affinity and the amount of mud the pants were covered with. While the others didn’t have a single drop of mud, mine showed more brown than blue around the ankles. It also had to do with her entering what she thought was a patch of grass that turned out to be a mud hole. It was the first time in years that I had been soaked like this. My shoes were definitely my weakness but the consequences weren’t serious either. I’m too stingy to spend money on hiking boots to wear once a year for a week or less. Instead, I prefer to use the resources I already have. In my case, when I got home I changed my shoes, socks and pants and I was like new.

• My lesson to start: Investing more can help you take better action. If the consequences are not serious, you can choose to spend a little less on taking care of the mattress. Every euro must be well invested and even more so if you are a start-up with limited resources. You have to spend money on things that are really worth it.

Have a plan and imagine the worst

When you go hiking, you need a plan. The map is the route you want to take. You have to take into account the level of difficulty, the skills of each member of the group, the physical condition, the amount of food you will need, the time and the arrival at the starting point of the route. The most important part of all is time. In the mountains, the weather can change quickly and especially with storms, it is dangerous to be there. Yesterday we had a complicated day because rains were announced from 2 p.m. That’s why we left early. We weren’t 100% clear on the route and then decided to fly off depending on the weather. There was a point on the route where we had to choose between a longer and more complicated path, but more beautiful in terms of views, and a short and unattractive path. My wife’s brother’s family and ourselves wanted to choose the most difficult first. My wife’s father got angry because the weather was going to deteriorate and the sky showed nothing promising. He went out to protest with the grandmother and both of them were already out of sight when we decided to take out the laptop to review the weather on the laptop. The rains were going to start earlier than expected. With this in mind, we opted for the best for the group. Go after Grandpa and Grandma. We returned at noon. A few meters from the apartment, it started to rain heavily as grandfather had announced. Fortunately, soon after we were home and not in the mountains.

• My lesson to start: You must not make decisions that endanger the company. You can think for the best but plan for the worst. When the consequences are serious, do not take risks that you cannot compensate for.

It’s been a while since I made a post like this. In the end, it took longer than expected. Let’s see what the last days on the mountain have in store for us.

Stay tuned.