How committed are you?

A friend of mine was looking at investing in a business recently, and he asked me to meet the two principals and make an assessment of the business.

One of the questions I asked them was how committed they were to the business. I asked them to rate it out of ten, where one out of ten was not at all committed, and ten out of ten was completely committed – would do whatever it takes.

The two guys answered seven and eight respectively. I was staggered. They were asking someone to back them financially, and there level of commitment was nowhere near what it takes to get a start-up business off the ground.

Of course I told my friend not to go near the business.

I asked the same question yesterday at a seminar for small business owners. Everyone had just done an exercise describing the vision for their business. I asked everyone to rate how committed they were to their business out of ten. A couple of people said to me afterwards that that question was a turning point for them.

I think it’s a powerful question to ask about your business, your practice or your career. How committed are you to it? Really?

Love to hear your thoughts – you can leave them below.