A missed opportunity will come around again.

One of the biggest mistakes in business or life is to approach an opportunity as "it's now or never".  I know because I've done this over and over in the same business and with different businesses I've owned.  Call me a slow learner but it took me several experiences to learn that opportunity does come knocking again.  Sometimes it just comes a little bit early and you don't have the resources, manpower, or cash to full take advantage of the opportunity and be able to effectively manage the growth the comes with it. 

You've heard many people say "I'd like to have the problem of too much business."  Sure, it sounds sexy and the visions it brings with it are adrenaline pumping.  My favorite is the story of two men who create a widget for kids and just three months they have a national order from Walmart and its entire distribution channel.  How flippin amazing is that?  Can you picture the two men throwing the correspondance up into the air and literally dancing arm and arm in their manufacturing facility (shed behind one of their houses)? This is a prime example of their story having grown, exploded way ahead of their manufacturing capabilities.

Soon the music ends and the men stop dancing. Now they have an order for a million pieces deliverable in sixty days.  Even if they did have the cash could they source enough raw materials, manpower, and actual space to produce the Purchase Order?  Do they have enough time to have a lawyer review the 40 page document outlining the specs of the order and making sure that even with the price cutting they will in fact be able to turn out these million widgets and make a profit at the other end of the delivery date.  And for some reason they don't make the delivery date as stated in the agreement what will be the reprecussions for the two men and their fantabulous widgets they created?

OK, so you get my drift.  Opportunity will come knocking when you open your doors for business. My thought for you is that it might not be the right opportunity at the right time for your business and even more importantly don't ever worry that if you don't take advantage of the opportunity as it comes knocking that it won't be back at a better time.  Opportunities are nothing more than learning experiences unrealized. By nature their purpose is to happen and to create a new unique situation for growth and learning to occur. They will continue to circle back until they are realized or have just lost their relevance or meaning.  Either way a missed opportunity is better looked at as an extension to get your "merd" in order for the future.  Please don't misinterpret that by missing opportunity it gives you a green light to stay stagnant without growth or change.  We all know what happens to those who stay in one place too long.  It just means that sometimes you're not in the right place at the right time to take advantage of an opportunity but instead use it as a measuring stick to know what you need to do and prepare for when the opportunity swings back around.