Reading and taking notes was how I passed the time.

The minute the plane took off all around was a 'sea of white soup'. I prayed that the pane's navigation system would not fail because if the pilot had to fly the plane on manual how on earth was he going to see in this sea of whiteness. I continued to read my book and it was then I came across a page that sparked off the reason for the brief article.

At 14 thousand feet I had a brain wave!

This article relate to the small business entrepreneurs who arrive at 2-small-business.com in search of small business grant and government grant. Before you click away to another web site here's the exact text taken from the book by Eric Hoffer, Author of "The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. He wrote:

"There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement, for an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything, we are fixed, so to speak, for life. Moreover, when we have an alibi for not writing a book and not painting a picture and so on, we have an alibi for not writing the greatest book and not painting the greatest picture. Small wonder that the effort expended and the punishment endured in obtaining a good alibi often exceed the effort and grief requisite for the attainment of a most marked achievement."

Hoffer's observation is one of the finest, most accurate, and profound I have ever encountered.

So what can small business entrepreneurs hope to gain from Eric Hoffer's observation? I believe it's this:

If you have a passion to be in business for yourself don't let the lack of start up grants for small business or government grant dampen and ultimately rob you of achieving your dreams. It's better to achieve your goals than to be forever fixated by a "lack of grant alibi." Rise to the achievement challenge rather than succumbing to the alibi excuse.

Taken from Dan Kennedy's book: No B.S. Time Management For Entrepreneurs - Ep Entrepreneur Press
www.entrepreneurpress.com