My twelve year old son just got his junior scuba diver certification. Even though he understands the limitations associated with his age and training, he still believes he is capable of handling any diving situation…and without our supervision and guidance…he would certainly find ways to test his skills.
From the time my youngest son was around four or five years old, he has been telling us that he wanted to be a SeaWorld trainer. We sent him to SeaWorld camp around kindegarten and he is already showing signs that he is gifted with both domestic and wild animals. Around eight or nine years old, he added marine biology to his “when I grow up” conversations. My husband and I were tossing around the concept of marine biology and decided that getting his scuba certification would not only help him work towards his goals but it would be a certification and skill that he would have for the rest of his life. So last Christmas, my son got scuba lessons and equipment.
Because of his age and limited experience, his certification limits his dives to 40 feet. Anytime he dives, a professional diver has to go with him. Between now and 15 years old, he can get additional training and certifications that will allow him to dive to 60 feet and after he is 15, the restrictions will be lifted.
I work with a lot of young companies. I have watched so many of them try to learn marketing on their own – as they go. I have also watched a number of those companies fail. Not because they had a bad product or idea…but because they didn’t do a good job marketing. The most successful young companies that I have worked or dealt with sought out experts to either handle certain aspects of their marketing or they realized that with an ongoing investment of time and money, that they could get the training and experience that they needed to handle certain elements of their marketing on their own.
Confidence and desire do not equal training and experience…
Austin is young and inexperienced, with just a few dives under his belt. He feels like he’s ready for any type of dive but as parents, we know that he isn’t ready to tackle the more challenging scuba opportunities. With more training and more dives under his belt, he will eventually be ready for the ocean or cave diving or deeper lake dives.
If you are a young company and you plan on handling some of your marketing in-house, consider taking the time and putting aside some of your marketing budget for training and/or coaching to help you with the learning curve. At the very least, find a mentor, someone who has been successful with the marketing method you are interested in using for your company. Start small so that mistakes are not as painful or costly. Build your experience and as time goes by, you will be ready for bigger projects and bigger budgets.
