Can you imagine how many people told Barack Obama that he was wasting his time? Can you imagine how many people reminded him that there has never been an African-American President? Can you imagine the kind of internal strength one would need to withstand the history of bigotry, the popularity polls, the experts and the rumours? And, despite all the odds stacked against him, Obama became the first African-American President.

As entrepreneurs, we face a daunting 96% statistical failure rate in 10 years. As a black American, running for President, the statistics were 100% against his winning. Statistics are only there to scare off the sissies. There is an almost sexual turn-on from being told that you cannot achieve something. It brings out the best in a person. It focuses you and drives you and, in many instances, controls you. Every day we are told that we are too old or too young, too black or too white, too cheap or too expensive. And every day we can choose to listen to the ‘polls’, decide they are correct and bow out, or we can choose to listen to that strong voice inside of us that knows we are part of the 4%.

And sometimes the noise in our heads is so loud – made louder by the lack of cashflow. Sometimes we forget why we started, and our emotional knees buckle under the pressure. And then we remember that we can, and we must, be part of the 4%. We certainly know that we deserve it.