The British playwright, William Archer (1856-1924), once remarked to a friend about how a “perfect plot” had played out to him and “evolved” in a dream one night. He saw “the whole thing, from beginning to end,” and when he awoke, put pen to paper.

Small business owners know about this kind of dream. It begins with what I call the founding dream, which is the first time an unconscious entrepreneurial inclination pops upon our consciousness radar screen.

At first a founding dream may be barely perceptible. And when one is remembered for the first time upon waking, the awareness is often more troubling than remarkable: What does this mean? What do I do with this?

But if the mind and the spirit are receptive, a founding dream “evolves” into more than a blip on the radar. Subsequent dreams become less impressionistic and more real. Animated dreams come next. Your nocturnal entrepreneurial visions play out with an actual cast of characters - sometimes in Technicolor.

Now you’re well aware of, and more comfortable with, your small business dreams and you start to do a little day dreaming. Day dreaming is the first step in the due diligence process - the research. You start asking lots of questions: What if….? How do I…? Where does this…? Who can…? When should…?

Ultimately, as the answers to these questions are revealed and accumulate, you begin to make your entrepreneurial dream become reality; you actually start living the dream of owning your own business. At this point the start-up dreams will stop. Since you’re now living your dream, why dream about it, right?!

Your founding dream now has a name, address, phone number and a tax ID number. It has “evolved” into the “perfect plot” for your small business.