Have you ever read the seminal children’s classic “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”? When my kids were younger, it was ever popular in the Miller home. Every page unfolds with a new obstacle in our bear hunter’s path: “Long, wavy grass”, “deep, cold river”, “thick, oozy mud”, “big, dark forest”, “swirling, whirling snowstorm”, and a “narrow, gloomy cave”. Of course, our heroes have no choice – they cannot go over it, they cannot go under it, oh no!, they have to go through it. 

If you are running a business, chances are you are a bear hunt of your own. 

You are probably chasing that big, audacious, hairy goal called success. If you haven’t yet, you will run into obstacles along the way! 

Maybe some of these sound familiar to you:

Through the Bureaucratic Thicket

Ah, bureaucracy! Long, tangled bureaucracy.
Swish swash! Swish swash! Swish swash!

You can’t skip the permits. You can’t ignore the compliance forms. Oh no! You’ve got to wade through it.

Forms in triplicate. Regulations that reference other regulations that were amended in 1987. A licensing board that only meets on the third Thursday of months that don’t end in “Y.” You’re pretty sure the lady at the county office is testing your commitment to this dream by requiring documents that don’t actually exist.

Across the Cash Flow Desert

Uh-oh! A cash flow desert.
A long, dry cash flow desert.
Drip drip… dry dry! Drip drip… dry dry!

You can’t go over it. You can’t tunnel under it. You’ve got to push straight through it.

Invoice payment terms stretch to 90 days, while your bills are due in 30 days. You’re refreshing your bank account like it’s a slot machine, hoping today’s the day that big payment finally clears. You’ve gotten very creative with the phrase “strategic reinvestment” when your spouse asks why you haven’t paid yourself in three months.

Into the Competitive Quicksand

What’s this? Competitive quicksand!
Thick, sticky competitive quicksand.
Suck squelch! Suck squelch! Suck squelch!

You can’t leapfrog over it. You can’t sidestep around it. You’ve got to slog straight through it.

That brilliant idea you launched? Your competitor just copied it—with better funding and a cheaper price point. You differentiate. They copy you again. You pivot. They follow. It’s like playing business whack-a-mole, except you’re the mole and there are seventeen hammers.

One could go on and on. The point is, when you are in business, you will face obstacles that cannot be skipped over – they must be trudged through. The good news is that this is where growth happens; this is where you are fashioned into the sort of business owner that can grow to the next level. 

You trudge and fight and produce every onomatopoeia possible through the business landscape, and then you get to the cave. You tiptoe in – could it be happening? As your eyes adjust to the light, you see it: one big, six-zeros contract, two scary public speaking invitations, and three new leads in the inbox just today alone. 

IT’S SUCCESS!

What Happens When You Find the Bear?

Suddenly, you realize, the first hunt is over! You now have a reputation to maintain. You have responsibilities to uphold. You have people relying on you. So you think, it might be time to head back!

Quick! Back through the competitive quicksand! (Squelch squerch!)
Back through the cash flow desert! (Still dry! Still dry!)
Back through the bureaucratic thicket! (Swish swash!)

But when you get all the way back, you realize you didn’t leave the bear behind; it came home with you! You have to feed it and control it, but it is worth it. Unlike the family in the kids’ book, you don’t get to hole up in bed with your dog and stuffed animals. Now you have to go out and catch the Lion (next revenue target), the Shark (entering a new competitive vertical), or the ever-elusive Unicorn (exit for millions). 

The Hilarious Reality:
You can’t just collect these trophies and put them on the mantle. Each “catch” becomes a living, breathing responsibility that follows you on every subsequent hunt.

By the time you’re on your fifth hunt, you’re like an overwhelmed zookeeper leading an expedition: “Okay, Bear, stop eating the budget. Lion, quit roaring at the staff. Shark, FOR THE LOVE OF—stay in your lane. And someone needs to walk the dog!” And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Takeaways:
When you face business obstacles, channel the characters in “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.” – they don’t turn around and go home, they go right through it. Sometimes there is no shortcut, just squelch, squerching your way to your goal.