It is a special day in Auckland. The triumphant Emirates Team New Zealand are parading their new America’s Cup silverware through the streets to the cheers of a grateful nation. The America’s Cup is home where it belongs. And as I watched the parade it struck me. The journey of Team New Zealand is a lot like the journey of many successful small businesses.

To win and thrive a small business must be driven by a leader with a strong belief in what they are doing, and the tenacity to see it through. For Team New Zealand that has been Grant Dalton. It’s in those lonely dark times, when cash flow is tight, when you’re not sure how you’re going to pay your staff, when the next sale seems miles off, that a small business is forged. That’s when the only things that will keep you moving forward are your belief and bloody-minded tenacity. There is no cheer squad for a small business; it’s just you.

Lofty goals and ideas are cheap, and most of us can set out on an ambitious business plan. But to turn goals and ideas into real success it takes thousands and millions of steps and decisions to be strung together over time. Not only that, many more of them need to be done right than wrong. Team New Zealand delivered on that. Many small businesses are delivering on that every day. They do it when they’re tired, and when it’s been a long day. They dig down to find that tenacity to keep going and not cut corners. Unfortunately, they don’t get to hoist a trophy after a long hard journey, but they’re still just as deserving.

So here’s to belief and focus.

Go Emirates Team New Zealand and go all those small businesses out there pushing through to success.