Anyone who owns a Labrador retriever knows that they are essentially furry bottomless pits. Labradors are well known for their willingness to eat anything, whether it’s actually considered food or not. In fact, when I first got Jasmine, her vet warned me to keep her away from oak trees because he had seen many lab puppies who scarfed down acorns and then needed surgery when they got lodged in their intestines.

And a few years ago, when the cicadas (large, unattractive, beady-eyed insects that invade Baltimore every 17 years – I am completely not kidding about this) came to town, newscasters were warning pet owners not to let their dogs eat them and that labs in particular found them a tasty treat. (I, however, was not worried because I knew my girl wouldn’t want them unless they were covered in cheese sauce.  )

It’s no surprise, then, that Jasmine emerges from anywhere in the house when she hears the sound of a can opener or smells the aroma of a juicy steak under the broiler. A few months ago, I was downstairs watching the Pro Bowl with Jasmine’s head in my lap, her soft snores wafting out over the grunts of the football players. My husband went upstairs to ready our rotisserie chicken for a recipe, and a minute later, the furry head popped up. Her nose quivered in the air, and she was off like a shot to claim her rightful position on the kitchen floor between our two chairs, waiting for succulent bits of white meat to be “accidentally” dropped in her direction.

Yes, any evening around 7 pm, you will find her little butt strategically positioned on the floor, eyes wide and innocent, doing her best to look like she hasn’t eaten in weeks – all 70 pounds of her. Ken, who feeds her okra and baby zucchini most nights, will occasionally tire of her routine and tell her to leave the kitchen. That just means that she moves closer or sometimes lays down on the ground, but leaving the kitchen is the furthest thing from her mind.

My furry child is nothing if not persistent. Food isn’t the only thing she’s persistent about either. If a tennis ball becomes lost in the woods or snow, she won’t give up until she finds it and brings it back – even if it means I have to stand there shivering until I lose the feeling in both my hands and feet. Despite the unpleasantness of frostbite, this situation has really taught me a very valuable entrepreneurial lesson.

Probably the most common reason we see that small businesses fail is that people get tired and give up. Many of the extremely successful online marketers preach easy ways to riches. They infer or downright promise that millions of dollars can be made quickly and easily by using their info product. So hopeful entrepreneurs shell out the money and follow the directions, only to find that there is no magic pill, and that success doesn’t come overnight.

What happens then is that the new business owner believes they must be doing something wrong or that their product or service isn’t good enough. Discouragement sets in, followed by fear. Before you know it, they’re scanning the want ads and logging on to monster.com, heading back to corporate America and a 9 to 5 existence.

What’s really sad about the situation is that when they shut down their business, their dream dies with it.

The bottom line, though, is that it takes time – and many mistakes – for most businesses to ultimately succeed. Rarely does success proceed in a straightforward, orderly fashion – for anyone.

Take Stephen King, for example. His manuscript for Carrie was rejected 30 times before it was finally published, and now it has been made into a movie – twice! Fred Astaire underwhelmed casting agents at his first audition who said he was “balding, skinny and can dance a little.” Even Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb and phonograph, has been quoted as saying, “I have not failed. I have found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

As I’m sitting here writing this, Ken just put a (small ) bowl of cookie dough ice cream next to me, and, as if by magic, Jasmine appeared. I can tell you from experience that she won’t give up until she gets hers, and you shouldn’t either.