The reality is entrepreneurship isn’t for most people. Sometimes I even wonder if it’s for me. The emotional and actual swings can be crazy – often times they are.
Because if you go into it thinking it’ll be a lot easier and more glamorous than it is, you’ll start things for the wrong reasons and probably give up way too early.
#1. Sure I can travel more than I used to, but I’m turned on and connected more than I’d like to be.A lot more. Sometimes I miss the days of being able to go off the grid for a couple weeks, but even today if I did that technologically, I’d still be connected mentally, because for better or worse I don’t ever really stop thinking about what I’m building.
#2. I constantly have to be innovating and reinventing.I wonder if the way I’m doing things still makes sense or if it’s time to change. I don’t know what this business or my income will look like in a year.
#3. And while no job or career is anywhere close to certain, as an entrepreneur I am very aware of that uncertainty every day.Often times it excites me, but every now and again it brings me to my knees.
#4. There is no being off the clock.If things need to get done then you keep working.
#5.You often go a very long time before getting any recognition.Almost no one paid attention to my work for the first four years. You have no idea what that can do to one’s confidence and conviction, especially when others are doubting you at the same time. But no one talks about how tough it can be to stomach those first three steps. And that the fourth is the only one not guaranteed.
#6. Some mornings I wake up lost in what to do next.Or where to start among the endless and growing list. I can get crippled by the constant decisions, huge and tiny, that must be made with imperfect information.
#7. Self motivating can get unbelievably exhausting.Sometimes it’d be nice to have someone to just tell me exactly what to do next.
#8. I wear more hats in a day than I thought I’d wear in a lifetime.I got into this business because I wanted to help people find and do work they love. I didn’t realize I was signing up to be part-time manager, CFO, artist, writer, event planner, designer, box checker and box creator. I’m now grateful to have a team, but that still doesn’t make all my hats go away.
#9. Your identity can become so tied to your business that it’s hard to distinguish between the two.A decrease in sales or traffic or growth sometimes impacts my own confidence and self worth. Even though intellectually I know one is not the other.
#10. Wondering how sustainable the business is can be incredibly terrifying.The pressure of thinking how my ideas will support my family over the years is intense. That can keep me up at night and chase me out of bed in the morning.
It turns out there is a not so glamorous reality of being an entrepreneur, of taking a stand, walking your own line and pursing what matters. And this is just scratching the surface – a mere nibble of what I’ve experienced in the past few years.
It’s like the path to mastery… Every growth and progress phase is followed by a plateau. But before the next growth phase there’s a dip. A phase where confidence wanes and you wonder what the hell is happening. Then more progress – at least that’s what we hope.
To Your Success!
Martine
