We put so much effort on succeeding in business that we never spend any time going over the possible negative outcomes. We delude ourselves with thoughts of flashy cars, other toys and worldly praise from peers to the point where we believe that nothing short of that will come our way.
Not today. We’re going to be realistic. You will fail at some point, probably many times, and it’s OK! The key is to soften the blow.
Over the next 2 weeks, we will be talking about the negatives that come in the world of entrepreneurs. Some challenges will definitely come your way. Keep in mind that there are many other problems lurking around. When you remember that – you can plan for the future while being prepared.
YOU WON’T MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS YOU THINK. Not at the start anyway. Entrepreneurship is a journey of a lifetime, not a trip to the gas station and back. As you enter the world of self-employment, realize that you will have to make sacrifices. Your needs will often come second to the needs of your business, and often your business will deplete you to the point of you having to make some real sacrifices with your life. Those sacrifices are what can come to haunt you. Do you have a family and obligations to others? Are you used to a certain lifestyle? Make plans so that you can meet your obligations irrespective of how business goes. Yes, it’s great to want to be successful, but your success should not come to the detriment of those who depend on you.
DON’T FORGET REALITY WHEN FOCUSING ON DREAMS. This seems to be the point that young people struggle with often. I was at an entrepreneurship summit not too long ago and a young person got up in the crowd and said “I like to smoke marijuana, because when I do I see the empire I want to build”. Now, you may think he’s ridiculous. Thing is, we do it every day in our own ways. We get so consumed by the dream that we forget the reality. When you forget where you are, you have no control over where you’re going. Every great dream is made up of baby steps. Figure out the baby steps that you need to make in order to actualize your dream, then work on them every single day. That is how dreams are made.
DELEGATE YOUR TIME. Time is your greatest resource, and it always will be. You’ve heard it again and again. We all have the same amount of time in a day. What we do with our time will define us. As a starting entrepreneur, you need to wilfully commit your time to the survival of your business. Yes, survival. While you may experience growth at the start, you must be acutely aware that the odds of you failing in the first three years of your business are massive. Learn to spend your time focusing on the things that do matter. If a work day for you includes the personal ambition of tweet 25,000 times this year and none of those tweets are in relation to your business – evaluate yourself.
Next week we will go over 3 more pitfalls along the entrepreneurial journey. If you have any ideas or suggestions or personal tools that you’ve figured out that help mitigate losses, tweet me or leave them in the comments section below. You may just save someone a lot of trouble and grief.
Till then, good luck!
