Entrepreneurs – Are You Willing To Pay The Price To Build A Successful Business? For the who really want to believe in the concept of entrepreneurship
By Rajiv Talreja •
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Entrepreneurship is a growing fad! Everyone thinks it is cool to be an entrepreneur. If you are someone who is considering quitting your job for a start-up, or you have already done it, Let's highlight the price you got to be willing to pay to build a successful business.
Now before we go further, let's consider a disclaimer – "I am all for entrepreneurship." I love being an entrepreneur and I believe entrepreneurship is the best way for any human being to explore themselves, create wealth, and give back to society. Having said that, many people choose the path of entrepreneurship without understanding what it entails. Building a business may look glamorous from the outside, it is chaotic, shabby, and challenging to say the least, behind closed doors.
Here are key pointers to prepare yourself for the adventure called Entrepreneurship:
No Time: If your aim in life is to sip on a nice cocktail as you sit on a beach chair, listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore - then entrepreneurship is not your game. If you want to build a business, then be prepared to work longer and harder than anyone else around you. Entrepreneurship is a physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausting process. If you want free time, take a vacation. Build a business only if you are willing to immerse yourself in your company and ready to work 80 hours a week.
No Money: The biggest misconception that people have about entrepreneurship, is that the entrepreneur can jump into a heap of gold coins like Uncle Scrooge in Duck Tales. Let me tell you the truth, an entrepreneur is a person who works the hardest and gets paid the least in their office. This, of course, remains true until the day the business hits the tipping point of the scale. But until that day comes, you've got to be willing to abandon the expectation of a stable, sizeable monthly income. If you want a steady income, then get a job. Don't start a business.
No Stability: If you desire an organised life with a clear routine, stay away from building a business. Entrepreneurship requires you to embrace chaos and live in uncertainty. Your life is not yours when you become an entrepreneur. It belongs to your mission.
No Ego: We see a lot of people who quit their jobs from large corporations while they are at senior positions to start their business and the first shock they are faced with is the fact that now that they don't have that designation and big corporate logo on their business card, nobody knows who they are anymore. Business is an equaliser. It humbles you, crumbles your ego, and gives you a taste of being a nobody. This holds true right until the point where you have genuinely added value to your stakeholders.
No Control: If you suffer from perfection syndrome, which makes you want to do everything by yourself because you believe nobody can do it as well as you, or you cannot trust people - then don't be an entrepreneur. You cannot build a successful business by being a control freak. You have to be willing to let go, trust people, and empower your team so you can allow your business to scale and grow.
In conclusion, to build a successful business, you must be willing to work long hours and have no time, work without a reward and have no money, embrace chaos and let go of the desire for a fixed routine, bury your ego and add value to people's lives, and let go of control and trust people. Only then can you build a successful business.
