Three Things You Can Learn From My Experience As An Entrepreneur

Starting a business from the ground up is much more difficult than it seems, and there are many instances when you are the only one that can perform certain tasks. Our team at Reserveout is growing quickly, and I have some great senior people that have certainly taken many things off my plate -and they probably do it better than I did- but as we continue to grow, my time commitment doesn't change. Here are some things I learned from my time as an entrepreneur:

1. Be realistic about the entrepreneurial lifestyle

There is nothing glamorous about being an entrepreneur. You will work harder than any other job you take. You will be broke for a while, or longer. You will have to do job functions you may hate. You will have to make sacrifices in your social, and sometimes, personal life. But it's worth it! The conviction, drive and passion will give you more energy and motivation than anything else in life. It enables you to see light even in the darkest of times. Do your research, study it well, and think of the worst-case scenarios. if it still makes good business sense and you still want to do this, jump right in.

2. Ensure that your business model is agile, and be aware of the competition

We are seeing new competitors in Lebanon, KSA, UAE, and Bahrain, and I'm sure more will come. competition is healthy; it keeps you on your toes and brings stability to the market. it's very important to stay focused on what we believe our clients need, and keep challenging ourselves to do it better. We have a great software platform that restaurants use on a daily basis to run their business, and we're constantly adding new features and functionalities that benefit our clients.

We have a second-to-none 24/7-support organization for our clients should anything ever go wrong and take customer service very seriously. We move quickly, and we are never scared to try new things. Sometimes we might fail, but we do it quickly and try something else. Operating in different countries in the Middle East requires different strategies, and we've learned how to adopt the right strategy in each.

3. Keep your mission and goal state in sight

When you love doing something and [you're] determined to do it, the motivation is always there and it keeps growing. Even when things appear to be falling apart, I just refocus on our vision and why I started Reserveout. I peel away all the challenges and think of a single restaurant that could benefit from our offering, or a single user that is looking to dine out but needs some help, and i do it. I find the best way to stay motivated is to prove that, even if in one small instance, somebody else believes in what you're doing and is benefiting from it.

Related: Reserveout Founder and CEO Khalil Shadid On Acquisitions, Expansions And More