There Are Many Things That Suck About Being an Entrepreneur, But It's Totally Worth It.
The startup journey is not all unicorns and schools of greatness.
Being a “successful” entrepreneur is probably the hardest goal you’ll
strive for in your life.
Not so long ago, I left prison with
$200 and a fancy pair of Wrangler jeans. Prison is a mental grind, but
being an entrepreneur is even tougher. Immediately, I had to start
figuring out how I was going to make some scratch. This wasn’t 1917, and
$200 would possibly last me three Starbuck’s trips and two meals at
Wahoo’s (for the record, I actually turned that $200 into a six-figure
business, but that’s another story).
I was building businesses
before my little vacation, and I wasn’t exactly employable at that time.
Not even McDonald’s hires ex-felons. So, I was back on my
entrepreneurial grind.
As a fellow entrepreneur or somebody
thinking about starting a business, I’d like to keep it real with you.
Mind you, I feel like I was born to change the world through business,
as you may too.
Being
an entrepreneur is one of my life's greatest purposes, and I am not
trying to deter you, simply wanting to be honest about what it takes and
looks like. I’m still pro entrepreneurship in everything I do, and it’s
the reason I started a Facebook group
of now more than 10,000 other entrepreneurs (including the crowd
favorite Noah Kagan) to chat, ask questions and learn from one another.
Regardless,
my position doesn’t change. Being an entrepreneur is hard as f**k.
Especially if you’re the type of entrepreneur that I am, where your
everyday income is dependent on the company’s revenues and growth. Not
to mention, I’m juggling multiple businesses in hopes to parlay my
startup odds. Some people agree with this strategy, others don’t.
But pay them no mind, you’re going to do what you think is best because
“following your gut” is the best thing you can do as an entrepreneur.
Here are the things that suck most about entrepreneurship:
1. Stress
I’m
not a person prone to stress, and have a very positive outlook on
everything. I learned early on in life how to deal with stress through
different outlets such as working out, eating healthy, strengthening my
mind, etc. I’ve had plenty of life experience that taught me how to deal effectively with stress. Unfortunately, that only helps a little.
Anyone
that is building a business, where clients, employees, users, families
and spouses or whatever is dependent on them is going to have stress.
Stress as an entrepreneur is just part of the job title. Not to mention,
your days are going to be volatile. One day will be the best of your
life, the next will be the worst. You’ll have to learn how to
effectively and positively deal with this innate stress.
2. Relationships
What
relationships? I hope you have a supportive and understanding spouse,
and even then, it’s going to be tough. You’re going to be totally
consumed with your work, mission, co-founders, users, clients, product,
service, the list goes on. Your relationships become the daily
interactions you have through your business.
3. Money?
“We don’t eat to live. We live to eat.”
Here’s
the truth: You’re most likely foregoing immediate cash gain for the
potential of long-term growth and autonomy. (Autonomy is a myth as an
entrepreneur because your entire life gets consumed with your startup,
and your clients, users, team and investors all become your new bosses
sucking up all of that “freedom” you’ve been dreaming of.)
If
you’re looking to become an entrepreneur because you want money, just
realize that may not be the motivating factor you need to overcome the
obstacles you face. Food for thought.
4. Time
This
is another big tradeoff. You're trading your time for the opportunity
to chase your dreams. Even 40 hours in a day wouldn’t be enough. You’ll
have to figure out how to maximize every moment. You’ll have to learn
how to disconnect in your own ways because there’s nobody telling you
what to do or how to do it.
You’ll have to figure out how to
manage your time effectively and not get wrapped up chasing down awesome
new product ideas on Product Hunt, or sifting through hours of endless
entertainment on Instagram with The Fat Jewish.
5. Your new bosses
Say
hello to your new boss. Clients and/or users are the lifeblood to your
business. So in return for their value, they now own your soul.
Learn
how to set realistic expectations or you’ll get chewed up and spit out.
I have a web- and mobile-development company called Agent Beta.
Learning how to build a business, manage client expectations, manage
the sales process and execution and everything in between was super
difficult. You’ll have to figure out how to handle all of the business
activities, while also managing client/user expectations.
Startups would be easy if you removed all of the people you had to deal with.
6. Sleep
Most
nights I work until about 1 to 2 a.m. I get up around 7 to 8 a.m. I
make sure I train every day for one to two hours (heavy and hard to
combat stress). That’s not a very effective sleep schedule. Not only is
that enough sleep for my body on a daily basis, but compound that with
my intense workouts and my body is majorly deficient in hours needed for
full recovery (as sleep is the best way to recover when working out).
Random
side note: Part of the reason prison inmates are so strong and jacked
is because of the amount they can sleep. Prison gets boring, and the
people who don’t stay super productive (reading, writing, learning,
etc.) end up sleeping large amounts of the day away. Most everyone works
out, so their bodies get super optimal recovery times with the large
amounts of hours slept.
Despite all of this, I wouldn’t trade
being an entrepreneur for anything in the world. What’s even better is
when you start to see success, or you’re a part of a startup that takes
off, or when you start accomplishing your goals and getting emails from
overly zealous users and customers. There’s a side of entrepreneurship
that’s unrivaled to anything else in the world.
So it’s not going
to be easy, but it’s going to be abso-f**king-lutely worth it. Stick it
out. Learn to deal with the punches. Set your goals high. Help others.
Never give up. Go change the world. Accomplish your dreams. And watch
out for The Fat Jewish -- that stuff is addicting.
No comments:
Post a Comment