CAN YOU BE AN ENTREPRENEUR AND SMILE?
SUPPORTING YOU TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS
We are surrounded by motivational quotes when it comes to work and probably one of the most prominent on this topic is "choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life' but actually how true is this?
We can listen to Steve Jobs and remember his passion for design and the pride in watching his creations. Without question his influence in Apple transformed 'every day gadgets' into 'works of art' with some simple design principles (recapped below and worth a watch!)
As an entrepreneur you will have moments of pride, you will have your 100% investment into the work you do (as this is your company), you have the dedication and will to succeed because you have potentially built something from nothing. The endorphins that fly from these feelings are significant and will motivate your determination to continue through the hard times.
The hard times...... even Steve Jobs went through those! It would be wrong of me to encourage anyone to 'be their own boss' without touching on some important points.
To bring this alive we need to look at some characteristics of an entrepreneur:
Creative
Willing to take a Risk
Passionate
Extrovert
Determined
Confident
Energetic
Resilient
Constantly Learning and Developing.
Entrepreneurs often use their creativity, energy, and determination to drive their work ethic, and while these characteristics are relatively consistent there is the other side to these attributes which can leave an entrepreneur exposed.
When times are challenging the entrepreneur may not have the calmness and balance to work through methodically. What can then happen is a franticness, a fear, an obsession to work harder and ultimately an impact on mental health.
We want to help you prepare for this journey and touch on two challenges that you will need to be ready for:
Uncertainty: This is especially hard if you have come from an employment role. You no longer have that 'monthly salary' or that boss telling you that 'you are valued'. You don't have that ability to put in your paid holiday request and if you are sick you are not paid. How to overcome?
1) Set goals and milestones, share them with your mentors, close friends and family. When you reach those goals take a moment to feel valued
2) Plan to take that 'holiday' - even if it's a stacation you must have that down time, otherwise burn out can creep up on you before you know it.
3) Ensure that your sums add up. As you embark on your entrepreneurial journey you must ensure there is a back up plan if the finances are tighter than expected. Be in control of this situation rather than it sneak up on you.
Isolation: In the early days of entrepreneurship it is unlikely you will have employees or an official team around you. At this point you could be owner, Managing Director, Marketing Team, Compliance, Acquisition, Brand Awareness, Networker.... and there is no-one there to share the load. No natural person to bounce ideas off and actually at worse people waiting in the wings to see if you are going to be a success or not. How to overcome:
1) Have an amazing mentor, someone you can talk to and share, plan, be excited with. Be dedicated in that weekly call so they can encourage and keep you on track to your goals (we can help you with this)
2) Share the importance of friends and family support. Sometimes it's the small things, such as 'can you like and share my social media posts'. This not only gives you a little lift, but actually you never know who is in their network that may see the post and engage.
We cover a lot of this in our business consultancy course, you can check it out here:
https://www.circlewellnessacademy.com/businessconsultancy
Danny