Expect the Unexpected: Life of an Entrepreneur

There’s a famous story about one of the eminent inventors of the world, Thomas Edison. When asked if he ever felt discouraged to have to put in so much effort without any impressive results, Edison replied: “I have a lot of results! I know several things that won’t work.” 

If there will ever be a quote, to sum up the experience of being an entrepreneur. That should be it. From coming up with an idea to starting and running a business while taking all the financial and personal risks, falls under the category of an Entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, you might ask yourself - Do other business owners go through the same ups and downs as me? 

Entrepreneurship is exciting but success often comes when wrestling with the unknown. On the one side of the coin, entrepreneurial life seems all bling and restful. But it’s also true very few people can bear the highs and lows of becoming an entrepreneur. Read onward for some classic insights and knowledge to handle the unexpected in your business. 

Success Will Not be a Straightline

When I celebrated my first year of success in business one of my friends congratulated me. She said, ‘Wait for the next nine years to kick in’. She wasn’t kidding. I survived my first year with tremendous success. After that, I was in for a surprise. I falsely assumed that each year would get better and bring more profits. Contrary to my conception, some years were just plain hard and in some, my business flourished. 

Your Life Will Be a Rollercoaster Ride

One moment you’re celebrating the launch of a new product. In the next minute, five different screw-ups will pop up at once - forcing you to juggle the responsibilities of putting them all together. Life for an entrepreneur is a ride of a wild roller coaster with tons of ups and downs. 

You’ll Lose Friends & Alienate People

As you start your journey on the untrodden path, there’s a good chance some of the people you set off with might not be there at the finish line. You will have to choose to select and leave people behind for the success of your business. In some cases, for the sake of your survival, you will have to protect your energy and cut off the naysayers from your life.

You Can’t Do Everything at the Same Time

As an entrepreneur, you will be expected to multitask. Individuals who own the business play multiple roles - they are the manufacturers, managers, marketers, and even delivery agents. The multi-faceted nature of business often leads to overloaded tasks and responsibilities. 

Psychological Effects of Being an Entrepreneur 

Juggling multiple roles and facing countless setbacks; entrepreneurs struggle a lot. Adding to the problem, young entrepreneurs often neglect their health, undermining their resilience. Disturbed sleeping hours and a compromised diet can trigger mood vulnerability. Leading to depression, despair, and loss of motivation. 

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Setting Strategy: Harmonize with the Unexpected

Many youngsters start businesses to seize short-term opportunities without considering long-term strategy. A successful entrepreneur, however, makes the transition from a tactical to a strategic orientation. One of the important aspects of setting up a new business is to formulate a sound business strategy, rather than resolve hiring issues, design control systems, or define roles.

With a lifetime of experience in the startup world, it requires an immense amount of research, planning, and hard work to handle the unexpected when founding a startup. In addition to leadership, resilience, creativity, and willingness to learn there are a few other tips to navigate your entrepreneurial life. 

Get Reliable Trustworthy Employees

As the famous saying goes, ‘employees can make or break a business’ and your hires may not completely be aware of your business vision. As a business owner, don’t just conduct a good recruiting process but hire a good fit for your business. 

Expansion Drives Innovation

As my business grew, I simply doubled my efforts and kept doing things in the traditional ways I learned earlier. But I learned this as a hard lesson. It will not work that way. As you continue to grow, you will have to match your pace with industry changes and rejuvenate your ways of working.

There Will Be A Lot of Problem-Solving 

You could have been at a much higher position in your domain with a lucrative package, is a common rationale that you may hear around you. In some ways, we think starting a business is like taking care of toddlers. But one of the things you should know about toddlers is, they’re adept at finding creative ways to endanger themselves. 

Eating berries, playing with matches, or electrocuting themselves are just part of their experience journey. Your business will go through the same trial and learning process to stabilize itself in the industry.   

Remember Your Original Purpose

There is superfluous positivity thrown in the society. You will hear people say things like “ Reach for the stars”, “ Believe in yourself”, and “Follow your passion”. Well, these are helpful things to say. The problem is that people latch onto these ideas and ride them out to incredibly high emotional points. 

Some days you'll inevitably feel like quitting. The enormous burden of responsibility will feel like a burden. In times like these, put your chin up and avoid contemplating about giving up. In such moments ask yourself the question, Why did you start this journey?

Your Decisions Will be a Subject to Others

I am a lifelong addict of an entrepreneurial lifestyle. Trust me on this - there will always be at least one person with much higher experience, wealth, and unwanted counseling to share. They can be your biggest supporters but they are not working in your industry or running your business. Listen to other’s viewpoints but take action on what appears right to you. 

Money Does Matter

In the start-up culture, there can be a sense of martyrdom around money matters. When asked, What’s your purpose? There’s nothing wrong with saying to earn profits. You just have to frame the need for it correctly. 

We have heard stories of CEOs who didn’t pay themselves and sabotaged their basic needs to flourish their business. Contrary to many capitalists' beliefs, having money and being a good person don’t need to be mutual. 

Yes, money should not be your driver but it’s a necessity. A business idea is just an idea without financial backup. And how else do you plan to spread your services for the long term without a sound financial backup?

The entrepreneurial journey is incredibly rewarding, but it’s also important to understand there will be potential pitfalls and unique challenges. Establish realistic expectations for yourself based on your skill set, tenacity, and hard work. To conclude, you’ll have to believe in yourself and be willing to take risks.

Oops, did we just use the same catchline to motivate you? Wondering if we’re any different than others in the market? Ring us up and let’s start a conversation. 

We hope you enjoy these reads. We’re starting a new Q&A session for our readers, bringing business insights directly from the CEO's desk to yours. We’d love for you not to be a stranger - tell us what more you like to know. 

Let’s Share Some Wisdom

What’s your biggest motivator?

Passion. One word. Passion. My biggest driver is my passion to run and live the life of an entrepreneur. 

But there’s a catch even in being willing to live an entrepreneurial life. 99% of people if I ask them, why do they want to become an entrepreneur? They want to live a millennial lifestyle. Now when asked what if you don’t get to ride a BMW or stay in a 7-star hotel? Most people become rational here. What’s in it for me then? What will justify the effort I'm putting in? 

You will have to be crackheaded to truly become an entrepreneur. 

You will have to give up the bling lifestyle. You should not worry about how much you will earn whether you ride a car or a bike. You should be willing to downgrade your lifestyle. You can’t worry about how the world is going to think about you. Whether you will have the time to give to your family. Or how will you manage your finances? 

And these 1% crackheads are the people who can make an impact. That will work as a motivation for them. 

What’s one thing that you want to share with young entrepreneurs?

Invest in meaningful things than you do in your comfort zone. 

Meaningful relationships are more important than your comfort zone. ‘I am going to learn PHP or data structure and be the best developer out there.’

And then here you are going out for 5 tea breaks or fresh air three times a day. I am not saying it’s bad or wrong, that's your personal choice. 

But why waste your time on something that you’re already comfortable with and not learn something new? 

Start learning things by yourself. Just because someone is senior to you, their job is not to teach you. It’s you who are responsible for it. It should happen at your level. Envying others or procrastinating is simple but accountability is a huge terminology than you realize. 

How would you advise someone to start a business?

Let go of the fear. Fear should not be your driver. If someone really wants to do a job that they didn't major in. They will fear failure. We fear failing in the eyes of people that matter to us. You should not worry about what Mark Zuckerberg is thinking about you. Anyway, he’s not thinking about you. 

Any action that you take that has a fear of losing something. Be it financial, emotional, mental, or any other; you find that particular activity and take that risk. Take that risk and start working on it today. 

What will bring a significant change in the business name?

I learned this in the starting years of my professional life - people. Better people all the way. It’s always people who make the product. 

What about you? What do you think are the unexpected situations you face in your entrepreneurial journey?