Being an entrepreneur looks super glamorous on the outside, I get it. We are viewed as risk takers, the courageous ones, or the 24/7 team no sleepers. Although being an entrepreneur comes with great benefits like being able to control your own schedule and fully enjoy what you do for a living, it also comes with a really rocky road and plenty of uphill climbs. You don't have to take it from me, ask anyone who's been at building their business for a while now.
Everyone has their own experience and if you're relying on social media for the inside scoop, you are missing a lot of the real deal of what it takes to be successful. Most share their highlights, which isn't a bad thing, I'm just committed to portraying a wide lens view if you would. There are few things that dictates your entrepreneurial journey that, in my opinion, isn't discussed as often as they should and they are:
learning curve. I know for me, when I started my first product based business, I had no idea what I was doing! I literally had ideas and a little bit of money to make it happen. My learning curve involved a lot of time researching and trial and error on my business decisions. For instance, I still have inventory from my first t-shirt design! I know, they are like legit older than my kids! I didn't know how to predict my sales volume. I didn't know anything about pre-sales or starting off with a small amount of inventory and letting those sales pay for more orders. I just went for the gusto and even though I sold a lot of that design, there's really no justification for my leftover inventory sitting in my storage unit other than it being a rookie mistake.
faith. I don't care what anyone says, entrepreneurship is a faith walk! The truth is you don't know! You don't know where your next customer is coming from. You don't know how much money you are going to make on a day to day basis. You, can plan and project these numbers but you don't know. I like to think of faith and risk as first cousins. You kinda can't have one without the other. There is an old saying that says "scared money don't make money." Very true, I may add. The extent of which you take risk can easily be measured by your level of faith. Hear me, I'm not saying jump out of an airplane with no parachute. I'm saying, choose to jump when you have prepared for your landing. The risk is the altitude of the plane. The faith is knowing you are prepared to land on your feet no matter the geographical location.
work ethic. If this word makes you sick then you are not ready for entrepreneurship. Period! Your work ethic will go before you and speak louder than any pitch you could ever verbally make. People who know the grind, recognizes the grind and when you are putting in work, they will know! Work ethic is a double-edged sword because only you are in control of managing you. If you wanted to, you have the power to push back a deadline a million times. You also have the same power to do what's necessary to meet that initial deadline. The whole idea of being your own boss kicks in right HERE! There isn't a manager or department head, big brothering you to get the job done.
What no one is telling you is that;
You will most likely fail more time than you succeed.
Your faith will be tested day in and day out. &
If you don't do the work, the work won't get done
Written by Latoria Polite
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