Can Anyone Be an Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurship is one of the greatest opportunities for an individual to make a huge impact and take control of their own life.

I grew up idolizing successful people—not just athletes and movie stars but anyone who pulled themselves off of the beaten path and managed to break free and succeed on their own terms. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you’ll be among a special group of people. They can go anywhere, anytime they want without worrying about vacation time. They aren’t tied to a cubicle or a chair. They have special tax benefits, like flexibility in deductions. Entrepreneurs also gain a lot of fame and notoriety—Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, and Oprah Winfrey, to name a few. The potential to make money seems unlimited.

It’s your business, after all. There’s no one standing over your shoulder trying to tell you how much you’re worth.

To me, this sounded like the ultimate dream. I didn’t grow up thinking I was going to be an entrepreneur. I couldn’t imagine starting a business of any kind, much less a successful one. I wasn’t the enterprising type, I told myself; I was going to be a “corporate guy”—work in an office, do my best for a company, get promoted, and build that company up more. But when I heard about the amazing potential of entrepreneurship, I was floored! Why was I investing so much of my time any energy into someone else’s dream if I had my own? Instead of daydreaming about being able to afford to live life differently, what if I went after the dreams myself? So I went out there and thought I could make these things happen for myself.

It was harder than I could have ever possibly imagined.

I’d seen pictures of people taking vacations, buying nice clothes, and expanding their businesses so easily. But being an entrepreneur is not a life of fabulous jet-setting and worldly adventures. It’s not something you can just wake up and have succeeded at. A lot of these famous people seem like they went from nothing to something in no time at all. But, when you dig a little deeper, you start to realize everything it takes to be successful–and what they must have done to get there.

Money

First and foremost when trying to start your own enterprise is capital! As much as we’d like it, a business won’t start generating money when you initially found it. There are always costs associated with entrepreneurship.  You can invest all of your money into a business and never see a dime back in profit, or even enough to cover your investment. Sometimes, money gets pumped into businesses for years before they reach a level of financial solvency that makes them viable. Sometimes, all the money in the world isn’t going to save the business—the idea is wrong, the market isn’t ready, the price point is too high. The money will come from you, whether you have a savings account, take out a loan, or try to crowdfund your starter product. But, there simply aren’t any guarantees that you’re going to get your money back and be able to live well.

Time

It seems like Microsoft and Apple have always been around, right? They’re huge companies! They must have been wildly successful right out of the gate. Except, Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 and wasn’t able to go public with it (and make his first $350 million) until 1986—11 years later! Apple was founded by Steve Jobs in 1976 and had a couple of splashes in the 80s to make it bigger. But it wasn’t until the iPod and the advent of digital music that Apple really took off—almost 30 years after its original founding. You can’t start your entrepreneurial journey with a short goal. You need a long-term plan for growth and maintenance, as well as ways you can support yourself when funds or motivation run low. Patience is required to be an entrepreneur.

Loneliness

When starting your own business, everything is on you. All of the decisions are yours to make and the strategy of your company is entirely yours to determine. To be an entrepreneur means carrying the weight of a business in your head. While this is what makes it so fulfilling, it can also be extremely draining for you. You have to continue to bring yourself back up and have enough self-discipline to keep working when times are hard. Even if you aren’t working by yourself, you’re still not going to be able to relate to the other people you work with. It’s also going to take a toll on your personal life. You’ll have to put much more of your time into the business—which means spending much less time with family and friends.

Even when you do get to socialize, trying to be an entrepreneur changes the way you think. All. The. Time. Other people at an event or gathering may be comparing baby pictures or talking about a new restaurant but all you can think about is how to best maximize your ROI. It’s not likely that any non-entrepreneurs will share your passion and enthusiasm for this endeavor. Sometimes, it feels like the only thing keeping you going is you.

Exhaustion

Is it any surprise, given all of these obstacles, that exhaustion kills the entrepreneurial spirit? We know you have to fail in order to succeed but that doesn’t make it feel any better. Even when things are going well, you’re still going to be doing more work than you’ve ever done before. When I was first getting started, I had to make decisions about marketing, web design, pricing service offerings, and a million other things like recording expenses properly and balancing my books. I was at my most passionate but I was still sitting just on the edge of burning out. If I had a regular job, I might be able to take a breath and relax a bit or even take a few days off. But as an entrepreneur, there’s no one else to handle issues or take on tasks. It’s only me. So, I have to pick myself up when I don’t want to or revisit the same spreadsheet for the hundredth time to find a few missing pennies. These things have to get done and sometimes it’s happening so fast, there’s just no time to pause. You have to be able to keep going.

It’s true that anyone can have a great idea or even start a business. It’s even easier now, with all of the resources available online. But, the risks are still just as great as ever. You have to be determined, dedicated, and self-motivated. You have to be able to believe in yourself when no one else does. You have to be prepared for long nights, early mornings, and missed sleep. It’s certainly not for everyone.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.