As entrepreneurship grows in popularity, many emerging business owners come toe to toe with challenges that push them to their limits. Although we all wish for it, there is no magic elevator to take you to the top, only a road paved in dedication and pure willpower. It will look different for everyone, and may have unexpected winds and turns; but trust your gut and you’ll always be on the right path. Although being your own boss comes with it’s inherent difficulties, there are things you can do along the way to make your journey much easier.
Here are some key things I have learned on my entrepreneurial journey:
Be Positive and Take Risks
Business is the great unitor which puts people from all different fields and enterprises on the same level. Independent of which field you are in, starting a business will put everyone to the test. Whether you are in construction or in biomedical engineering, every entrepreneur must have a positive attitude and be risk averse to grow their practice. Part of having a positive mindset is making sure you surround yourself with people who support and believe in you; for me that’s my family and my team. Just as it’s important to surround yourself with positive influences and people, so too is it important to remove negative influences and people.
Remember that not every day will be a good day. On your bad days, you don’t want to be surrounded by Negative Nancy’s, instead you want to be brought up and reminded of all the good work you’ve accomplished. Surrounding yourself with positive influences is essential!
Find Mentors
Keep your eyes peeled because a good mentor can come from anywhere and everywhere, especially when you least expect them. Mentors will guide you when you are feeling lost, and push you past your comfort zones. Experience is something that can’t be taught, but can always be learned. Finding a mentor who has already undergone a journey similar to your own will spare you from the avoidable hurdles along the way. Additionally, when you find a great mentor, you will learn pretty quickly that mentorship is a two-way street. Your mentor will provide you with information and advice, but you must be ready to reciprocate this with your own. Stick with entrepreneurship long enough and you will find that you will become a mentor for others.
Be Comfortable with Failure
Remember that you have to fall down seven times in order to get up eight. Look at Peloton for example, one year they are the talk of the town seeing a huge jump in sales, the next year they are seeing a halt in production and a huge drop in stock. Many startups and new businesses will fail because they don’t anticipate the challenges and flow of changing markets. To be successful, you must learn to ride the wave of uncertainty and be ready for the hurdles along the way. Learn to be comfortable with losses, and push past the negative feelings associated with them, there will be endless opportunities on the other side of each loss.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Working smarter and not harder does not mean that you do not work hard, because any good entrepreneur works hard, rather it means that you should not make tasks harder than they need to be. Anyone can dedicate twelve hours on a project, but it takes true work ethic to learn to complete the twelve-hour workload in five hours. If you can accomplish the same quality of work in less time, of course you will do so. Time is in fact, money. Make sure you make use of all your available resources to complete tasks as efficiently as possible. Your time is an asset, make sure to use it wisely. By taking time to analyze your workflow, you will find that there are simpler and more efficient ways to run your business.
Along my journey, there have been many twists and turns, but I have found that these key lessons have guided me along the way and I hope that they will guide entrepreneurs starting their fresh ventures.