If you are a self-employed entrepreneur, you know there are many challenges to overcome. Obstacles to success come in many forms and you must always be ready to handle them. As you build your business and work on the specific day-to-day tasks that you require to be successful, you learn many things about the reality of being an entrepreneur.
There are also many facts that we must be aware of that are a part of our universe as a self-employed business person. In this post, we focus on ten hard truths that every entrepreneur must overcome if they are to achieve success in their business.
Don’t just dream it: Do it!
If you are going to be a success in your business, you must always be a doer. It’s not enough to plan what you are going to do. You need to make the goal specific, and you should outline it in very succinct steps that will lead to your success.
Successful entrepreneurs of all kinds all realize that it is more the specific everyday things that make a difference in success than the broader, general goals. It is important to plan out your weeks and your days to include smaller tasks that are important and which will lead to your success. So, if you are just starting your business in 2017, the first thing to overcome is procrastination. Just do it!
Listen but Don’t Internalize
One of the hard things to deal with as an entrepreneur is criticism. We can learn a lot from others, but some may criticize unfairly. The key is to listen to the good stuff but don’t internalize the criticism to where it brings you down.
Also, when you attend online webinars and watch instructional meetings, think about how you can use what you learn in a positive manner without following anything exactly “to the letter.” Remember that there is no definite answer to success when it comes to entrepreneurship. You just have to find what works for you and only internalize the part that works for your business.
The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Create It
This is a true saying that enforces the idea of being in control of your fate as a business owner. Steve Jobs said once, “You don’t just live in life. You shape it; you change it. You make your mark upon it.”
He believed that the key to success is to create your future and accept the fact that you are in control. Many entrepreneurs, despite their tendency to be independent thinkers, still do not believe this. They believe they are at the mercy of others or other businesses that hold more of the cards than they do.
Even Einstein addressed this once when he said, “God doesn’t throw dice.”
Entrepreneurship is not a game of chance. That’s why so many of us want to do it. It is a game that we can control. We just have to know how to play the game smarter than our opponent.
There is no work-life balance.
This statement is indeed a hard saying. You may disagree with it at first. After all, we’ve sometimes posted ideas on how to maintain a work-life balance. It’s a good goal to achieve. But Forbes Magazine contributor, Paul Brown, states that “if you want to be an entrepreneur, there is no work-life balance.” That’s because entrepreneurship takes so much of your time in planning and implementing your strategies.
You have to manage everything.
This article in Entrepreneur Magazine stresses the importance of managing everything well. You have to manage money, plan strategies, manage your time, manage people, and manage products, to name a few. Creating a successful business requires that you be a good manager of various assets and know how to plan your time and money to your best advantage.
You must monitor and analyze data.
Many entrepreneurs are not mathematicians. But you still have to know how to use the tools you have available to measure your progress. This includes analyzing your traffic, performing split A/B tests, and creating new strategies based on the results.
If you want to be a successful online business owner, you must get good at analyzing your results so that you will know how to improve them.
Someone will always try to knock you down.
If you are someone who likes people to like you, you will have to adjust to the fact that someone will always try to knock you down when you are successful. You can’t let the critics discourage you when you seek to create a business. Just stay true to your resolve and stay on your course.
Remember that people have many reasons for criticizing, including jealousy. Sometimes, if you are getting criticism from others, it may mean you are doing something right. The only people you have to please are yourself and your customers.
Money is not the Only Reward
Many entrepreneurs seem to go into a business focused on the money. But that’s the wrong approach. Yes, we have to create wealth and sustain our business with the money we make. But it should be more about the work that you do than how much you are making.
When you create great products and provide great services, you will see that the money will come to you naturally, as a result. But your focus should always be on what value you are providing for your customers’ needs. Then you will see the money come as a result of your efforts.
Find good work first and products that are marketable and that people value. The money will follow.
Employees will Goof Off a Lot
Inc. Magazine quotes the following statistic:
“80% of your employees with goof off for 20% of the time.” This seems like a lot of wasted time. This is why some business owners have opted for outsources some of their work to independent contractors who are only compensated for the actual results they provide rather than time on the job.
Downtime helps them be more productive and recharges their batteries in the workplace. Once you understand this, you can have a better attitude toward all employees. This will help you to motivate better those who do better than 80%.
The Grind Never Ends
When you are an employee, you do your job and get paid every month. The amount is fixed, and you don’t have any control over it. As an entrepreneur, you are creating your paycheck, and it varies from month to month.
The excitement of not knowing how much you will make and playing a large part in your success is one of the reasons you enjoy doing it in the first place. So accept the fact that the grind never ends and always look for the next challenge with optimism and purpose.
Entrepreneurship is a Ride
Entrepreneurship is not easy, or everyone would do it. But you got in this game to win and won you shall if you realize these hard truths. There are many others too that you’ll learn along the way. Entrepreneurs are always in a state of flux with their time, their money, and their strategies because they know that anything can happen.
And they love the ride.