The Start-up Entrepreneur

There comes a time in every Entrepreneur’s life when they decide the nine to five grind is not for them. They may have worked in frustrating situations where their opinions on business expansion were not valued, or perhaps they have always just had that ticking brain full of great ideas and big dreams. Whatever the reason, you are now here, and thirsty to create a world for yourself that others seem to think is too far beyond their reach. A world where you work because you want to work and work on what you want to work on. That is the end goal for most of us, but the truth is we have a long way to go before we get to that place.

When we first set out on the path of Entrepreneurship, it can be exciting, confusing, and disappointing all in one. Whether or not you have a lot of money behind you in the beginning stages, with any idea we have this naïve excitement. That naïve excitement is the most crucial part of the process because, without it, we would never start. We dive in headfirst because we cannot wait for our idea to exceed beyond our wildest dreams! If you are still in this stage, great, keep going. Use the power of this time to educate yourself about as much as you can; business, finance, funding, investment options, mentorship, at this stage you can teach yourself so much and your ideas grow and grow.

After this stage, most of us will go through a low. It is this low that makes or breaks the Entrepreneur. Most of us will give up during this phase and think “I tried, but it’s not for me, the nine to five life is a safer option.” Why do we believe this, you say? Well, for many reasons, we may have others depending on us, we may not have the support we need, we may just get scared, or we may not have gone through enough of life to realise that life is not a straight line and neither is the line to success. The line to success is a windy road with twists, turns and loops. You may do a full circle only to come back to the same place you started, and that is okay. Just like in life, no matter what way we are going, every way is forward. You ask why again? Because no matter how high the high or how low the low we are learning to improve our future. When we are failing, we are failing forward, no matter how backwards it might feel. So, stick it out, because once you get past this stage, you are on the rise again.

Once you have acquired all the knowledge from your naïve excitement and your first low, you will have worked out a plan to get your idea off the ground again. You may have come across a mentor or found your funding; whatever it might be this is the stage where you can start to excel. From here, you could continue to rise, or you could go through a low again. It depends how much you have planned for and how solid your skills are. If you go through another shortfall, that is okay, you just have more to learn. The one thing every successful person in the world has in common is that they have failed over and over and over again, but they have not given up, and they have kept getting back up. How many times have you heard business owners say that when they look back on their journey, they realise they had made so many mistakes? The truth in this statement is that they wouldn’t know they were mistakes without the knowledge they have acquired through failure. Failure is a great thing, if you don’t fail then you aren’t trying hard enough!

So keep failing, keep learning and continue to keep going, because the world needs you.