My First Two Weeks into Life as an ‘Entrepreneur’
Intro
This post hasn’t been planned, just a spur of the moment thing which feels right, so here it is! I hope you’ll find it useful…
If it helps just one person in a minor way, I’ll be happy with that. If I can help one person make better decisions, my mission is accomplished!
I hope you will let me know, whoever you may be :)
I’ll be continuing to write a ‘journal’ type series of articles as I go along…
So… My Brief Story
I have been working in digital marketing for ~6 years now. Throughout that time I’ve had my fair share of all time highs and lows. It’s been a rough ride.
That’s not to say the work places were tough. Sure, a few had annoyances — some many. But for the most part, I laid the pressure on myself to simply do more and do better.
I have never been one to become complacent.
If I had a good wage, I wanted more. Much more! If I did a fine job, I wanted to master another. Lots of them! If I experienced difficulties, I wanted to overcome them and create further challenges to conquer in the process!
It’s this tenacity and competitive streak you need if you are considering the big leap to entrepreneurship. I cannot stress this enough.
Just a few weeks ago, I was in full-time employment…
For 12 months I had been building up my personal brand, social presence and network.
The latter 6 months of that time was exhausting 17–19 hour days, 7 days a week. No buts. No maybes.
An hour drive to and from work then straight to the grind on my own stuff.
I spent hardly any time with my partner and rarely saw my family. I certainly never saw any of my friends.
Yes, it was tiring. Yes, it made me ill. But I didn’t stop.
If even the thought of that makes you feel uncomfortable, you’re not ready to become an entrepreneur.
It came to the point where I was having to turn down so many leads and opportunities that a serious decision had to be made.
It was time to consider running my own operation as a digital marketing consultant, full time.
I always loved helping businesses grow bigger, faster — so that part was straightforward. I knew my service offering and there was clear demand for it.
You’d think that would make the whole decision process somewhat easier… Yeah right!
There were silly amounts of umming and ahhing for months until the day I handed in my notice. And even then some!
I was confused, scared, excited, enthused and even felt guilty for considering the move. (I have a healthy relationship with my last employer).
I repeatedly thought about the level of ‘guaranteed’ income each month which I worked very hard to achieve given my age. This made it even more difficult to leave…
The constant reads of motivational ‘entrepreneur’ articles helped, but then articles on ‘failure’ continued to crop up everywhere I turned.
Then came the memes on Twitter saying, ‘The Time Is Now’ which just made me feel like jacking it all in right away without a care in the world!
However, such a decision cannot be rushed. It must be carefully considered, as systematically as a hi-tech bank robbery.
You must meticulously plan your finances, strategy and schedule. Have you got a website and all the required software? Do you need equipment? Are people actively seeking your product or service? What about marketing? Have you found a reliable accountant?
I didn’t go out for a whole 12 months to save the necessary funds. Have you got that kind of dedication?
No doubt about it, this choice is one of the most difficult choices you will make in life. But equally, one of the most rewarding.
I can honestly say, this feeling is the best feeling I have ever experienced.
THE BEST.
I remember looking out of my window on the second evening after handing in my notice.
The sky looked more beautiful than I had ever seen, the cars outside were on a par with Ferraris or Lamborghinis and the houses appeared as they do in Hollywood films…
Of course, nothing had actually changed out there. Only my perception and mind-shift.
It was like peering through a looking-glass which magically transformed the world around me.
It was an experience I’ll never, ever forget!
Then I thought…if the mind is so powerful as to do that, what wonderful things can I do for my business and everybody it inspires?
At that point in time I KNEW … just knew I had made the right choice.
It doesn’t matter how many people you ask to validate your situation (I asked so many!) or how many nights you sit there worrying your ass off before suddenly feeling ridiculously positive.
It doesn’t matter how many articles you read or how many hours you spend watching motivational entrepreneur videos.
YOU will only KNOW once you have DONE IT.
It’s now just under two weeks into my journey and I am loving every moment.
Nothing compares to the people you meet, the ability to actually accept opportunities, go out when you want, eat whenever you’re hungry, take a nap when you’re tired… Hell, be real crazy and take a long walk mid-day!
Being your own boss rocks. But you have to be dedicated too.
If you do dream of taking a long walk whenever you feel like it, are you still planning to think about work? Because you darn well should be.
Yes, you need time to unwind, but in all honesty, when people are relying on YOU it’s a luxury you sacrifice after making the big leap.
I never stop thinking about ‘work’. But it’s a life I have chosen. It’s my way of life. And that’s why I will never become complacent.
That’s why I will achieve what I want to achieve.
Are you:
- In employment but considering the ‘big leap’ to go self-employed or run your own business?
You might be feeling:
- Frustrated at work?
- Inadequate, depressed or singled out by bosses or colleagues?
- Bored and want a new challenge?
- Tired of having to put up with certain people in your team?
Working full time for employers over the years gradually builds up your knowledge but equally wears you down, both in body and mind.
If you are entrepreneurial in nature, helping to build someone else’s dream but knowing, just KNOWING you are destined to create something solid of your own can be a very tough situation to cope with.
Each circumstance varies — but a lot of the time, feelings of doubt coupled with fear of failure and becoming broke overcome the desire to break free and eventually dampen that once-raging fire inside.
Just know this: If you want something bad enough, you will make it happen.
If you think you want it bad enough and you’ve been telling yourself that for a long time, BUT have done absolutely nothing to move towards your dream, you don’t really want it.
It simply means you are satisfied with your life and content in your current comfort zone. So, at this stage it is best to forget the aspirations and stay in employment.
Believe me, if you are not driven enough before, you are certainly not going to be driven afterwards when out on your own! This life takes dedication, commitment and pure, hard graft.
Once you finish full time employment, it hits you; just how much work there is to be done!
However, that’s also down to the new found freedom of your mind and all the fresh ideas generated from this liberating experience.
I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to all those who congratulated me on my ‘big leap’ from employment to full time boss man ;-)
Honestly, it means so much to wake up each morning and see this…
My final tip:
“Be yourself and nothing else. Leave pretense at the door. Look up to others but create your own unique footprint.”
