
The Wantrepreneur
So for those of you who are thinking “aren’t you an entrepreneur Ben?” let me quickly introduce to you why I believe I am not [yet] and why it isn’t a bad thing.
Now firstly, don’t get your guts all twisted up in rage and begin blasting me in the comments “no Ben, you’re not a wantrepeneur, you’re just an early stage entrepreneur looking for an idea” stick to your opinion, that’s cool. One thing I’ve learnt on my journey thus far is the importance of happiness. So in saying that, I believe everyone is entitled to an opinion, and if it’s not worth arguing, I just can’t be arsed.
Who am I?
Bit about me, for those reading it, I’ve failed before.
I cofounded GoRepp, an online referral platform. We took part in the INCUBATE accelerator (which was pretty kick ass and highly recommended = PLUG) where we tried the whole customer centric approach. We thought we found out what they wanted, we tried giving something to them, it returned 4 x ROI, but other [larger] brands we needed to make a sustainable business model just didn’t desire it. We dwindled. We crashed. We burnt.
We made a vitamin, not a painkiller as so frequently put in the startup community.
I am also still on a journey with my company Ossyx. Along with an orthopaedic surgical student and a whizz designer, we have decided to try treat sporting injuries with medical devices. We are starting off small (low cost, easy to execute (relative) and highly impactful) so we can all learn what it takes to commercialise a medical device together before we branch into operative devices as well.
So what’s a wantrepreneur?
I believe a wantrepreneur is an enthusiastic, inventive, I will build my own business kind of person who may have started their own business, but have not achieved sustainable revenue to support themselves without outside help (mummy/daddy or government).
For me, the day I convert to an entrepreneur, is the day Ossyx (or something that follows) enables me to work, with a slightly more comfortable life style, on what I love.
Examples of my wantrepeneur lifestyle includes:
- Eating egg sandwiches for lunch every day for 3 months to save enough money for PCT filing (patent) and losing 8 kgs in the process
- Eating only small servings of budget spaghetti bolognese ($1.30/serving) for dinner for 3 months, contributing to both the 8 kgs in weight loss and PCT filing
- Spending 90% of your budget to live in a tiny studio apartment with your girlfriend
- Getting anxious walking through the PWC firm or similar large corporate offices where dreams go to die (actually happened)
What’s my plan?
From now on, I am making a commitment to write about cool, informative stuff I read/learn on my journey to entrepreneurship, leaving wantrepreneurship behind!
I will try give book summaries where possible (I average 1 book per week at the moment); shed light on the different sales, leadership, marketing, blogging and product development techniques I learn on the way; and, give you updates on how my journey is going.
I would love to hear what you are up to.
Please feel to free to connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me!
Ben.
