Master the helm of your startup.
You’ll probably never forget the day your brain first connected the dots and you were at the right time and place in your life to start up your own company. The idea seems great and you can’t stop thinking about your mission, which means you’ll probably have trouble sleeping and can’t speak or think about anything else. The rush is so powerful that you feel like Jon Snow himself and will defeat the white walkers singlehandedly. After overcoming the first obstacles of building your brand, the excitement has probably turned into a paralysing fear, because you just realised that you have no idea how to build your brand, lack the funding to survive and are all by yourself in the darkness of the world of startups…
Let the fun begin
If you can’t stand the feeling of floating around in a boat with a soft breeze and the last ray’s of the summer sun on your browned skin, you better get out straight away. The summer will fade and winter is coming, which will turn the soft breeze in a howling storm. However, if you do enjoy yourself. You might be up for the ride of your lifetime because this is where the fun part starts of your own development.
O Captain! My Captain!
You are the captain of your own ship, which means you decide which direction you want to go. But beware, you are all by yourself on the ship, so you will have to steer, navigate, clean and cook for the captain as well. O wait, that’s you! So make sure you take care of yourself. By fulfilling more than one position in your company and working your ass off at the same time, you’ll learn a lot about yourself and your passions which will help build a strong foundation for the future.
Learn to sail the boat.
It’s really hard to execute all these different tasks all by yourself. You’re probably schooled to do one task really well and all of sudden you need to have knowledge over various disciplines. This is why self improvement is such an important feat for a starting entrepreneur. The process of studying and learning a new set of skills isn’t easy, but once you see the results you feel enlightened and are well equipped for further developments.
Sell your conquests.
Whereas the first two points mostly develop naturally, this third and last one is mostly experienced challenging. You will have to get out of the door, talk to strangers, call people, visit events or other things to find your first customers. This might feel awful at first because you are afraid what they will say about your baby, but this feedback is necessary to turn your idea into a validated product. Just remember: “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph” (Thomas Paine).
So the next time you’re scrubbing the deck on a Saturday morning and wondering if you’ll sail to the east or south in the afternoon. Just remember that a few months ago you didn’t even know how to sail a boat and were floating pointless with no skills or direction. Looking back on your journey I can only imagine you do it with a big smile on your face.
