The Struggle Is Real — Being an Entrepreneur Is Tough
Excitement.
Followed by disappointment.
Wanting to give up.
Followed by another GREAT IDEA!
Letting your mind get the best of you.
And not executing…
Rinse. Repeat.
Can you relate to this? I bet you can.
I run the content and social department here at StartupBros. This is my job. I am not a full time entrepreneur. In fact, I’ve never been a full time entrepreneur. I went to college, graduated and started working in the corporate world as a sales and marketing territory manager.
I did that for a LONG time [in today’s standards]. Traveling the country and learning all about the corporate way of life.
A few years ago I started experimenting in the world of entrepreneurship.
Honestly, it was completely by accident.
I had no intention on becoming an entrepreneur at that time. The corporate world was very good to me. But secretly I wanted more.
So how did I start as an entrepreneur?
I joined a multi-level marketing company. Actually, I am still a part of it.
What?! MLM?! Are you CRAZY?
Yes, I joined network marketing. Here is why.
I enjoy running. I run a lot of marathons (26.2 miles, 42 kilometers for those of you that are curious). Running was the one thing I could do while traveling, no matter where my job took me.
One of my friends convinced me to start doing the INSANITY workout in addition to running. I took his advice and loved it. When I found out that I could make some money sharing my passion for fitness with others — I jumped on the opportunity. Who doesn’t want to make extra money?
This MLM didn’t seem shady. I wanted to honestly help people, my heart was in the right place and I actually ended up doing quite well!
It turned out that I had the right ideas to get started. I created a lead magnet, which was a running plan mixed with INSANITY. I offered this plan for free on my website (www.insanemarathon.com).
People started downloading my program, I started growing my organization and I was actually making MONEY!
Not too bad for a side hustle!
Network marketing was just a hobby for me. At times I thought that it would be FUN to make it my full time job. But my excuses always conquered my actions.
Excuses suck.
So I continued to work in the corporate world.
Nothing wrong with that.
Nothing very exciting either.
Where am I going with this?
StartupBros has opened my eyes to truly giving entrepreneurship a real shot.
I have met TONS of REAL entrepreneurs who are CRUSHING IT!
I am able to see firsthand what is possible every day — my mind is constantly running in all directions.
There are so many business opportunities available to us.
We live in an incredible time.
But…
HOW CAN I ACTUALLY GET STARTED?
and…
HOW CAN I ACTUALLY MAKE MONEY?
PATIENCE and FOCUS are two things I really need to work on. I bet you do too.
Personally, I blame it on my experience with corporate life.
When you are an employee your job is to focus on your JOB.
Each person has their own unique job and things should, in theory, fall into place.
You need to make results happen. With all of the “corporate systems” in place — this should be that hard to achieve.
As an entrepreneur YOU are responsible for creating results and implementing systems to get those results.
If the systems you create are not working and the results are not meeting your expectations QUICKLY — you might get disappointed or want to quit.
It is hard to keep working on a task when the results are not where you want them to be.
PUSH ON — KEEP GOING — DON’T GIVE UP
Easier said than done.
These two thoughts are always bouncing back and forth inside my head…
- Corporate life provides stability:
This is only true until you realize that your life is only as stable as the company you work for and the current leadership at the top of the organization. Politics are rampant, leadership changes, ownership makes certain demands — your “stable job” could disappear tomorrow. As an employee the corporation is making a lot more off of you than what they are paying you. If you didn’t realize that, now you do :) You are paid just enough to keep you there. Sad. - Entrepreneurship is risky:
No lies here, you are not going to have a steady income. More than likely you will have to make investments in your business without knowing exactly how those will come back to you. It’s scary. In addition to that you are also in control of your own benefits package, retirement and sanity. However, the rewards, if you are successful will be much better than corporate life.
Also, looking long term — when things get tough as an entrepreneur — it is HARD!
For example: Right now I am running ads for a product I am sourcing from China. It’s a really cool product that will sell a TON (I am sure of it)!
However, running ads to the online store is PAINFUL!
I want to spend $20 on ads and get 20 orders…which is unrealistic.
But I WANT MORE ORDERS!
MORE! MORE! MORE!
When the orders don’t come in…
I want to quit.
Is there a better business opportunity out there?
Instead of thinking how to make this particular business successful, I start looking for other opportunities.
Can you relate?
Here are the businesses I currently want to spend more time on:
- Growing my fitness website into a top online destination for runners.
- Working to source an original product from China — get ready for this one — it’s going to be HUGE!
- Use social media ads and drop shipping to create income off of trending product lines using AliExpress.
This is all while still providing the best content and social experience for our amazing StartupBros fans!
So… let’s do this together!
We will want to give up. It is not going to be easy.
But, WE WON’T!
Not right now.
Not ever.
We will push forward.
We will FOCUS — We will SUCCEED!
If you are an entrepreneur — I would love to connect with you in our free Facebook community.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/startupbros/
It doesn’t matter if you have an e-commerce, retail, education, physical or digital products business… whatever business you run (or want to run) — get in this group and connect with other likeminded people.
There is no better day than today to be an entrepreneur.
So let’s GO!
