Wednesday, May 13, 2020
The scary truth about being an entrepreneur - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach
The scary truth about being an entrepreneur When it comes to entrepreneurs, thereâs a strong reporting bias. All day long we hear about the entrepreneurs who made it: Alan Sugar, Mark Zuckerberg, Jen-Hsun Huang. But theyâre just the tip of the iceberg. As with so many other things in life, thereâs a long tail to the distribution where the majority of entrepreneurs wind up. You might think that becoming an entrepreneur puts you on the road to riches, but unless youâre both lucky and have a great idea, youâll probably go broke. With that said, entrepreneurship is fun. Very few days are a drag, especially when youâre doing business. And as an entrepreneur, the skys the limit. You can aspire to be as great as you want to be. There really are very few limits to where your success can take you. Here are some scary truths about becoming an entrepreneur. You Might Not Be The Highest Paid Entrepreneurs imagine that because theyâre at the top of an organization, theyâll be the highest paid. But this isnât usually how things work out in practice. Sure, the leaders of established companies often bring home the biggest paychecks, but thatâs because theyâve already done the hard work, building up their empires. Because money is so limited as you start out your business, youâll have to invest most of it into hiring the right people. And to get the right people, youâll have to pay them high wages which are sometimes higher than your own. You Arenât The Boss Hereâs another shocking home truth: youâre not the boss. When you run your own startup business, this is one of the first lessons you learn. First off, the customers are the boss. What they want is what goes, no matter how much youâd like them to pay you regardless. And second, youâre not even the boss of your employees. To keep people at a startup, you have to constantly listen to their needs as well as their advice. You also have to give people responsibility to do things like negotiate deals and make their own decisions. People Wonât Like You Entrepreneurs tend to be an outward-focusing, gregarious bunch. But that doesnât mean that people will always like you. Thereâs a risk, according to Ellis Whittam, that an employee or customers will sue you for damages at some point. But itâs important to know that as a business leader, this is all par for the course. In business, people will sue. The trick is to make sure that you protect yourself by covering all bases. Never dismiss an employee without providing a reason. Never sell a faulty product. And never tell anybody your IP. Work-Life Balance Is Impossible As an entrepreneur, work-life balance is a mirage. Work will become your life and will take over your regular free time, especially in the evenings and on the weekend. Donât be surprised if you wind up going without a holiday for a year straight, working most weekends. Itâs scary, but itâs all part of life as a business leader.
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