The backbone of business is the entrepreneur that first came up with an idea. A dream. A thought. Something that they felt would make this world better, and in turn, make the entrepreneur’s life better.
Entrepreneurs created the device you’re reading this post on. The website tools I use were created by entrepreneurs. The coffee I’m drinking while writing this post was created by, you guessed it, entrepreneurs.
Nothing we use or consume would be possible without entrepreneurs.
We often don’t pay any attention to the creative geniuses that create the everyday products and services we use. Yes, we know the famous ones (Tesla, Edison, Ford, Jobs, Woz, Gates, Musk, Bezos, Levitt 😉 ) but how many non-famous people should we be thanking for creating what we use.
We need entrepreneurs as much as we need oxygen and clean water.
Entreprenurs, small business owners, and solopreneurs (one-person shops) put in some insane hours in the beginning of their companies, in order to reach the success levels they so richly deserve.
I often joke people quit their 9-5 job, for a 9-Midnight job. There is a lot to do when launching an organization, such as corporation paperwork, branding, figuring out who your ideal clients are, etc.
Often times entrepreneurs are wearing hats that do not fit them. They do this because they aren’t willing/ready/able to spend some funds up front to get things moving along.
I’m a big infrastructure guy. Have a solid foundation and back office, so you can focus most of your attention on client needs, and your organization will likely stick around.
In a recent interview with Rob Braiman, we talked about how 8 out of 10 new businesses fail within first 3 years. An overlooked fact is that 1 of the surviving 2 of those 10 businesses fail a few years after that. So in roughly 5-7 years, 1 out of 10 new businesses survive. Is your business that one of ten that survives?
Entrepreneurs burn out and often walk away from their businesses before they reach the success levels they so longed to reach. They give up just before things “take off” in their business.
How can this be avoided?
- Avoid all the shiny objects. Entrepreneurs are often guilty of trying all the latest tools, following what others are doing, building funnels, etc which is taking them away from their core business. Pick the fkn Chakra (inside joke) and run with it
- Delegate. Delegate. Delegate. Offload admin related tasks to virtual assistants, friends or colleagues that you can barter with
- Ask yourself “Who Are We?” Too often entrepreneurs want to be the Wal-Mart or Amazon of their business, offering a bit of everything. If you offer everything, you’ll actually offer nothing to your potential customers
- Have an off-switch for work. Schedule your work days to match your energy levels, but don’t work more than 7-8 hours per day, and take weekends off as much as possible. If that’s not possible, then take 2 days off during a 7-day period. Your productivity drops off dramatically, and studies are showing that people typically only are productive 3-4 hours per day. Sooooo, maybe schedule your day to work a 5-hour shift, and see how productive and focused you can be
- Take vacations. You need to get away from your work. At the end of 2018, I took almost 7 weeks off from Breakfast Leadership . Social media posts continued to be shared, I followed up with those that reached out to me directly, but I didn’t record any podcast interviews or client meetings for the last part of the year, and first 10 days of 2019. Why? I needed a break. If you don’t take a break, you WILL break.
Society needs your business to be successful. You have insights and have created something that will make our world better. Pace yourself, take the right steps, get the right help, and when the timing is right, behold the excitement you’ll have for you, and the people you serve.