The blessing and curse of being an entrepreneur
Many people have this amazing American dream of one day finally opening their own business and making the leap to start their own thing.
We think about how great it will be when we have all our own freedom and can do what we want when we want and be financially free!
I mean, who wouldn’t want this dream?
Unfortunately, I believe America has turned the idea of being an entrepreneur into this fantasy.
While this certainly can happen as you build your business, it’s far from how it starts or how most people end up.
According to Forbes, 90% of startups fail, with 20% of them closing their doors within their first year.
I’m not saying this to scare you but to help you become aware of the adventure ahead!
If anyone has got this, it’s you!
Let’s dive into this week’s awareness.
It’s going to be way harder than you think.
I already mentioned how difficult this journey is going to be, but let’s say you have gone for it, and I know most of you have already taken the leap.
I’m super grateful the first year we started our business we found ourselves at Tony Robbins Business Mastery. Thanks to a Facebook ad.
That’s really where it all began realizing this is not going to be a strategy game, but a mental game.
If you’re on the journey, invest in yourself, and just when you think you have invested enough, invest MORE!
You cannot go wrong with investing in yourself. Even if your business fails, you will walk away with the skills and growth from investing in yourself.
The people you start with probably won’t be there at the end.
This was the most difficult challenge for me at first. When we first started building our team, I envisioned all of us at the finish line celebrating our massive success and huge victories. Also, how we would enjoy the journey together and build friendships of a lifetime.
Man was I wrong. Not one person who started with us the first year is still with us. I remember the pain of the first person who left us that I didn’t see coming.
We had trained this person in the industry, and they had become successful and forever changed his family’s life financially. Then out of the blue, he left…
Confused and angry I just didn’t understand…
Staffing is known for massive turnover – 80% of people don’t last one year in the industry, and another 10% drop off in year two. So, if you have 3+ years in staffing, you are in the top 10%.
What this taught me is how this is all just business. People will make the decisions that are best for them as they should, and the business needs to make the best decision for the business.
Which is me making tough decisions that might not be popular.
Everyone who is on the journey is playing a part in the business. People will come and go, others will be foundational to your growth.
The quicker you can learn how to hire the right people and fire the people who aren’t right, the quicker your business will grow.
Not being emotional with these decisions can be a challenge because we are human but what I have learned is it’s just part of the game.
I’m grateful to have the opportunity to play a part in people’s careers and always want people to leave our company better than they started.
I could write this entire email about people in your business, but I will save that for another time 😉
I’ll leave you with one tool that helped us tremendously, called the people analyzer. You can learn about this in the book Traction, which I will talk about more later.
Just when you solve one challenge in your business and you think you can sit back and finally have a sip of your cold brew in peace ha! Another challenge comes flying in.
Basically, think of your business as a child that you can never leave alone until it matures, and even then, some kids just don’t grow up.
The quicker you can realize business is just all about solving problems the challenges won’t stress you the same, they will even excite you!
The amount of pressure you can handle will directly reflect your ability to grow.
Remember this is all just a mental game…
Every entrepreneur dreams of the moment you can hit autopilot.
Well, for me, this has taken way longer than I ever expected. I don’t think I had realistic expectations.
I knew from the start of our business that we needed to build systems because a business is a system. Thank you, Peter Drucker.
I think this is something we did really well, actually. However, there was one problem: People weren’t following the systems. Insert ?!?!?!
About 18 months ago, we hired a consultant to implement EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System). If you haven’t read the book called Traction, I highly recommend it if you are building a business. He goes over the six key components of how to run your business.
This has been a huge success for us and really changed our business to operate smoother, solve issues quickly, and manage people effectively.
The biggest takeaway here is not just to build systems but to ensure that you are building systems that are easy to follow and that enroll your team from the beginning.
For a long time, I kept thinking I would finally figure out the step-by-step process of how to run our business. I realized at the end of the day, you need to steer the bus to your destination.
I realized that it’s not preplanned out; there is no sure one way. That is the beauty of building a business; there are multiple ways to get to the destination, and you get to lead that way!
You are on the most exciting adventure of your life, and you are the creator.
So go create and stop waiting to figure it all out. And once you think you have it figured out, there will be a detour, so embrace and enjoy the adventure.
Be adaptable and agile, and it will be so much more fun!
I wouldn’t take back any of the lessons we have learned, it’s helped us grow and I know there are still many lessons ahead!
I hope this awareness helps you make some tiny 2-millimeter shifts no matter where you are on the entrepreneur journey or in life.
Let’s just say being an entrepreneur isn’t for the faint of heart.
If you are going to have a successful business and create the freedom you dream of, you can never stop working on your mental game.
Let’s take a moment to reflect together.
1. What is one area you have slacked on your mental game lately?
2. How are you going to take your mental game to the next level?
3. How could you invest in yourself even more?
Let’s get to work and become aware this week of our mental game.
Share with me your reflections, and let’s raise our awareness together.