Staying power

Staying power

How to stay motivated and focused as an entrepreneur when the novelty wears off

 

It is not uncommon today for a woman to decide to stay at home with her kids and start her own business.  It is also not uncommon for woman to open a store front business and manage it herself.  We do this because we want something that is flexible to our life.  We want to call the shots, I saw this quote on Facebook today and it really made me think.  What keeps us so committed?

"An entrepreneur is a self-employed person working 16 hours a day to avoid working 8 hours a day for someone else." – Anonymous

So that might in some ways explain why we branch out into entrepreneurship.  We did not want to continue to have someone else call the shots.  What you’re unprepared for is how HARD it is. 

Being an entrepreneur is HARD! 

I know you’re thinking you know that.  Isn’t it a given that you should expect it to be hard?  Well maybe you think you understand how hard it is but then once you get into the trenches you quickly realize you had no idea how hard this would actually be.  That idea of how this would be so flexible and give you total control just isn’t there.  Now you are working double time and still trying to fit in the personal time you wanted.  Now you are desperately trying to please a whole new set of people.  Your clients!

So why stay?  Wouldn’t it be easier just to pack it in and go back to that regular

paycheck?

No!

Why?  Because you likely love what you do! (If you don’t perhaps reconsider the regular paycheck)  You have a passion for your business because you chose it based on what you wanted to do.  Likely you love your clients and really enjoy serving them and providing them with something they need. 

So once the honeymoon period wears off in your business make sure you keep that love and passion for what you are doing. 

·         Find a community that you can connect with around the business so they can be your cheerleaders and always remember that original vision.  You will achieve success, just remember it is going to be hard and will take time.  This might be a group of entrepreneurs; this might be fellow licensees or franchisees of the same business or maybe even a business coach or team of coaches.  (If you are local to the Guelph area I highly recommend Firehorse Consulting)

·         Continue to update your business plan to see how far you have come.  This will keep you on the right path and also adapt it to head in new directions when needed.  That will keep things new and exciting!

·         Set aside that personal time, this is often the hardest to do.  Those e-mails will wait and when you return to them later you will be happier to be back at it because you took that break.  Building a business is like raising a baby.  Remember to take a step back every now and then to see how far you have come.  Taking a look at how your business is developing is easier to do if you step back to see the whole picture.

I hope you have fun with your business and are able to hold onto the passion that brought you into it!  Good luck!