Are You Sure You Want To Be An Entrepreneur?

Everyone thinks they want to be an entrepreneur, but rarely do I see anyone ask, “Are you sure?”

There’s an entire industry of people promoting the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Creators post their highlight reels on social media, they make everyone feel like they have what it takes, so why would they point out the dark side of this life? Their businesses are dependent on selling you their courses or books, promising you a magical formula for success in exchange for 1000s of dollars.

Like anything in life, there are pros and cons to chasing a life of autonomy, it takes a special person to make it, and for some, a 9-5 might not be so bad.

The truth is that this life requires getting your hands dirty. Anyone can make it as an entrepreneur, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes.

Is This Life For You?

I was never a fan of authority, I had too many ideas in my head. I was more interested in skateboarding, writing, doodling in my notebook instead of taking notes, pretty much anything that didn’t involve school or listening to other people. I didn’t realize that this meant starting my own business was my ideal path.

For some, you loved school. Your dream might be saving lives as a doctor or defending the innocent in court. But for those of us who feel like something is missing, that path will never take us to where we want to be.

There’s one misconception. I thought starting a business meant that I would never feel like working and that every day would be sunshine and rainbows, but I quickly learned that was a lie sold to us for clicks.

Starting a business sacrifices some of the best parts of being an employee. You don’t show up, collect a paycheck, and get to say “This isn’t my problem until tomorrow.” Even if you’re doing what you love, you’re never off the clock, and sometimes that means staring at your computer until 2 am trying to hold your eyes open.

There are specific characteristics every entrepreneur carries.

1. 1. You can work on something you love without ever looking at the clock.

1. 1. You’re constantly analyzing your place of employment and seeing areas where it could be improved. You don’t like accepting things as they are.

1. 1. You’ve always been a shepherd, not a sheep.

1. 1. The ideas never stop coming.

If these sound like you, here are 5 steps to level up so you can set yourself up for success.

Figure Out Where You Should Start

“What kind of business should I start?”

Most people get hung up on this question for too long. They spend years pondering it. But what if I told you that you already know the answer? In fact, you’ve known for a long time.

Here’s the two-part answer.

First, think about what you love doing more than anything in the world. What’s something that you could talk about until you’re blue in the face? You instantly knew the answer.

Now that you know that, the next step is to figure out how you can get paid for it.

But just knowing the answer isn’t enough. You have to be willing to accept that no matter how much you love what you do, there will be times when it’s tough to keep going.

Learn To Self-Motivate

Motivation is great for a short burst of creative energy, but you’ll never see progress if you need external sources to make you move.

I fell victim to this, and it kept me stagnant for a long time. What I learned was that the most meaningful moments were when I kept pushing, even when it felt like pushing a boulder up a mountain.

Boulders come in many forms. On Monday, it’s despair, believing that nothing you’re doing is good enough. On Tuesday, it might be the feeling that you’d rather stay in bed. And on Wednesday, it could be comparing yourself to the most successful people in the world and thinking “if I could only be like them, then I would be able to have that same level of success.”

Here’s the harsh reality, this life is the most difficult of all.

It’s a slow process, and you won’t make it if you aren’t willing to commit to that for the rest of your life.

You need to know what your long-term play is, zoom out to see the big picture, and plan your next step. But, the thing that separates those who make moves and those who don’t is the ability to zoom in on the day and figure out what the smallest step would be.

Carrying a boulder up a hill takes daily action, trying to do it all at once because you feel motivated to do so will eventually lead to exhaustion. Pushing through that exhaustion will lead to the boulder rolling backward and crushing you under the immense weight.

Build a habit out of giving yourself 2 good hours every day. A sacred time when you block out the rest of the world, lock the door and focus on what’s in front of you with no regard to the result that comes after.

My 2 good hours look like this.

1. 1. Wake up before everyone else, when the world is silent.

1. 1. Make my cup of coffee, and read a book for 30 minutes to get my mind right.

1. 1. Journal. Move all the jumbled-up thoughts in my head to a page where they can live on their own.

1. 1. Sit down at my desk, put on the same playlist, and work on the most important task of the day until I feel like I can’t go any further.

The most significant part of those 2 hours is the first 5 minutes. This is when the writer’s block is still awake, sitting on my shoulder holding the blinders over my eyes. After those 5 minutes, my mind naturally pushes him away, I enter my flow state, and it begins to feel like I’ve reached enlightenment. My body acts on its own, typing away at the keyboard until every word it has is on the page.

To be an entrepreneur, you have to stop planning and start acting. You can plan your day down to the minute, but you’ll never see any progress unless you make those minutes count.

 

 

Change Your Circle

When I set out on this path, I quickly found that there were very few who understood what I was doing. The people I had in my life since I was a child couldn’t understand why I had to start skipping events just to sit in my office working until well after the sun went to sleep.

You should hold on to the people that push you, and let go of those that want you to spend your free time at the party. Sometimes you have to let people go and keep those who want to grow with you by your side.

Social media can either be your biggest strength or your source of procrastination. With just a few clicks, you can be connected to anyone in the world. Actively seek those who have what you want.

There are two types of people you should find.

1. 1. Those that are where you are, the ones that are treading water trying to figure out how to swim.

1. 1. Those who realized they could get on a raft instead of letting the current take them in whichever direction it felt like moving.

You should have both in your life, but if you want something, you should surround yourself with people who already have it. Find your mentors, those who can guide you along your journey. Get in their DMs, ask them questions, and pay attention to what they’re doing daily.

That sounds scary, you are probably asking yourself “Why would they talk to me?” Just like building a habit out of consistently giving yourself 2 good hours, build a habit out of saying “Hi, I like your work.” What you’ll find is that the most successful people remember where they were, and they love helping people find their own raft.

Build The Skills

There are three skills that every entrepreneur needs.

The first is writing, it’s the foundation of every business.

The second is persuasion, how you grab, hold, and purchase attention.

Writing

You have to learn to tell stories, but not stories about yourself. Your customer is Frodo and you’re Gandalf. Businesses that fail never learn this lesson.

How do you be a guide?

1. 1. Think about the time when you knew nothing about what you sell.

1. 1. Look at where you are now.

1. 1. Fill in the gap by reflecting on the steps you took to get from point A to Point B. Write letters to your former self, that person lives in the past, they are not who you are today.

Persuasion

The second skill is persuasion, which is not the same as manipulation. Manipulation is evil, it’s telling lies to sell someone snake oil. Persuasion is showing someone that you have the knowledge to solve their problem and giving them the solution in exchange for something. That something could be money, signing up for your newsletter, following you on social media, or it could just be scheduling a free consultation to demonstrate how you can help them.

Giving someone an honest review of a movie to help them decide between spending two hours at the movies or staying home is a form of persuasion.

There are three steps to properly using this technique.

1. 1. Persuade your potential customer to stop scrolling by addressing their problem.

1. 1. Persuade them to keep reading by promising them valuable insights that could solve their problem.

1. 1. Persuading them to give their approval by delivering on that promise.

Social Skills

I know, you hate people. Well, if you want to be successful, that needs to change. Here’s a secret, the issue isn’t that you don’t like people, it’s that you haven’t found the right ones.

People need to like you, if they don’t, they will never become customers. Here are some things you have to know to do this. Write them down, paint them on the wall, tattoo them on your arm, whatever you have to do to remember.

Everyone’s favorite subject is themselves. It’s tempting to share all of your achievements or opinions to seem like you’re the smartest person in the room, but that’s not helpful. That just makes people view you as arrogant and immediately turns them off. Ask questions, give them praise, and let them know that their problems are valid. In a world where the average attention span is microscopic, this goes farther than ever.

Be empathic. You don’t need to ask people what they want, they’ll tell you. Everyone has problems they’d like to solve, your job is to show that you’ve been there and that you found the solution. Being empathetic to their situation builds trust, it builds your authority and lets people know that they aren’t alone.

Be genuine. This goes back to manipulation vs. persuasion. Manipulation is using lies and stretching the truth to get a desired outcome. Don’t do that. Honestly, that makes you a bad person, and most people have a fully functioning lie detector. Once you’re found out, if you don’t deliver the value you’re promising, people will talk and your chances of ever building trust get thrown out the window.

Just Get Started

You can’t develop these skills overnight.

No amount of expensive courses or planning will prepare you for the world of self-employment. The key is to get started and figure it out as you go.

Be willing to be bad at it in the beginning and make improvements by reflecting on your mistakes. Your customers will tell you what you’re doing wrong. They might verbalize it, but they don’t need to, the results will speak for themselves.

Your sales, follower count, and engagement on your content will be all the data you need. When something doesn’t work, find out why. When something finally clicks, identify it and figure out how to replicate it over and over again.

If you want to learn more about skill-building, mindset shifts, and the early stages of entrepreneurship, we’ll be diving deeper into those topics at a later date. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss out… See, that’s persuasion.