#EntrepreneurshipStruggles #SmallBusinessChallenges #BusinessOwnerReality
Have you ever wondered what the dark side of being an entrepreneur looks like? 🤔 Let’s dive into it together.
Here are some common struggles that many small business owners face:
– Extreme discomfort: the constant anxiety, failure, frustration, and feeling of overwhelm can be draining.
– Hiring the wrong people: having a team that isn’t the right fit can lead to additional stress and setbacks.
– Thoughts of giving up: when things aren’t going well, it’s easy to feel like throwing in the towel.
But fear not, there are ways to navigate through the challenges:
– Open a business only if it’s something you’re truly passionate about and can’t stop thinking about.
– Surround yourself with the right team from start to finish, ensuring that you have a support system in place.
Remember, it’s okay to acknowledge the struggles of entrepreneurship. By being aware of the dark side, you can better prepare yourself for success. Share your thoughts and experiences below! 💡👩💼🚀
The highs are very high and the lows are very low.
There is a lot to be said for a steady 9-5. Yes, rug-pulls happen and you are suddenly jobless, but if you keep six-months of income stashed away for this eventuality the comfort of steady employment and paycheck should not be overlooked.
The rewards of entrepreneurship can be great but the downsides can be equally strong. Proceed with caution.
I got very wise advice from a wise old businessman, Never start a business because you are passionate about it, only start a business when you have a solution to a problem. And you can sell that solution.
For me business and entrepreneurship is not heavenly filling. I didn’t get any job because I didn’t have a technical degree, I do have a huge gap in my career, so I needed to start something to earn enough money for daily bread and butter.
But now I am earning enough money by the grace of the god and if the money flow continues I can retire before 40. But still If I got the opportunity to do a job I would certainly go for it. But now it’s too late. It doesn’t mean that I personally like my entrepreneur journey but now I am quite used to this environment and satisfied.
If you get used to it, everything has its bright side. But starting something new, and getting out of your comfort zone is hardest.
It is lonely as shit.
All that team stuff costs money. You don’t have money when you start.
I have a greater fear of being stuck at a 9-5 job than opening a business. The fear of never being able to wake up in the morning & do whatever I want. That’s enough for me to keep trying.
So true, entrepreneurship can be overwhelming, but having the right team makes all the difference.
One ‘dark side’ is that a person might have to give up the fantasy of becoming rich. Not that it can’t happen, but there’s only 40 work hours per week if someone wants to keep their sanity, and there’s often a lot more that goes into running a successful business (and learning as you go) that can easily eat up a person’s entire life. The business I’m in the process of building would only net me about ~$2k/month in profit once everything is up and running, but I’d work <40 hr weeks, I’d be able to work from home (to be able to raise a foster child, my dream), and I wouldn’t mind continuing living in low income housing, using public transit, and living off food stamps.
Although I could earn a more ‘proper’ income with a 9-5, I don’t want to be ‘at work’ in an office building half my waking life where everyday is a sad monotony of the ‘same old, same old’ until I die. I like spontaneity, fun, and freedom, even if it comes at the cost of ‘luxuriant’ living. I’m truly not in it for the money, and I feel that if someone is, they might be disappointed. While they may get the money they want, it will likely come at the cost of 60+ hr work weeks. For me, the daily freedom is everything: having more control over who I socialize with, being able to create my own schedule everyday, being able to move freely, and doing work I actually like.
People you thought were your friends will try and tear you down. New and old. Some people will not accept you have more success then them.
I had zero social life for a long time, only talked to my customers and potential leads. Then I started talking to the people at the gym and that has been my social outlet.
Be ready to sacrifice.
Be ready to sacrifice your sleep.
Be ready to sacrifice your relationships.
Be ready to sacrifice your sanity.
Be ready to sacrifice your free time.
Be ready to sacrifice your health.
Be ready to sacrifice your time ith your family.
Entrepreneurship is good, it offers a lot of perks. but it requires you to be ith it 24/7.
if you miss a day, your business can crumble
It’s extremely fkn hard on your marriage. You better have a strong one if you want to get into entrepreneurship.
Our society is taught to idolize the businessman, the rockstar, the actor all with the same belief that it is the ideal situation.
The truth is business isn’t for everyone.
For people like me, its not about the reward its the challenge of it all.
The way I see it people get involved in things they shouldn’t be and that is why they end up in a nightmare scenario.
To answer your headline question 👇👇
Brighter then the dark side of employment
There are always going to be aspects of running a business that you wouldn’t enjoy. I have heard the same even from Jeff Bezos. He told Lex Fridman recently that running a business is full of pain and requiring some talent to adsorb a ton of unpleasant experiences. I believe even Jensen Huang too has talked about suffering a lot of times in different interviews.
But it purely depends on the nature of your business. For instance, if your business requires constant interaction with say govt officials or bureaucrats then you’re more likely to feel depressed often. Also, this will be the case if your investors are nasty and are literally harassing you to produce regular returns rather than giving you the freedom you need to expand your business by taking more risks.
Here is my list:
The loneliness, the constant rejection, the lack of funds, the fact that your friends and family think you are crazy and should get a real job, looking at big companies knowing they could squash you, trying to motivate team members not knowing what the financial upside will be, having potential customers tell you one thing and do another, looking at others living their best life when you are working days, nights, and weekends, on stuff nobody else gives a shit about. It’s even worse when that thing nobody gives a shit about isn’t making enough money to put food on the table.
The problem is compounded when you are a technologist and you would much rather deal with technology than people, but the only way your business can survive is by catering to people. It’s even worse when over the years you have become scared of people in general.
The real dark side of entrepreneurship is when the only thing you really have is a belief in what you are doing, but knowing it could all fall apart and you could end up with less than nothing.
You can have better prices, better inventory, better service and still fail hard.
I opened my own reseller business to compete with a former employer.
Noone would buy from me even after his retirement.
Why? My boss was paying kickbacks to buyers who were using corporate accounts to buy at inflated rates.
I got into this business because I was passionate about fair prices, quality goods and helping people.
All of my good intentions weren’t heavy enough to outweigh an ounce of silver.
I’d say the “dark side” of it for me is the mental stress / burden — never feeling like the job is done (because it isn’t) or that the day is over, always feeling like there’s more to learn (because there is), volatility of ups and downs, the built-in pressures of running the ship, the mental dexterity you have to have, etc.
At the same time, getting through challenges and that stress and powering through it makes me feel like having a 9 to 5 would be a breeze now. I can genuinely say I’ve grown way more personally/skills/professionally only by doing entrepreneurship. Which is why I’d recommend it to people who seem to work better on their own or as the leader rather than as an employee. No on gets to tell me — “this is your role, you have to be ___.” I define my roles, the job at hand defines the challenge, I define how high I can reach for, I don’t have to conform to some employer’s way of thinking or doing things.
So I wouldn’t trade it. The perks outweigh working a 9 to 5. It also gives you a new mindset and behind the scenes look at how business works. You have to have the right determination mindset, balance, life situation, productivity system set up, etc for it though or it can get overwhelming.
I don’t really care much what these people think, but I find it interesting that there are some people who will always treat you as lesser than someone with a job at a more notable company, even when you make way more money than the people with those jobs.
There are tough times even for successful entrepreneurs. Years 1,2,3 for me were a honeymoon phase. I was so excited about the business and it’s success that I had endless amounts of energy. I paddled hard and grew a great business. I constantly “pulled everything together” and was the glue and the problem solver…..Years 4,5,6 were the toughest for me. This is when I got used to the success and got tired of answering 1000 questions a day and got tired of working long weeks+nights and weekends. I got tired of being the glue. Most people refer to this as the burnout stage. Year 4 I noticed it though and began to put systems in place……went through a phase of massive organization, empowered team members, delegated properly and its been much less stressful since then.
If I could give a few pieces of advice they would be…..first become exceptional at sales. It’s amazing to be able to sell more or bring in more work whenever I need it.
Secondly, limit debt and keep cash. As an entrepreneur cash crunches are the worst emotionally. Mistakes are going to happen, equipment is going to fail……new machines are expensive……..be ready for it!
For me, it is about spending a lot of time in the hot showers thinking about myself. Depressing and comforting at the same time.
I like how you’ve put it: only open a business if it’s something you can’t stop thinking about.
Better try than live wondering how it could have been
What makes entrepreneurship exiting for me is living life without assurances, taking calculated risks based on my own analysis of the economy and consumer behavior, seeing my risks unfold and flourish to outcomes I expected or even better. A great part of entrepreneurship is also failure, I fail everyday and I love it. I have to consistently adapt and be aware of changing trends, evolving technologies, and external economic variables.
Its living through this chaos that has allowed me to build the confidence and skills necessary to survive any declining economy. I say that because I know of other entrepreneurs in the same space as me that are not generating the same profits as I am or are seeing significant declines in their sales.
Being an entrepreneur has allowed me to break free from the “rat race” and actually enjoy life with my family and those I love. Before breaking free, I was miserable like all your friends, maybe they still have a lot to figure out within their field, or milestones to achieve. You can be an early stage or mid stage entrepreneur and hate life because you’re starting to lose hope and still waiting to reach certain goals while continously failing. To them, my advice is to dig deep and remember why the fuck they are doing what theyre doing and make peace with failure because its part of the process. Reach out to mentors or consultants and find brainstorm different strategies to disrupt consumer behavior or the market. There’s also a thing called the illusion of entrepreneurship, which is believing that no matter how hard you try, youre going to make it. Thats an issue in itself, that one needs to realize for themselves if thats where they are living.
But let me tell you, once you get out of those early stages and witness the fruits of your risk assessments flourish, that’s pure joy, you jump 100 levels above the majority of society. You truly feel limitless. I hope you can get some kernel of wisdom from this and if not, good luck to you and your friends
You use your brain 🧠 instead of your heart ❤️ in lots of situations. You become too competitive and toxic sometimes. And during the journey sometimes you become a narcissistic person who doesn’t care about other opinions and feelings.
Business is not a predictable endeavour. It implies risk, lot of it. If you want to become an entrepreneur, you need to be comfortable with taking risk, calculated risk, but still risk. Most people are not comfortable with risk, so if you are one of them, I advise you against it.
It’s feast or famine the first couple of years. If you excel at what you do it will eventually become all feast.
You’re working 24/7.
The stress that doesn’t leave you alone after working hours and on the weekends, vacations, etc.
If you have problems they are your problems. The buck stops with you.
Managing people – employees can be tough, its so important to get the right people in the correct position.
Finally the hours – especially when starting up, it will consume your life if you are not careful you will lose any balance in life. Try to keep good habits of sleep and going to the gym, doing fun activities, etc.
Some of these downside comments, utterly depressing and lacking in positivity, make me wonder how much thought, time, and consideration went into development of the business idea, the startup, the evolution to a final thing, and the scaling to “full time,” even for a 1-person show, and how much business savvy and life experience was sprinkled-in for good measure.
Everything except having a manager breathe down your neck and growth potential, imo.