No one tells you how hard it is to be an entrepreneur.
OK, I lied. People do. But I didn’t listen. I was a cancer survivor and a mother of teenagers. In comparison, I thought entrepreneurship was going to be a piece of cake. I could never have prepared for how difficult it actually is.
Since I like to keep it real, here are four things no one tells you about being an entrepreneur, and how to deal with them:
1. The work does not shut off.
I have always been a certified workaholic, but I didn’t really know what it meant to work 24/7 until I became an entrepreneur. The work never turns off. When you’re building your own business, there is always more to do. When I was a journalist, I could shut off from time to time. I could turn off my phone. Even as my responsibilities got harder and harder, at the end of the day, I had a salary no matter what.
That’s not the case as an entrepreneur. The boss gets paid last. I have a responsibility, not only to myself but to my team, to ensure our company is successful. I wasn’t prepared for the fact that there’s no end to my workday. I dedicate every spare minute I have to my business.
Overcome by: taking a break.
I don’t know if I would have listened when I was just starting out, but I wish someone would have told me to force myself to take a break every day. No one is going to watch out for you when you are running your own business, and it becomes increasingly difficult as the business grows to implement that time for yourself. It’s a lot harder to retroactively set a precedent than it is to set it from the start.
Here are some methods that have worked for me:
• I put reminders in my calendar to meditate.
• My Apple Watch reminds me to breathe. Sometimes it makes me realize I’ve been holding my breath!
• I keep post-it notes near my desk with reminders to myself.
• Most importantly, I have friends around me who won’t stop inviting me to things because they won’t give up. They are my lifeblood.
2. Your relationships will suffer.
When entrepreneurs are in the growth stage of their business (and sometimes beyond), the business overrules everything else. Basically, all of the relationships in my life have suffered somewhat. The ones who are my ride-or-dies are still with me, but I still wish I had prepared better for this sad aspect of entrepreneurship.
Overcome by: talking to loved ones.
Talk to your loved ones before embarking on this journey. Let them know that you’ve thought a lot about this, and balance is next to impossible. You will try your best to be there with them, but they have to be on board. It will be impossible to do this without their support.
3. There will be cutthroat people.
I was focused on my business, so I didn’t expect other people to be so cutthroat. I’ve lost friendships. I’ve lost business. All because people around me were operating from a place of scarcity. Entrepreneurship is a lonely job, so it’s an added disappointment when another woman doesn’t have your back.
Overcome by: seeking out fellow entrepreneurs.
There are tons of articles out there praising the benefits of mentorship, but the further you get in your career, the fewer options there are for people who have been through what you’re going through. When you’re early on in your career, everyone is a mentor. When you get to be a CEO (which all entrepreneurs are), there are fewer people who have walked in your shoes. So it’s all the more important to find your people. Actively seek fellow entrepreneurs who are wiser than you, and stay connected with them.
4. You can’t really prepare, but try.
I wish there had been a guidebook when I was first starting out on the entrepreneurship path on how to do it right. I didn’t have the luxury of researching every aspect of entrepreneurship before starting — I just dove right into leading my own business. To be an entrepreneur, you have to be a little crazy and delusional. If you aren’t, you won’t be successful, but I still could have prepared more than I did.
Like what, you ask? I wish I knew …
• More about the types of coaching out there so I could pick the right fit for me. I wish I knew to budget this in and what was reasonable to pay for it. After a while, I had so many coaches pursue me that I was overwhelmed and ended up spending too much.
• The importance of core values and how to establish a culture from the get-go. This, unfortunately, came later for me, and I would love for this to have been a part of my business at the very beginning.
• I needed support when it came to taxes. I didn’t understand how much to save and ended up getting killed by taxes. This is serious. You can’t just start a business and hope it works out — you need an expert who will explain it to you.
Overcome by: surrounding yourself with experts who will be honest with you.
One of the first investments I made was in an accountant because money has never been my strong suit, and I needed to know how much money to aim for at any given moment. Offset your weaknesses by hiring people whose strengths are different than yours.
Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. If it were, everyone would do it, because it’s also the most rewarding endeavor out there. If you have that calling inside your spirit, absolutely go for it. I’ve not once regretted starting my own business. At the end of the day, you can’t really prepare for something like entrepreneurship. You just have to dive in, head first, and swim as hard as you can.
