“It’s the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you.” The famous line from “Million Dollar Baby” harps incessantly on entrepreneurship and what it takes to be one. What draws contrast, is how more than 50 percent of new businesses lose their grip in just a few years.
You can read thousands of cautionary tales, you can watch ted talks all day and read all the books on entrepreneurship but no matter what you have read or watch it’s wise to think hard before you take the plunge. It’s only natural to figure out ways how you can be an entrepreneur. However, what’s more important is to mull over the signs that tell you just the opposite.
You prefer to stay in your comfort zone
Entrepreneurship demands flexibility. Some days you could be writing about your product or services. Other days, you might spend on cold calls, pitching, and channeling sales. Ask yourself. What did you recently that scared you? Or made you feel uncomfortable? If you can’t recall anything, that might suggest you are not a risk taker, which puts you way out of the league.
You must be aware of Jack Ma’s rags-to-riches story. Well, let me tell you this. His success didn’t come overnight, and the man has succumbed too many rejections in his life until he discovered his Midas touch. That’s what entrepreneurship is all about. Moving out of your comfort zone and taking risks to build on your dreams, something that most others wouldn’t do in the first place.
Work-Life Balance tops your list
To strive towards work-life balance is a noble endeavour, but not when you are considering entrepreneurship for life. The whole idea of work-life balance is none existent, there is no line separating work from life.
However, if you think work is eating away at all the good things in your life, then, by all means, entrepreneurship is not for you.
If I just had that new …
We have all been there. How many times did you tell yourself, that only if you had that new smartphone or laptop, it would have made a difference? Do you believe it did? Can you quantify your gain? Guess not. Perhaps, it was just a fun toy to hang around. If you are looking to launch your startup, consider yourself lucky, if you can manage the “Must haves” only. On the flip side, any funds spend on something that’s just “good to have”, is eventually a waste.
You love to roll flat
Entrepreneurship, no matter what, is not for the weak hearts. Being an entrepreneur demands you take ups and downs with a grain of salt. You can’t be afraid of losing or expect things to go smooth all the way. When running a business, one day you might be climbing the hills of glory and on other day rolling down the steep curves. It’s all part of the same game.
You believe good things need no marketing
No matter how good your product is, the economy demands that you market for your product to best measures. That’s what keeps you in the news and the business that goes around. Come what, one must always be reassuring himself to invest revenue in marketing to keep up with competitors.
You procrastinate a lot
Time management is a skill that demands nurturing and is a must for any entrepreneur. At times, people work hard, but they seem to be running out of time to finish tasks. Such a scenario can be detrimental when you are running the show and calls for smart prioritizing of your tasks. In-fact as an entrepreneur you try and squeeze as much productivity out of your day as possible. If you are procrastinating things again and again, then why are you even working? Think about it.
You love your sweet “me-time”
Love managing your fantasy league? Or binge-watching maybe? Well, let me let you this. Entrepreneurship doesn’t cut you any slack. In other words, there is no scope for managing fantasy leagues, no binge-watching, and no “me-time”. Because every single moment is critical and quite a bit of time to cater to something that would help your business to grow. If you think that’s a huge sacrifice to make, then you can kiss your entrepreneurship dreams goodbye.
Not knowing what’s essential and what’s not
Generally speaking, every single task needs to be categorized before you address them. Not knowing to differentiate what’s important and what’s not can be a hindrance to entrepreneurship. Generally, one should classify tasks into four distinct categories:
- Important and urgent– These are tasks that cant wit and needs to be done and delivered right away. It can be a new quote for a project, hitting a deadline or a killer reply to secure a lead.
- Important but not very urgent –Such tasks which won’t end the world, if you don’t do them instantly. They can be writing emails to a returning client or updating your business social media account for good.
- Urgent but not very important– Getting new supplies for the office or renewing a business license can be considered an urgent task but doesn’t qualify as important to be done by you. One might pass it on to someone else to be taken care of.
- Neither urgent nor important–Nothing to say. Just get rid of these tasks. You might as well spend the whole day exploring a new business concept, but that won’t get you anywhere with what you are currently on.
You don’t mind giving up too early
Being an entrepreneur is more like running a marathon. There’s a good chance your adrenaline levels will shoot you running crazy for the first quarter of a mile before you slow down. When you are an entrepreneur, you should be ready to run all the while. There’s no stopping. There’s no looking back. Maximize your ideas for profit and get the show on the road. There is no saying no when there’s so much to do. Come what may, in entrepreneurship, you don’t give up.
You pass on problems
Do you pass on problems without thinking much? Entrepreneurship is one affair where the curtain raises and drops with you. As a decision maker, you should be adept at accepting faults and moving on with it. It is crucial that you realize that passing or ignoring problems will only make it bigger. Get a grip on the moment it creeps out.
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Contributed content
Founder Dinis Guarda
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