It's hard work, but the upside is you're investing in yourself, in your future, and you should have fun doing it. If you're not having fun you're doing something wrong!
We spend a tremendous amount of our time working, so the point is to do what we want to do, what we are passionate about. Remember, the journey is more important than the destination. It's so easy to forget that. If you're not paying attention you will soon find that you are slaving away one day at a time, consoling yourself at the thought of it all being worth it in the end. How mundane! Why are we so hard on ourselves? Because we are conditioned to think that it takes blood, sweat and tears to reach our biggest goals. I challenge you to rethink that - you can make your biggest dreams come true through fun, excitement and a whole lot of hard work. If you're following your passion you are already making it 50% easier for yourself to reach your goals and you will ensure that it's easier to enjoy yourself on your journey, working your way to your destination enthusiastically!
Be a go-getter
Photo by: Andy Beales
For as long as I can remember, my grandfather would say: "You have to be a go-getter in life! Opportunity is not going to fall in your lap, you have to go out there and grab it by the horns". It’s good advice. As kids we were very fortunate to grow up around my grandfather, he has always been a great source of wisdom and inspiration to us all. This bit of advice has particularly proven very valuable to me over the years. I’ve always been able to push myself to make things happen rather than to sit around waiting for small miracles. I think I owe a lot of my achievements in business to that. In my early twenties, my friends would say “when my ship comes in…” whilst, instead, I would say “I don’t have time to wait for my ship to come in, so I’m swimming towards it”. It’s funny how little bits of advice can stick with you and have such a big impact on your life. My advice to entrepreneurs starting out is to go out there and make things happen. Take each day on with a strong will to succeed, no matter what blows you were dealt the previous day - you have to roll with the punches.
Network, a lot!
Photo by: Paul Bence
You need to seek out networking groups and events. Put yourself out there to make contacts and if you’re shy you need to do even more of this than the next guy, because practice makes perfect. A great way to get over the fear of meeting new people is to waiter. Consider taking up a waitering job, it will do wonders for your self-esteem!
I also highly recommend joining a BNI chapter in your area. BNI is short for Business Network International. It’s a global business referral organisation. Read more about BNI here. BNI can be costly so if at first you are not able to afford it, go to a few meetings as a guest and ask the members if they know about any other cheaper or perhaps even free networks around town. I used to frequent so many of these meetings and events that I eventually grew tired of it, but it helped me build a client base that propelled me to the point where I now have a big budget to spend on a wide range of excellent marketing strategies which brings a constant flow of prospective clients to our doors.
Don't cheap out on marketing material
Photo by: Igor Miske
You are going to put yourself out there amongst more seasoned entrepreneurs and first impressions last. I remember how much money we spent on our first business cards, it was quite an investment at the time seeing as we didn't have much money, but it paid off very soon. I regularly received compliments when I handed out my business cards to new contacts. Small things like that boosts your confidence which is a lot more important than you might think. A salesman who sells with unwavering confidence is the most convincing of them all. Every little thing that adds to your confidence is a secret weapon. Don’t be arrogant though, just sell yourself in a self-assured, positive light and when it comes to your marketing material you should be able to hand over your business card with pride; tell prospective clients to visit your website without secretly feeling embarrassed over what they'll find; pass on a brochure assertively and so forth. Remember, it’s all an extension of you and your business.
Set short-, medium- and long-term goals
Photo by: Joshua Earle
It is important to know where you're headed, it puts things into perspective. You can't have a race without a finish line. You need to decide what it is you want to achieve and map out the steps you will have to take to reach those achievements. You can have many short-term goals and you should be able to achieve those within a time-span of a week to a few months, 3 or 4 months maximum. You should have less medium-sized goals and these should be achievable within a maximum of 24 months. Your long term goals should be a lot less and I wouldn’t recommend setting a time-frame of longer than 5 years to achieve these.
None of this needs to be cast in stone, you can be flexible with your goals and timelines. As you progress through your short and medium term goals your long term goals might change and that’s fine, as long as you constantly have an image in your head of where you’re going to be in a specified amount of time.
Keep your ear to the ground
Photo by: Sergey Zolkin
If you’re reading this and you are already an active steemian then I don’t really need to lecture you on keeping your ear to the ground, because that is exactly what I’m talking about. Steemit is still such a young platform and it truly is a revolutionary system. If you’re already a part of it you are keeping your ear to the ground. Keep it up, don’t let go of that urge to know what’s going on around you all the time. What’s the next big thing everyone’s talking about?
Entrepreneurs need to be aware of booming markets before they get saturated by the masses, because that’s where opportunity lives. Get in when it’s relatively new and constantly outpace the competition. That's a sure-fire way of owning a generous piece of the market.
Start a dialogue
Once again I thank everyone for reading this and I hope my 2 cents can add some value to your lives and ventures. Please feel free to ask me any questions in the comments section below, I’d be happy to assist further where I can.
If you haven’t read the previous posts of this 5 part series please do so here:
What's so hard about being an entrepreneur anyway part 1
What's so hard about being an entrepreneur anyway part 2
What's so hard about being an entrepreneur anyway part 3
Take care,
Sincerely BegToDiffer
Thank you, I read all 4 posts in this series. I cannot wait for the last one.
A lot of what you said resonated with me, but I did notice that you put a lot of emphasis on HARD WORK which is as true as can be! A lot of people don't realize how hard they will be working, but as you said if the passion and driving force is there, it will make the journey more bearable!
For me's it's more about rather working hard for myself than for someone else. Luckily I do realise that I have a lot of new things to learn and will not let FUD bring me down.
You've made the right choice. From what you said in your post I can see that you are taking a calculated risk. That's the trick, never be afraid of taking risks, but do plan your moves carefully and above all else have fun! :)
Great post @begtodiffer Thank you for sharing this truly valuable information.
Thanks @builtinfire, if it's helping someone out there I'm happy :)
This post came at the right time when I needed some inspiration on my entrepreneurial quest. Thank you for this enlightening piece
Thanks for reading :) I'm very glad that you've found the post helpful and inspirational.
Looking back on my working life, I must say if this type of advice had come my way perhaps it would have changed my direction.
Every point you have raised has been something to follow, have a plan and only deviate if something has been tested and tried before putting it on the back burner.
Too many years in corporate world, although enjoyed never gives the same satisfaction as doing it for yourself.
Thanks for your feedback @joanstewart. I tried my hand at the corporate world very briefly, but I couldn't cut it. I lacked the confidence and motivation required to climb the ranks. I used to be envious of my friends who seemed to climb the corporate ladder with ease. Looking back now though I wouldn't change a thing. We all have our roles to play.