5 Incomfortable truths that no one tells you before starting a business
1. YOU WON'T WORK LESS THAN BEFORE...
There is a myth that says if you have your own business you may work whenever you want, you do things the way you want, you wake up when you want, you go on holiday when you want, you are your own master. As an entrepreneur, you will quickly find out that some of your clients may be more demanding than any boss you had or you could have had. Although apparently nobody tells you what to do, and no one sets deadlines for you, you will find put that everyone has expectations from you: your clients, your providers, your employees, your accountant. Without someone to assign you tasks to do, you will find yourself in the situation of leaving on delegation at 5:00 AM, making payments while you are in your car, or substituting your employee who suddenly got ill exactly when he was supposed to have an important presentation to one of your clients. Therefore, many times, the enthusiasm of "working for yourself and not for another" makes you not notice that in your new capacity as an entrepreneur you work much more than use to when you were an employee.
2. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GIVE UP...
One of the benefits of being an employee is that you can change your job whenever you feel that there are things that dissatisfy you: maybe you got bored with what you do, maybe you want to try something new, maybe you feel like you're being exploited, maybe you're less paid compared to how much you work. Moreover, you can always go to job interviews, look for a job abroad, or leave for a job to the competitors. As an entrepreneur, you have given up all these privileges. If what happens in your company does not please you, you cannot go to the competition, you must be the one who takes the recovery measures, the one who finds for himself and others the motivation to continue. Therefore, if as an employee you can be the first to leave the ship, as an entrepreneur, you will be the one to turn off the light!
3. THINKING IS NOT ENOUGH, YOU ALSO NEED TO ACT...
If you imagine before you start the business that you will get into a cloister palace where you will practice your skills as a strategist and give valuable indications that your employees will operationalize and you will see the business growing as the day goes by, you are far from the truth. We agree that you have to think about the business strategy, but you also have to do something to turn it into reality. As an entrepreneur, there are things that your employees certainly can't do for you (otherwise, if they could or would like to, they would be entrepreneurs as well) and you might be amazed that there are lots of such things. Therefore, if you are thinking of starting a successful business, be prepared not only to think about what to do, but to do many of the things you are thinking of!
4. THE POWER OF YOUR EXAMPLE IS AMAZING!
A successful entrepreneur is the one who builds the image of his own company. If you come to the office negligently dressed, if you leave your papers scattered all over, if you have a suburban vocabulary, if you talk badly to your clients, if you come to the office at 12:00 o’clock, when the work schedule starts at 8:00, don't expect any of your employees to behave differently than you do. Your business will never convey more than what you convey to your customers, employees, business partners. Therefore, always make sure that when you go to the office or meetings or when you take any action with an impact on the business, you show others the best version of you. The power of the example matters. A good example does not necessarily produce good results, but it has a much higher chance of doing so than a bad example.
5. THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS IS A RESULT, NOT AN OBJECTIVE!
When you start a business, it is normal to want to be successful, just remember that success is the meeting between effort and chance. Of the two variables, only EFFORT is the one under your control. Therefore, do everything that depends on you, access as many customers, go to as many meetings, try to take as many opportunities as possible, establish as many connections as possible with people who can contribute to the development of your business, be open , honest and always respect the rules of the game. Be prepared to respond to challenges, be prepared to take responsibility, learn, accumulate, and be positive. In other words, wait for CHANCE!
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