What It’s Really Like To Be an Entrepreneur
I know because I’m doing it
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This is the kind of article that should be in The Startup (Or StartItUp or whatever it is called nowadays) or Better Marketing, or one of the big publications.
It’s a true first-hand account about entrepreneurship, which, of course is what those publications are supposed to be for.
But it won’t get in.
It won’t neatly fit the bizarrely specific submission criteria they suddenly have, or they’ll get snooty about the fact that it’s not written by a “big name writer” (if it was, it would sail through whatever the subject).
And this gives a vital insight into what it’s really like being an entrepreneur.
Let Me In
Being an entrepreneur is about trying to open doors that are shut (sometimes for very bad, strange or political reasons).
It’s about working out which doors to not even try to open and which ones to walk away from.
And it’s about knowing when to spend hours, days, weeks, months (and yes, even years) carving your own way through the wall so you don’t even need a door.
As an entrepreneur there are walls all around you. And you need to find a way through them.
It’s a giant problem-solving exercise.
This makes it annoying, time-consuming and confusing… but very rarely dull. It’s fun and keeps your mind working, fresh and vital.
What waits on the other side of all those walls? Fame? Fortune? Well, perhaps, but honestly neither of those interest me that much.
On the other side is… Proof that something can be done better.
That’s all it is. As an entrepreneur, whatever your line of business, to succeed you need to improve on what’s there or offer something new.
A plumber is no different from a mad-scientist inventor. Both think they can do things better.
In the plumber’s case it may be that their patch is under-served, or they can do the job in a way that is more appealing (perhaps they start earlier, or work later, or you can book their time on an app instead of the classic “I’ll try to fit it in…
