I remember vividly the day I left my job as a management consultant and began the entrepreneurial journey that ultimately resulted in Emerging Demographics. One of the most satisfying feelings was a sense of ownership – I would live and die by my own work.
Entrepreneurs often talk about the extreme highs and lows of starting a business; we feel it so much more than any other profession in the world because our companies are just an extension of us. They are our vision, our labor, our hopes and our dreams.
The first few days of the business were incredible, I was running around getting incorporated, interviewing developers, researching the market, writing a preliminary business plan…and just basically running around like a wild chicken without a head. There was so much to do – and I was on such a high. I was the king of a company and finally all of my ideas would be implemented. No more fighting bureaucracies, hierarchies, and Sr. managers. I was finally going to prove that I had it in me to build a company. Like I said, there are some really extreme highs in starting a business.
But there are also incredible lows. A few days later I ran into my first problem. I spoke to seasoned business professional and he asked me how I was going to distribute my product. I told him some of my thoughts, but he ripped them apart. He told me to go back and find a job. I felt crushed, maybe I didn’t know everything, and maybe I was taking on a stupid, crazy risk before I was ready. Maybe my brilliant idea wasn’t so incredible.
These highs and lows happen just about every day in business, but the way to level them out and build a business while maintaining emotional sanity is to surround yourself with loved ones who will help you and guide you no matter what. One of these key people in my life taught me a very valuable lesson during those early days. He said that there is a common denominator that all successful entrepreneurs share – a willingness to accept criticism and failure, learn from it, and overcome it. He told me I had a choice, I could get knocked down by every failure that I was going to encounter or I could analyze it and figure out a way to knock it back and be stronger because of it.
So I did just that, I thought about distribution, I put together a plan and I continued forward. I fought my inexperience, I challenged myself by my future failures and I continued forward.
Being an entrepreneur is a great feeling, but be weary of those highs and lows. Don’t get too caught up in the highs to think that you or your business are brilliant or a sure thing, and don’t let the lows make you doubt your ability to overcome or circumvent the challenges that will present themselves.
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