Greetings to everyone on this amazing community, I just discovered the @BeEntrepreneur community and I am so excited. This is my first post and I trust that I would be able to learn, unlearn and re-learn in order to be at the top of my entrepreneurial journey/pursuit.
Few years ago, I walked into a mini-mart in my home town and I saw an inscription on the wall that lived rent-free in my subconscious mind. It read thus "BUSINESS GROWS WHEN FRIENDS AND FAMILY PAY THEIR BILLS."
Today, I'll share one striking and outstanding lesson the above sentence has thought me as a young entrepreneur.
Firstly, the phrase "friends and family " depicts the importance of building long lasting relationships and the inexcusable gift of a supportive family. As an entrepreneur, if you haven't built meaningful and impactful relationships, it might be very difficult to convince your circle of friends to support you or to take whatever business you are doing seriously.
The reason for this might be due to the fact that you've never taken anything serious all your life and if your family doesn't believe in you, you can't convince an outsider or stranger to do others. When you are responsible and diligent, you will not most likely attract people from the same class.
Having said this, it is also important to note that "paying of bills" is what equally facilitate business growth. As an entrepreneur you must make people understand their boundaries and ensure you do not twist business with pleasure.
Every one is a client be it friends or family. Hence, If you do not set this boundaries, this same person's will be the first to ask you what your business return is at the end of the year.
Again, you can't keep loaning money for your business from them but you can comfortably expand your business when they pay their bills. Help them kill the entitlement mentality so that if doesn't break you down or affect your growth rate.
I'll share my story..
When I started out my pastry business, my dad felt entitled to every snack I made. I sincerely didn't have an issue but it got to a point when I found it difficult to restock my raw material.
It looked like I was working like an elephant but eating like an ant and this phase was so traumatizing. I knew there was a missing part in the puzzle but I found it difficult to grasp. I had to struggle between being a "good daughter" and "being a successful entrepreneur".
One funny thing was that my Dad was the first to always ask about my growth rate and trust me it was embarrassing.
I started journaling my expenses from how much I spent and would calculate my expected returns. There I noticed the missing part from the entire puzzle, I understood at that point that what I counted insignificant was the major factor that almost shutdown my business.
I stopped it immediately, was it an easy task?
NO
But did I do it? YES.
I kept telling myself that everyone would adjust soonest and we'll all be fine again.
I had to seat my entire family down to tell them how beneficial their support is to me and my brand. I'm grateful that they adopted the changes and we're all fine. At least we merry at the end of the year and that keeps us stronger.
I'll end by saying that entrepreneurs must learn to say NO and not feel guilty. Saying NO doesn't make you bad, if you must succeed, you must learn to be strict and discipline.
Remember the word "NO" is a complete sentence.
