I don't know from where but, once upon a time I heard that "an entrepreneur is someone who is willing to do for two years what others aren't". What this means is make the sacrifices required to invest in and do the work for a potential future position. Although there are many caveats and sensitivities required, I find that it is a pretty decent approach to mitigating the tendency to rush and feelings of instant gratification as it means going in knowing that there is at least two years ahead.
A lot can happen in two years and many changes will come, there is a lot of failure and a great deal that will influence decision making and process but, this is also easier to handle if there is the understanding it is part of the process, part of the investment. For many, the investments they make are of the passive kind where some amount is put in and allowed to grow but, when building a business, there is usually very little luxury to be passive.
Entrepreneur is the agent noun of enterprise (to undertake). An undertaking is an action, a building process, not a set and forget position. Someone who is enterprising is someone who is an active builder, a developer, a creator. As I see Steem, this is the perfect place for a small entrepreneur to invest themselves and work toward a larger position as it takes essentially zero upfront investment and offers many pathways to create upon.
Because of the nature of the platform and its expanding use case, essentially any business imaginable can be somewhat connected and developed upon the Steem infrastructure and, any niche is possible to create if one is active, a creator. Is it easy? Not by any stretch of the imagination but, it is easier than many other possibilities to do the same. At the moment, there is much lower competition in Steem and a much higher potential ceiling than in many other business areas, especially if creating online content. I don't think there is an easier place to earn something without already having an established name or brand.
Essentially though, Steem is a massive Entrepreneurial undertaking that is filled with thousands of micro entrepreneurs undertaking their own developments and looking to create a position for themselves here. Again, it isn't easy and even though there are many various pathways, there are many obstacles in the way that come through other users, laws, bureaucracy and cronyism. Pretty much the same as any business.
Overcoming these aspects is not only a difficult undertaking itself as it requires a great deal of learning and work, it is also an endless process as the operating environment is in a continual state of flux, it is always changing. Every change creates new opportunities and risks but also affects the dynamics of the platform means, it handles differently and all the different users will adjust themselves to try to achieve their own goals.
I remember you saying something about how you felt that easing life now meant borrowing from the future and you didn't want to do that. Do you have a specific time in mind for when "the future" is?
I can't say when the future actually is but, I am just over halfway through my initial investment approach time. I have been on the platform since January 2017 but have really only taken it seriously the last 15 months or so. By seriously I don't just mean my content, but my commitment to myself to put the effort in and see if I can develop something here. This is part of the sacrifice and it is a risk considering I could definitely use a little of the value in my life now.
However, without Steem my life would be much the same except that I wouldn't have the potential for the future I do here. I still would have the money to invest in and, I am quite certain I wouldn't be activated enough to do all of the learning that I do along my way as I build a position here. As I see it, the investment time and effort isn't the sacrifice, the opportunity cost of what else I can do in that time is and since I have taken the position that the future here is bright, the opportunity outweighs the cost. It is a risk but, it is also bolstered by my belief that what we have the opportunity to do here goes far beyond the value of the currency and this provides meaning to the activity, not just investment return value.
I do not know what the future holds nor do I know if any of the work we do here will pay off at all but, this is the position of an entrepreneur and if one isn't willing to invest into what one believes in, is there a belief at all? I do not know when the future will be that I choose to consider my position but, two years is a good time to review what is actually going on.
That is some time away and a lot can happen in between both negative and positive but again, I am bullish on the upside and confident that the downsides can be overcome. When I say consider my position, it isn't about leaving Steem, it is about reflecting on the next steps and whether I am still willing to continue investing as much of myself as I can in. Even though I do this as part of the process daily, at some point I will have to take a more passive role.
However, this is still the building, not the maturing phase of the platform and there is a great amount of work to be done in a lot of different areas. I am a content producer, it is the position I have taken and it is what I consider my core competence so, it is what I do. If I was a coder, I would create something altogether different and if I was a financier, a different path would ensue again. We all have something to offer though and we are all part of the larger undertaking as we all influence the environment in some way or another.
I find it all very cool and, who doesn't want to be involved in cool stuff?
A passive investor is valuable, an active one with vision is priceless.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]