Entrepreneurship. Every once in a while, you may have toy with the thought of just throwing your resignation letter, walk out of the office on the last day of your employment, like a boss, and start your maiden journey on this road called entrepreneurship.
You may have been inspired by all the success (and perhaps sob) stories of the who's who in the business scene, and how their one leap of faith had propel them to live a life they never could have imagine - healthy wallets, work-life balance, their names and faces splash across glossy magazines, youtubes and et cetera. And most of all, making an impact in the family, community and maybe, just maybe, the world.
I applaud you for having that thought. In fact, I encouraged it. However, if you are feeling on top of the world with all the motivationl quotes and inspiring messages, let me just bring you down to earth for just a little while with this list of ugly truths of being a (mom)entrepreneur. After reading through my list, you are free to go up to cloud nine again. #justsayin #donthatmeplease
Disclaimer though: whatever list I have listed down here are based on my circumstances, my experiences and lessons I have learnt throughout my journey as an entrepreneur. You can take it with a pinch of salt, or you can read it as gospel truth. Your call.
Here is my list of ugly truths of being an (mom)entrepreneur (in no particular order):
1. You may be working 24/7
Depending on the nature of your business, you may be working hard for your business without recognising the time of the day. Most of us will be “Yay! I can sleep until whatever time I want, or sleet at whatever time I want.” In reality though, you’ll be trying your very best to slot in meetings and maximising time. Sometimes, you may even forgotten to allocate time to eat! Most of the entrepreneurs, or mommypreneurs, I know are working non-stop, in both business building and taking care of their own family. There are a handful of entrepreneurs who have the luxury to travel around, or sit in a fancy café the entire day. Truth be told, most of us don’t have that luxury. We do whatever we can in a bootstrap environment for our future.
2. Wait, where’s my money?
It is always wise to start off any businesses with some form of capital. This is more so to survive throughout the dry months. I started off without any capital but thank the heavens I still survive after my second year.
If you are looking to find a way to dig into the pockets of investors before you start a business, think again. Unless your business plan is solid, scalable and has a potential to earn lots of money, investors will look for you. If not, I suggest you work on whatever you have to build up your business, and then gain recognition from funders. I have talked to a VC before and he mentioned that usually they will not entertain those who come a-knocking on their doors. If they really want to fund you and your business, they will knock on your doors instead. Having said that though, you are always encouraged to try. Just make sure you have done solid research and able to help potential investors visualise their earnings, you are halfway there.
3. Be prepared to lose friends
This is, for me, the brutal-est of all brutal truths. I have lost many friends along the way for various reasons. Most of it because I did not have that much time to go out and spend time with them. Some of the reasons also involved bickering, disagreements, betrayals and many, many more. Sometimes I do find a quiet spot to do some reflection on myself, on whether I have done anything to make them leave from my life. Sometimes I realised where went wrong, sometimes I don’t. But, one of my mentors did tell me this: “Gem, some friends are meant to be lost. They are not worth your time.”
That gave me a wake-up call.
4. Entrepreneur’s Depression, it is real
Perhaps I am a melancholic, I have fallen into this trap a few times. Whenever something wrong happens, I will withdraw myself from the world a while. My mind will be flooded with negative thoughts, and I will doubt myself a lot. There are days when I just want to run away, cry all I want and disappear. However, in my personal opinion, I think going through this stage helped. It helped me a lot in reviewing where I stand in my business and how I can overcome the challenges I face. If you ever fall into this trap, just remember not to beat yourself up too much. Cry a little, rant a little. Once you have done that, the next step is to pick yourself up and move forward. You only have so much time to allow yourself to be down. Your business needs you to run it. The moment you stopped in your tracks is the moment your business will suffer.
5. There will always be nay-sayers
This is something that you will have to get used to. Despite the positive reassurance that you will be doing alright, or you are going in the right direction in your entrepreneurship, there will always be someone who will try to bring you down. They can be your family members, friends or even strangers. For whatever reason they do that to you along your journey, just take it as a constructive feedback to help you improve on yourself.
6. And if you are a mom, you will find it challenging to find time for yourself.
Maybe some of the mompreneuers out there will disagree with me on this one. Perhaps, my circumstance may be a little different: I am a single mommy with two bubbly and active boys. While it is indeed challenging for me to find time for myself, I am blessed to have my mom who helps me to take care of the children while I am away for meetings and business trips. While I said challenging, I always find my me time between 12am and 4am. A quiet night without any activity is a great way for me to calm down and rejuvenate myself for yet another active day.
These are just some of the things I have went through. I can tell you, it’s never easy to be walking on this journey of entrepreneurship. Most of the time, you will feel alone. You will need to learn to deal with that. However, don’t let it pull you down. Take it as learning points for you to grow in the business.
I am learning too.
