What Every Entrepreneur Must Know Before Taking The Leap of Faith

When I decided to take a leap into entrepreneurship, I had no idea what to expect. Turns out, becoming an entrepreneur wasn’t anything I thought it would have been. From 4 years of twists and turns as an entrepreneur, I’ve learned quite a lot.

In this article, I’m going to share what every entrepreneur must know before taking the leap of faith:

Balancing work and life is very tough

I became an entrepreneur at the age of 17. While my friends were out partying and enjoying their teenage years, I was meeting with clients and working through the night to make my business successful.

I often did wish that I could go out and do all the fun things my friends were doing, but I couldn’t always be there. Turns out entrepreneurship isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle. Everyone believes they’ll have enough time for both, but reality sets in after just a few months.

If you want to be truly successful as an entrepreneur, it’s going to be very tough balancing life and work simultaneously. If you had a lot of free time before, expect that to be cut down dramatically if you plan to start a business.

Fancy cars and fame don’t come with the title 

I learned about entrepreneurship when I became extremely frustrated with the various odd jobs I had taken. They made me miserable and I knew there had to be a better way to make some cash.

I came across this idea of entrepreneurship and read stories of people who were rich and famous. They had fancy cars, tons of cash and were looked up to by people of all ages. I thought by starting my own business, I would be entitled to the same thing.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The perks of entrepreneurship only come to you after you work your ass off and achieve results. Success is attainable, but don’t think it just comes with the title.

Action trumps everything

It’s one thing to talk about your ideas, but it’s something else to put them into action. You’re a wantrepreneur until you implement your thoughts.

When I became an entrepreneur, I was able to find success so quickly simply because I took action. I wasn’t scared of making mistakes or failing. I hit tons of barriers and made mistakes, but I learned quickly because I took action.

Test, test, test

When I first started my business, I was very foolish with the way I launched products. Instead of testing things or asking potential customers about it, I pushed out what I thought was right. This was a very poor approach.

Don’t waste a ton of money and resources until you’ve tested everything. Test the market, the product and the need before you go all in. Many principles such as the lean startup and my course share these tactics in much more depth. Instead of doing what you think is best, collect feedback and use those metrics to make decisions.

4 hour workweeks aren’t enough

I hadn’t heard about Tim Ferris until last year, but I was really disappointed to see how many entrepreneurs believed they only had to work 4 hours a week to be successful. If you’re just starting a business, expecting to work a few hours a week is simply insane.

If you really want to be a successful entrepreneur and build something worth millions or billions of dollars, you’re going to have work way more than 4 hours a week. A 4 hour workweek is possible when you’ve made a lot of money and can substitute your effort by hiring others.

It’s not about how much money your business makes

When I started out as an entrepreneur, the only metrics I focused on revolved around the amount of money the business was making. I ran my multimedia agency for a few years only to realize I was just a businessman. I was disgusted by that thought and decided I wanted to become an entrepreneur.

I put my business up for sale and focused on creating startups that had a purpose deeper than money. I’ve always said that money is the prize, but not the purpose. If you’re ONLY focused on making money, it’ll never come to you.

Money is an illusive object. Instead of chasing it, focus on a deeper purpose and the money will find you. What drives you and makes you want to become an entrepreneur? My ‘why’ was that I had the opportunity to be happy, do something I loved and create change in the world with my startups.

Conclusion

These are just a handful of lessons entrepreneurs should know before they take the leap of faith. Starting a business is very rewarding, but you have to be well-prepared for the journey ahead.

photo credit: Frankenspotter Photography via photopin cc