The American Dream was once the idea of having a good-paying job, a family, and a nice home with a white picket fence. Today, the American Dream has taken quite the turn.
For lots of people, to live the American Dream means owning your own business. The idea of being able to work as often or as little as you want, call the shots, and run your business how you want, are all facets of entrepreneurship that everybody wants. The only problem is that the idea that people have about entrepreneurship is literally all a dream… In other words, it’s not real.
If you were to ask any entrepreneur what it’s like to run their own business, the last thing they would say is that they’re living the life being able to work whenever they want. And for the entrepreneurs who can say that, they have already been an entrepreneur for so long that they can finally enjoy the fruits of their labor… If you ask an entrepreneur what it’s like to be an entrepreneur, one of the top responses you’ll get is its work.
The entrepreneurs you see today that are seemingly “living the life” had to overcome lots of challenges to be in the position they’re in today, and you can best believe that their success didn’t come overnight either. They had to endure several “no’s” when looking for funding for their business, rejections for business loans, and the harsh words of people telling them their idea was stupid or that they’d never be successful…
To be an entrepreneur is not only hard work but it can also be quite challenging and defeating. The only difference between entrepreneurs who are benefiting from their labor now and you just starting out as a budding entrepreneur is that you have resources to prepare you for your entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneurs back then didn’t always have the resources to prepare them for the challenges they were about to face… but you do.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Financial Risk
In knowing that you’re going to face some obstacles and challenges on your journey to entrepreneurship, are you willing to stay on your journey? Mentally preparing yourself for the upcoming challenges is key. If you are indeed willing to stay the course and follow your dream to entrepreneurship, here are some of the top challenges you will face before being able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Challenges All New Entrepreneurs Will Face
Stress and Self-Doubt
On the journey to becoming an entrepreneur, it’s going to get stressful, and it’s going to get so stressful that you begin to doubt yourself and question why you wanted to do it in the first place. You made the decision to become an entrepreneur for a reason but the naysayers and even the workload can sometimes take over your mind and overwhelm you, and it’s understandable to have these feelings, but don’t get lost in those feelings.
Despite the stress and self-doubt you have, you can do it; Practice tunnel vision when thinking about the future of your business with the bigger picture in mind.
Delegating Responsibilities
Delegating responsibilities is one of the hardest tasks for new entrepreneurs simply because it’s their business (their baby) and they feel that if they let anyone else run a particular area, they’re giving up control of their business… This is not the case at all.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs will proudly admit that they couldn’t run their business on their own without the help of many people. And that help also comes in the form of having the right tools in place to make their daily operations run smooth as well.
So now the question to you is are you willing to delegate some of your responsibilities in running your business? Maybe you hire an accountant or invest in software to make your daily operations more efficient… Whichever route you choose, it’s important to know that you can’t do it all. In fact, trying to do everything by yourself is one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make in running their business, and it ultimately plays a role in the downfall of it.
Quitting Your Current Job
Everyone knows that it takes money to make money, and in the beginning stages of starting your business, you’re going to have to keep your current job in order to continue to fund your business. But, if your business starts to take off, it’s going to require more of your time and it will indeed start to cut into time with your current job.
At some point, you will have to quit your current job because your business will become more and more demanding. This will be hard for some because your current job provides that sense of security that your business hasn’t established just yet. Keep tabs on your business’ profits… Once you see that your business is starting to profit equal amounts to what you would bring home from your current job, you can feel a little better about quitting.
There are many more challenges you will face as a budding entrepreneur but the ones listed above are some of the most mentally draining challenges that can actually cause you to give up over fear of failure and lack of security. Understand that owning your own business is indeed a risk but with great risk comes great reward. Don’t let fear stop you from accomplishing your goals… Mentally prepare yourself to face these challenges head-on.
