Do you dream of starting your own business? Take the leap, but be honest with yourself.
It takes a certain amount of discipline to be an entrepreneur, and certainly not everyone has it in them by default; it has to be learned and acquired. But you can do this. You can be your own boss. You can escape the life as a wage earner. You can realise your dreams and ideas.
The journey requires discipline
Being an entrepreneur is a long and challenging journey. For many, the leap will be like taking part in an off-road motor race with an old, half-dead passenger car with ordinary tyres for tarmac. You’re alone in the car, it’s running out of petrol and it needs repairs, but time is running out because you need to get to your destination before the other drivers, who incidentally have better cars than you, overtake you. The other drivers are mostly right on your tail, keeping an eye on which roads in the terrain you are successfully driving and which roads they should stay away from. Furthermore, you can’t afford gas, there are no mechanics to help you, and you’ve had to give up a lot of quality time with your friends and family to participate.
Are you ready to take part in such a race?
Life as an entrepreneur is not for everyone, and meeting this world comes as a surprise to many. We are used to having a parent, educator, school teacher, boss or big brother tell us what to do and teach us how to do it best. This won’t work anymore. You will have to stand on your own two feet and find your own way. Of course, you can always ask for help, but no one is going to tell you what to do in the first place. You’ll have to find out for yourself before you even know what to ask for help with. The point of being self-employed is that you have to be independent. No one is going to get you out of bed and into work either. We’re used to being “motivated” by workplace meeting times: if we don’t show up at 8 am, we’ll just get fired. As an entrepreneur, you need to learn about discipline. You start the journey with a certain amount of motivation and enthusiasm, but it’s discipline that takes you all the way. Motivation goes up and down in periods, and it’s in the periods of lack of motivation where you need to remind yourself why you started as an entrepreneur in the first place. You need to be disciplined — even when it’s hard.
Words of an experienced entrepreneur
Daniel Hansen from OMNIA knows these thoughts, dreams and aspirations well. Already as a young teenager, he took the leap and became an entrepreneur. Today, he has several adventures on his resume. Therefore, he also knows about the motor race, and he knows how important discipline and perseverance are.
Daniel Hansen’s motivation for being an entrepreneur has always been in the work process: to create something new. For Daniel, the most important thing is not to be able to escape the life of a wage earner, to become his own boss or to make a name for himself in a particular industry. Daniel was motivated by the process of starting from scratch, creating something new and seeing it flourish, and he still is today. For many other serial entrepreneurs, the same factors apply.
But there are many other reasons why people become entrepreneurs:
- They want freedom
- They are too ambitious for a regular job
- They are addicted to risk and adrenaline
- They are impatient
- They are creative.
You should be completely honest with yourself before taking the leap. Is this even a life suited for you? Will you be comfortable with the lifestyle? At the same time, though, don’t hold back. Even if your idea or business isn’t successful, the lessons you’ll learn will be invaluable for the rest of your life. You’ll get to know yourself better, and that will benefit you in every other aspect of your life.
I am ready. What now?
When the internet exposes you to success stories, big houses, expensive cars and people who get up at their leisure every morning to exercise, meditate, read a book, take a cold bath and then get down to work as a self-employed person, it’s no wonder that many people yearn for this life. Hopefully this article has given you a reality check… buying that Porsche is entirely possible but it’s long way off.
Once you’ve reflected on the mental aspect and you’re ready to take the leap, you’ll need to get to grips with a lot of the practicalities of being self-employed. The subject is far too big to be covered in this article, so you’d do well to read on elsewhere. You can always find help and even a partner. Some people want to do everything themselves, and that’s fair, but it’s definitely easier if you have someone along for the ride. Then you don’t have to learn all about business economics, finance, marketing, sales, communication, product development and everything else it takes.
The next step is to find the idea. What do you want to work on? Find your raison d’être.
Learn from the best
At OMNIA Global we have launched a podcast series called “The Dot Connectors”. Its purpose is to dive into the world of entrepreneurship with personal stories from some of the world’s most creative and succesful entrepreneurs. The guests starring on the podcast include myself, Daniel Hansen, but you will also hear the stories of the CEO’s of Ventum Dynamics and Diply, among others.
You can find the podcast “The Dot Connectors” by OMNIA Global on most podcast services:
Have a listen! As of October 13th 2021, we have published three episodes, but many more are on their way.
