The Entrepreneurial Roller Coaster

Most entrepreneurs we’ve met who have been around for a while have shared with us that entrepreneurship can be as happy and as high or as sad and disappointing or scary as a roller coaster ride, sometimes both in the same moment.

Entrepreneurship is a journey, not a destination. As an entrepreneur following your journey and pursuing your start-up or growing your business, you will run into challenges and happy moments, and sometimes they can be at the same time.

You sign up a big client — that’s exciting. But at the same time, you realize it will be six weeks before you see any money from it. That can be scary. Or you lose a big client — that can be depressing. But at the same time, you are happy to remember you will see a large bonus based on the early termination clause of your contract. These things happen all the time in the entrepreneurial world.

Being able to weather economic downturns or slow sales and still survive is a key factor in making sure your journey continues on the path you desire.

This is why we encourage you to pursue entrepreneurship education. Occasionally, people confuse this with small business management education. While they have some similarities, they are actually quite different.

Understand that your entrepreneurial journey is challenging and exciting. Also understand that it can be scary. The training and education is not the same as learning to manage a small business that already has a rhythm and a system in place.

When you start a new business, the ability to weather storms and ensure that you have the resources needed to go on is critical. A good storm — a flood of new orders — can be dangerous if you don’t have a way to fulfill them.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What are you doing to ensure you could weather the storms, good or bad?

2. What are you doing to ensure you have continuous education in entrepreneurship?

3. What other resources or networks are you utilizing to ensure you have a successful journey?

_____

Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.