Don’t Wait Too Long To Be An Entrepreneur. (Conversation Starter, Harvard Business Publishing Online)
Waiting for the “perfect time” to make the jump is usually futile, for there’s no moment that’s truly perfect. It’s never the best time.
Quit dreaming.
Now that’s quite a challenge for a self-proclaimed doodle-stare-into-space daydreamer.
Am I done serving my corporate sentence?
I currently go to work in board shorts, a tank top, tsinelas, and when I feel like it, a bandanna to keep my hair off my face. I take my lunch whenever I want; put on whatever music suits me. I can take naps in between (oh joy, reminiscent of kindergarten years!), watch TV when I need to space out and clear my head. The lack of “officemates” i.e. human interaction, I thoroughly enjoy- imagine, no mean looks, no bitchy divas, no weirdos lurking in the coffee corner. It also means I sometimes get starved for real people interaction, thus the occasional mass-text to friends, just so I’d have an excuse to get dressed and put on that new pair of heels. Yes, I miss dressing up, too.
I have a pretty tin can with vintage Wonder Woman (who looks suspiciously a drag queen) print. Its supposed to be my stash-keeper for my profits. I can still close it easily as I can open it. It’s not supposed to do that. Maybe I should start my Christmas carol drive; the coins do make for nice-sounding clanging.
When you’re employed, you work day in and day out and although one has to very careful and thorough in the way you do your work, there is more room for learning, coaching and the occasional bungle up, provided you don’t trigger corporate catastrophe.
It may be that I tend to be harder on myself, but running a business means a more personal stamp on things and for a perfectionist, that’s not very easy. I’ve learned the art of letting go several times over- I have no choice, I’m the boss, I can’t tear my hair out. Can I?
On the other end of the spectrum, in the corporate world, no matter what or how you do, you are assured of a salary every X number of days. Very comforting security blanket. Running a business, you learn that finer point of budgeting. I have a current love-hate relationship with Cash Flow.
Since I came from an HR background, I am at least familiar with the area. Marketing, too, since I’ve been trying to compensate by reading a lot on the topic, and thankfully, a natural inclination. But what about finance and accounting? I cannot just as easily refer to a “department” as I could in my previous offices. There IS no other department but us. We just had our business cards printed, pretty little ones with the impressive title: Managing Partner under our own names. Our job descriptions? Everything from picking up stocks, going through every single inventory, cleaning up our messes, writing our strategies, going on field, meeting prospective clients, getting lunch, putting up the website, doing research and development, among many, many others. Essentially, since we cannot afford staff –heck, even pay ourselves yet- these Managing Partners mean do-it-all-by-ourselves. Fun. (Errant thought: this is my standard-and very true- reply to every relative/acquaintance who asks me why I don’t have a boyfriend - I don’t need a boyfriend, I need an assistant. In between doing my laundry, chores & errands, still job-hunting, running a business and keeping my soul alive, an assistant would be heaven-sent. Notice the term, acquaintance. I’d like to think closer friends know me better.) So you see, as inspiration for why I’m writing this post, a reaction from the same article:
Don’t Wait Too Long To Be An Entrepreneur. (Conversation Starter, Harvard Business Publishing Online)
“Well today is my birthday, 40. And I am just finishing year 1 of my own venture. I have professional investment backing. A product in its infancy. Two large clients and a dozen smaller ones and a lot in the pipe.
So that means I have that CEO title, and I was sweeping floor this morning. Its 3:30AM and I am still at work, for the 2 all nigher (sic) this week. I don't have enough people, time or energy to deal with all the daily problems - like making a Costco run to get more printer paper. Yes the hours are arduous, my customers more demanding than the most incompetent boss I have ever had. My pay is paltry and I sometime need give it back. The work environment is less desirable than my college dorm room. But, the second half of my career looks so good from here! - Posted by Wellman; September 12, 2008 5:31 AM”
Why do we do this to ourselves then? Maybe, as I would like to think, all things great and worth doing are worth doing well. So please don’t get that misguided notion that being an entrepreneur is all glamour and freedom. It is so not, contrary to the “wow, big time” comments that I get. Yes, it may be glamorous- someday, when we’re reaping our rewards; someday, when I actually have the means to hire that assistant; someday, when we’re about to open our very first store on the beach. Yes, I actually feel great bits of freedom because I don’t have (yet) fixed hours- but not when you wake up on a rainy morning and you know you just need to get your butt off that lovely cold/warm bed and out under the blankets; not when inspiration strikes at 3am and it becomes a battle of sleep vs. strategies; not when you twiddle your thumbs in the afternoon because you wait for that inspiration to strike but somehow it finds its way niggling at your brain, yes, around 3ish in the morning; not when you need the discipline to get things done and actually accomplish something worthwhile.
So, everything’s new, everything’s freak-out-worthy-new and well, I’ll always, always be a work-in-progress.
I want to be able to wipe the slate clean and be unafraid to get it all muddied up again. I want to be surprised, and to surprise myself.
Reassembling myself, I’ve knocked off all the blocks and have started rebuilding.
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