Making it is not easy. If you’re an entrepreneur you already know this by now. For some of you, it may feel like walking through a snowstorm – poor visibility, a lot of headwinds and an unaccommodating environment. Yet you still keep pushing through.
A true entrepreneur is not driven by external forces or pressures but in them resides a powerful force to keep pushing forward, even when things don’t seem to work out. Perhaps you’re an entrepreneur with great ideas but not enough capital to execute any of them, perhaps you have the capital but you’re marketing strategies are not panning out the way you had hoped. Perhaps you want to throw in the towel because it seems the only way to make it is to ‘cut deals’ or engage in questionable activities.
Unfortunately, it’s not meant to be easy – and that’s OK. Challenges force you to grow. They force you to think outside the box. They force you out of your comfort zone and you start to reason in a different dimension. Challenges season you. You learn the art of negotiation, people management, administration, finance, business strategy – I doubt you will learn all these skills concurrently elsewhere.
You learn how to be resilient, how to believe in yourself when many may lose hope in you. You learn how to be a fortress – to stand in spite of seemingly insurmountable barriers. You begin to stand out from the crowd and start to gain a deep understanding of your personal identity and purpose.
You learn how to think smart. The lack of capital no longer becomes a barrier, you figure out how you can start with the little you have and make it work. You learn how to woo customers to purchase your products through tiny acts of kindness – you’d be surprised how a passing compliment can go a long way. You learn that it’s not about making that 1 million in four weeks but it’s more important to build a stable sustainable business with a reliable team that makes a difference in the society; So that when you’re gone you won’t be remembered for your wealth but for the impact you had in people’s lives.
Making it is never easy. But let the hustle be worth it.