3 Questions to Ask Yourself before Taking the Leap into Entrepreneurship

Starting a business is easy, but building one that lasts is tough. 

You can ask any entrepreneur and I’m sure they will tell you, “this isn’t for the faint at heart.”  Entrepreneurship requires a different level of grit, discipline, and hustle that many people don’t have the bandwidth to maintain long-term. 

It’s no secret that entrepreneurs are a special kind of crazy.  They are a club of people who chose to sacrifice norms to have the flexibility and freedom their hearts yearn for.  Instead of committing to working for another Chief Visionary Officer, they have opted to build their vision and that is no easy feat.  The emotional and financial rollercoaster ride that comes with entrepreneurship is enough to send even the most stable-minded person into an asylum.  

I remember the day I decided to officially start my therapy and coaching practice as a side hustle while working my corporate sales job.  The pride and joy that came with saying “I’m a business owner.” Was truly indescribable.  There I was after finally finishing my second degree, locking in a great job, and risking it all to moonlight at a downtown practice in Washington, D.C.  The thrill of ordering my first set of business cards with MY business contact information or walking into the subleased office space just a few blocks from the White House was like a dream come true.  Well, that was until reality set in...and I realized though I’m great at my craft, I have no idea how to run a business.  School never taught me this part of being a therapist and boy was I in for a treat.  

It took years for me to manifest as a full-time entrepreneur (5 to be exact) and even after taking my full-time leap, I made hella mistakes that stretched me in ways I didn’t even know existed.  

Before you decide to jump headfirst into the deep end of this entrepreneurship lifestyle, here are 3 questions to ask yourself:

Am I willing to make the sacrifice?  Time, money, sleep, vacations, etc.

First, let me start by saying sacrifice looks different for every single person so my experience may be very different from yours but we can agree that sacrifice is a requirement in entrepreneurship.  For me it meant and in some cases still means,  skipping vacations, hair salon visits, trips with friends, late nights/early mornings, etc.  There have been numerous occasions where I have had to choose between splurging on a want vs. investing in what I needed for my business at that time.  Sacrifice is required to achieve true success.  

Am I a Leader or a Builder?  Warning this question may hurt a bit but let’s face it...Everyone is not meant to be a full-time entrepreneur.  The truth is some people are better at helping others build their empires vs. building their own and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!  The key here is to truly understand your personality and how your natural work ethic.  Are you the type that likes to delegate or the type that likes to keep a running task list that you love to knock out?  Are you the type that likes to think “big picture” or the type that prefers for someone to tell you what the “big picture” is?  Regardless of which you identify with most,  you have to make a sound decision to stay aligned with your core. 

Can I be patient during the process?  Instant gratification is a rare thing in entrepreneurship. The closest you may get to that are the likes & comments you’ll get on social media.  But what many entrepreneurs don’t share is the long journey it takes to look like an overnight success.  Many times they launched a product, hosted a special sale, posted a new blog/vlog, and received no response.  Or the many behind-the-scenes technicalities, the late nights, and early mornings trying to complete deliverables and meet deadlines.  The many photos and videos taken to create picture-perfect content online or the many days of planning in hopes to avoid unnecessary pitfalls or the endless marketing efforts that produced zero return.  Entrepreneurship is a series of trial and error until you hit the right flow and touch the right pressure point.  Success is a culmination of timing and effort that no person can truly predict.  It just happens!  But to achieve it, you must be patient enough to move through the hard part and find joy in the journey