Entrepreneurship Is Tough

It's now nine months since I went on my own as an entrepreneur. And it has been the nine most difficult months of my life. I end up spending everything I make and income doesn't come in a predictable way. I am forced to change almost all aspects of my life -- the way I think, the way I work, the way I talk and the way I view myself. Ordinarily, it's good. It's like going through an accelerated personal and career development program. In a very short span of time I have learned to do marketing, generate sales, manage numerous concurrent projects and manage clients. The trouble is making money can be extremely difficult for a techie like me in a not-so popular niche like I am. Just the same way those gifted with business management skills struggle to get a money generating technical skill. I have surpassed my expectations in the technical side of my business but constantly dragged down by the business side of my business.

image: linkedin.com

That is what makes entrepreneurship tough. Your skills are linked like a chain and you will always be limited by the weakest link in that chain. You will work hard and get stronger in a lot of things but there will be that one part that keeps wasting your efforts. If your strength is along the business line, then it would be the technical side of your business. I have come across entrepreneurs whose products/services have easily fixed flaws. They are near perfect at getting deals and making sales, but technical support and product quality aren't good. And there are those at the other spectrum, like me, whose products/services are always highly satisfactory but their business deal making skills are terrible. I am yet to have a client, both local and foreign, who is not very impressed with my work. They even praise me so much I feel bad sometimes: if I am that good then why isn't the cash rolling in.

It's amazing that even though I focused more on improving my business skills and trying hard to be less techie, I still ended up with all the technical side of my business operations being very well structured. With little trouble I built a suitable company website, set-up my e-business tools and have a great online presence. Yet the parts I put in more efforts in trying to make better are not noticing my efforts. So now I am forced to give up and get someone to handle my business side. It looks like what I should have done long ago, right? Well, the truth is if everyone does what is obvious to do, more people will be running their own business. That is why even CEOs of big companies still often don't do what is so obvious to do, that even the junior staff know should be done to better the company. It's part of what makes us human: looking the reality in the face and ignoring it. And when you are an entrepreneur, it makes your life very difficult.