The Big Hurdle of Being an Entrepreneur
/As a budding entrepreneur, you probably have an idea for your business. The next step is a plan. After that are some other steps. Already this outline is a lie due to it's unfailing linearity. The truth of being an entrepreneur is far more complicated. That idea for your business is probably blurry at best; the plan is constantly evolving, and the next steps are difficult to locate and get to.
A great business proposition and a solid plan are important for entrepreneurs, and they are not the "make or break it" part of being an entrepreneur. In order for a business to be successful it needs an owner who is flexible and resourceful. If you've ever worked on a team that talks about "building the plane while flying it," being an entrepreneur is like build the plane while flying it, while also developing the blue prints as you go, sourcing the materials and not freaking out that the plane is basically in a free fall. (Thankfully most entrepreneurs find ways to mitigate that "free fall" part before launching their own business. ...though it doesn't mean it's not still a little nerve wracking!)
As a new or soon to be entrepreneur, how do you cultivate flexibility and resourcefulness? As I see it there are two tool sets that allow flexibility and resourcefulness to happen: plentifulness and curiosity.
The plentifulness tool set (synonymous with an abundance mentality) has two components: actually having some resources, and believing that you have resources. You need to be clear on what resources you have and how to keep them in your life. This could mean saving before launching your business. It could mean being clear with who in your life supports you, financially and/or emotionally and to what extent. Maybe it means joining a Buy Nothing group so new things can float into your life for free, and choosing value over scarcity. The other side of this coin is that the status of your resources should take up a minimal amount of your brain space. This means that dipping into your rainy day fund on a metaphorical rainy day shouldn't be a source of great stress, and nor should leaning on friends and family when you need them. You set aside the rainy day fund for a reason, and you have your support network for a reason. Let them function in their intended roles.
If the plentifulness tool set is the fuel, then the curiosity tool set is the steering wheel. Curiosity and a sense of discovery are the drives that let entrepreneurs find clarity in that blurry image of their dream business, make edits to the plan, and discover next steps where they never would have expected. For some it's a scientific process of testing a hypothesis, and for others it good old trial and error, or "hey let's see what happens!?" How ever you do it, it's far from a single straight line; likely it zigs this way and that. Entrepreneurs never have the game plan figured out 100% from the get go, and in fact, the rigidity of trying to stick to the game plan you set out with is a death knell for owner operated businesses. The benefit of being small is being agile, and sticking needlessly to a now out of date plan is the dead opposite of agility. What this means in your day-to-day decision making is that you can feel free to go on periodic fruitless explorations. Some may be fruitless, but some will give you more clarity and open new doors.
Whether you're already running your business, or if you're just thinking about it, you can start cultivating flexibility and resourcefulness at any time. The sooner you get started, the sooner your business will be thriving and as an added bonus you'll likely be enjoying your business far more!
Need some help cultivating flexibility and resourcefulness? Contact me about one-on-one coaching to help build those skills!
