The one thing I know more than any other about being in business is that the constant up’s and downs of the entrepreneurial lifestyle can deeply affect your energy and mood.
The last twelve months of unprecedented trading restrictions from governments around the world has certainly had its effect on countless businesses’ performance. However behind the headlines and the figures there is a very human story. That story is of the thousands of business owners, not only trying to keep their business afloat, but also trying to hold on to their sanity amidst the additional pressures lumped onto them from above.
It was once said to me that getting a business off the ground is like getting an aircraft off the the runway. It initially needs a lot of energy and forward motion.
Whilst the idea that getting a business going takes a lot of energy up is definitely true, the next part of the process is quite often keeping it in the air long enough to then glide along with far less overall effort. Even once you achieve this phase, one which can be a long time in the making, to stay with the aircraft analogy, sooner or later you will hit turbulence.
Regardless of how this business turbulence appears, when it does, the psychological and often physiological effect that additional stressors can have on the individual business owner can be profound. One of the main ones that I have personally experienced, is a general energy drain.
I often feel like I’m a little Bi Polar when it comes to running my businesses. One day I am driving forward, crushing obstacles and pushing towards new goals, the next I want to hide in a dark place and let the world disappear. The thing I feel may help other people when they read this blog, is the fact I think this is more common than anyone might think. When you look at what it takes to be a business owner, none of this should be a surprise.
When you look at what it takes to be a business owner, none of this should be a surprise.
As an employee there is a far greater structure to life. There is a simple transactional nature to it, love or hate your job, you turn up, you do what’s requested and get paid. Okay this is a major simplification but at its core it’s correct.
As a business owner you have the ability to write your own daily/weekly/monthly structure, in doing this there is little doubt in my mind that one of the single biggest mistakes you can make is to be your own employee. There are attractions of setting routines but what tends to happen is you become a well paid (or poorly depending on performance) front line grunt rather than the 5 star general plotting the course toward victory that you should be.
In doing this there is little doubt in my mind that one of the single biggest mistakes you can make is to be your own employee.
Finding the energy to continuously reinvent yourself, to motivate and direct your employees, to overcome the multiple, often daily obstacles you meet on the way and still find the enthusiasm to drive your business forward, especially after years of effort, can be both tough, and more to the point of this article, draining!
A year of government induced disruption has seen the above issues intensify and If as a business owner, you have often felt like throwing in the towel with the weight of the odds against you, to be fair, this is often the reality no matter what the circumstance.
To create a sustainable, successful business takes more than the average Joe, it takes a level of commitment most people simply don’t have. As business owners we have turned our backs on the confinement of wage slavery for the promise of freedom and adventure. No one ever said this would be a simple route, but each victory is a personal one and each milestone one worth celebrating.
Do not wish it to be over, or have thought of victory or defeat, be happy you have the opportunity to be what you have trained to be”.
Crezio De Souza
One of my martial arts teachers, a little known Jiu Jitsu master from Brazil, Crezio De Souza in a speech after a seminar once said:
“When you fight, enjoy the fight, know you spent countless hours training to be in this moment. Do not wish it to be over, or have thought of victory or defeat, be happy you have the opportunity to be what you have trained to be”.
I feel this is also very true of being a business owner, every day you take on the next challenge, but instead of longing for victory, know that your victory started the day you walked away from being a slave to the system.
The Anarchist Entrepreneur 