A few years ago I moved to the UK to start my own business, internationally.
That sounds cool, right? Imagine the new headline on your LinkedIn profile: โInternational Entrepreneurโ.
I remember those days when colleagues and friends ask me about what I was doing. They were amazing.
They said comments like: โOh man, you are so lucky, you can do what you want and work anywhereโ or something like โI want to do that someday, I wish I have a stroke of luck to be able to do itโ.
I can do what I want? I am so lucky?
What the f**k!
They had a totally distorted image of who an entrepreneur is, and more distorted about my situation.
They imagine me, by then, working in a super cool office with other entrepreneurs. Taking Fridays off just to hang out with other entrepreneurs and founders.
You know, the stereotypical entrepreneur, jeans, trainers and MacBook, working from a coffee shop.
And of course, travelling around the world visiting all kind of cool events.
The truth was completely different.
I was short of money. A lot. I just moved to a new country, paying rent (UK property market is quite pricy), expenses, accountant services and on and onโฆ
I was starting a business from scratch, which means ZERO CLIENTS. In that situation, when you have zero clients, zero experience, and zero case studies, you donโt have too many options. And cold calling is yourย best bet to survive another month to pay next month rent.
So I did cold calling for over a year. Yes, that was absolutely soul broken. And because I just moved in, I didnโt know anybody yet.
But who cares, anyway I had (for a lot of months) zero budget for going out, even to eat out once a month.
Nothing. Nada.
Oh! Something else, I lived and worked in my 7 square meters room (75 Square feet). My desk was literally next to my bed.
Awesome! I was living the entrepreneurial dream!
And you know what the funniest thing was?
I never say a different thing than my reality to those people!
People have a misconception about what implies building a business on your own.
Fortunately, I survived those dark days as an entrepreneur.
But I see people projecting the wrong image about theย journey of starting and growing a business. This is why I want to share with you the โbehind scenesโ of being an entrepreneur.
Letโs go to that.
Reason #1 why people become an entrepreneur
When I listen to somebody who wants start a business, I almost always hear the same reasons and motivations to do it:
Reason #1: โI want to be financially free.โ
Reason #2: โI hate my boss.โ
Reason #3: โI want to choose which clients I work with.โ
Reason #4: โI want to set my own schedule.โ
Ok, those are cool things, and you can achieve it all by working on your own business. BUT, is going to take you a lot of time and hard work. Trust me.
And here is a fun fact, you can achieve all those goals as an employee, as well.
Before jumping into the entrepreneur life, I suggest to ask yourself this:
Can I achieve this goal as an employee working on a different company or negotiating my actual conditions?
Please, take a minute to think in this because the answer can save you a ton of time, money and effort (and mental health).
In my experience, people want to become an entrepreneur and launch a business because they want a profound change in their lives. Thatโs fine. More than okay, itโs great!
But be aware of the REAL REASONS behind your decision to becoming an entrepreneur.
Quite often there are hidden reasons about why you donโt like your current situation. The answer to those reasons is not always creating a business.
Answer this question if you are ready to become an entrepreneur
I have a particular point of view to decide the real reasons for building a business.
Everything revolves around your Core Purpose. Whatโs your business purpose?
Your business purpose is the REAL WHY behind your business. That means, in other words, how you want to SERVE the world (think here in your market/niche), and why and in which way do you want to improve other peopleโs lives.
Thatโs a big question, take your time to find your answer.
My purpose? I help independent entrepreneurs to build an amazing business sharing their knowledge through remarkable content.
Whatโs yours?
When I started this business, I wasnโtย an expertย at all (and probably not yet), but I had a firm conviction that I love what I was I was doing.
Because of my firm conviction, I started a long andย hard journey of learning and experimentingย EVERYTHING about my topic, to deliver to the right people (this is YOU) a valuable outcome.
My core purpose was crystal clear then and remain the same today.
Iโve been through a painful process of hard work, ups and downs, frustration and, of course, some success.
But because I had clear my purpose, the real reason why I was building my business, I kept on the track when most people would immediately quit.
If you create that solid foundation, then, eventually, you can achieve all those complimentary โperksโ of being an entrepreneur like:
- Work on pyjamasย from anywhere in the world
- Donโt work Fridays
- Only work with your ideal clients
- And on and onโฆ
But all those things will come later in the process.
Final action point for you: steps to becoming an entrepreneur
Letโs finish this blog postย with something useful.
I want you to take some action. Donโt worry it wonโt take long.
Imagine that you won the lottery. Letโs your imagination run free for a moment, just imagine that you have enough money for the rest of your life.
Of course, youโll do the typical actions like buying all that you want, cars, houses, travelling, buying your parents fantastic holidays, helping your friends, smart investmentsโฆ Whatever you want to do with that money.ย Ok?
But after that, when you have ALL your life goals. Letโs say you have the spiritual need to serve the world somehow.
Then, put yourself in that situation, you decide to create a Non-Profit Organization to help others. I want you to think in theย single one most important way you will improve other peopleโs lives with your experience.
Think about it. Itโs not about money, just about helping others with your experience. That last part is critical, your experience. Include here your knowledge, your unique skills, YOU.
Save some time to think about this, take some notes, and you will find great reasons why to start your own business.
Do you want to find a profitable business idea?
If you want to start your journey I made a step-by-step guide for you to find and validate a profitable online business idea.
You can get instant free access from here.
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